ADU Enterprise, the innovation and entrepreneurship centre at Abu Dhabi University (ADU), said both the university’s female and male teams have received top honours at the Injaz UAE 2015 Company Program Competition.

This is the fourth successive year in which ADU Enterprise has supported the university’s rising entrepreneurs to compete in one of the UAE’s most prestigious entrepreneurship events, organised by Injaz UAE.

A member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, Injaz UAE is a partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers working together to empower young people to own their economic success.

The university’s women’s team was recognised for the ‘CEO of the Year Award’, while the men’s team bagged the ‘Most Innovative Idea Award’ at the event, said a statement from ADU.

While the team of eight male students came up with their breakthrough: waitFree – an innovative solution to the problem of waiting in queues. The white-label mobile app platform cost-effectively enhances customer service for small, medium and large organisations, said the statement.

This innovative idea will earn seed funding, 20 hours of professional mentoring and pre-incubation support over four to six months, in their quest to turn their start-ups into market leaders, it said.

Both ADU teams were among the 8 teams which made it to the finals from an initial total of 15 teams.

Maid4you’s CEO, Aysha AlHosani a student of ADU’s College of Business Administration, said: “We have learned a great deal from the judges, mentors and the unique experience to meet and talk to many aspiring entrepreneurs.”

“We are grateful for the opportunity to compete on a platform of proficient entrepreneurial skills. This is the turning point of our company and our future,” she added.

Hamza Laalj, a student in ADU’s College of Engineering and CEO of WaitFree team, said: “Before, I had innovative ideas and technical skills but I was not able to turn them into business ideas to get profit in return.”

“Through the whole journey of the competition, I gained new knowledge and experience ranging from establishing a company to managing a full team who work as one. Thanks to Injaz UAE and ADU Enterprise, I can now turn my ideas into a business reality,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service