The Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship, the first-of-its-kind in Bahrain, has announced a panel of judges comprising some of the region's "most innovative business minds".

The award will see all applicant businesses assessed by the diverse group of judges with the final category winners being announced on the date of the official awards ceremony next month, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The panel of judges includes: businessman and entrepreneur, representing KBW investments Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud; PineBridge Investments Middle East chief executive Talal Alzain; entrepreneur and emerging markets expert Ahmed Nassef; Crescent Group managing director Badr Jafar; entrepreneurship ecosystem Wamda's chief executive Habib Haddad; Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi managing director Nina Curley; Baraka Ventures founder Rama Chakaki; Palam Mesra creative director Rosemary Tan; serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony Bury and MIT Enterprise Forum of the pan-Arab region chair Hala Fadhel.

The judging procedure is held in two rounds. During the first round, the technical committee will filter four finalists per category and will interview the 20 semi-finalists individually. The second judging round will see the judges evaluating the entries independently to determine the five finalists.

The technical committee will then calculate cumulative scores and ranks to determine the award winners for each category. Final announcement, trophy and award presentation will be held next month.

The award has been launched with the partnership of Tamkeen, EDB, BDB, and knowledge advisers BCCI, Unido, EY Bahrain and the Industry and Commerce Ministry. - TradeArabia News Service