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79 teams for MIT Forum Arab Startup finals

JEDDAH, February 14, 2017

A total of 79 teams from 11 Arab countries have qualified to the finals of the 10th edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition set to take place in Bahrain in April.

The MIT Enterprise Forum (MIT EF) of the Pan Arab Region announced the semi-finalists of the 10th edition of the MIT Arab Startup Competition, These teams will be invited to participate in the pre boot camp training which will be held during the month of March in Egypt, Jordan, and UAE.

The event is being held in partnership with Community Jameel, a social enterprise organization that operates a wide range of initiatives to promote a positive society and economic sustainability and Zain Group, a leading telecommunications innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa.

Tamkeen, a semi-government organization in Bahrain, is the strategic partner for the contest.

This year's edition has witnessed an unprecedented turnout with more than 8,272 applications, constituting a 39 per cent increase in comparison to last year's edition. The highest number of applications came from Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Saudi Arabia (through the MIT EF Saudi competition). The submitted projects tackled a variety of sectors, among the most prominent of which were software related followed by education, healthcare and creative industries.

The semi-finalists of the 10th MIT Arab Startup Competition hailed from 11 Arab countries as follows: Egypt (22), Lebanon (11), UAE (10), Jordan (8), Tunisia (6), Morocco (5), Bahrain (3), Sudan (2), Libya (2), and Algeria (1). Nine Saudi Arabian teams will be added to the list from the MIT EF Saudi Competition that will be announced in March.

These teams will be invited to participate in the pre boot camp training which will be held during the month of March in Egypt, Jordan, and UAE.

This year's edition is of special importance as it celebrates 10 years of success and excellence while serving generations of young Arabs and their creative entrepreneurial ideas. Very much like last year's competition, this edition included three exciting tracks - Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship.

Cash prizes exceeding $160,000 will be distributed among the nine lucky winners, three per track. Beyond the cash prizes, all semi-finalists will benefit from advanced training sessions, personal mentorship and guidance not to mention a great deal of media coverage and excellent networking opportunities.

Hala Fadel, chair of the board of MIT EF Pan Arab, said, "This year, we are celebrating 10 years of entrepreneurial success in the region by bringing together our biggest edition to date. We are also celebrating everything we have accomplished so far especially in terms of our ability to develop young entrepreneurs and support their ideas that a substantial portion of which have become success stories that we take deep pride in.

“We have great expectations for this year's competition whether it's in terms of ideas, start-ups or social entrepreneurship. We are expecting more and more technology innovations from the Mena region this year and we aim to take the most innovative of these entrepreneurs to new heights."

The MIT Arab Startup Competition will culminate in a four-day event from April 24 to 27 in Bahrain, with the announcement of the competition winners set to take place during the final award ceremony. – TradeArabia News Service
 




Tags: Zain | Pan Arab |

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