The largest competition for Arab startups arrives at Al Madinah this year

  • The competition’s road shows launched across Saudi Arabia and Arab countries

  • The competition entry deadline is December 6, 2021

  • The Start Smart Conference will be organized to announce this year’s winners in Madinah on March 5, 2022

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, October 25, 2021: The MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia announced the support from the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat) as the government partner of the 2021-2022 edition of the MITEF Startup Competition, organized by Community Jameel Saudi Arabia and Bab Rizq Jameel, under the patronage and supervision of the Governorate of Madinah Region.

Monshaat’s participation and support to the MITEF Arab Startup & Saudi Arabia Competition comes in line with the Authority’s mission to support the growth and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises by incubating a supportive environment and an entrepreneurial community. Through its cooperation with strategic local and international partners in the public, private and non-profit sectors, Monshaat seeks to enable such enterprises to be a fundamental pillar for the development of the economy in Saudi Arabia and an enabler to achieve Saudi vision 2030 and beyond.

On this occasion, HE Deputy Governor for Entrepreneurship at Monshaat Esam Saleh Althukair, said: “Previous collaborations between Monshaat and Community Jameel Saudi covered several areas, including supporting and developing the financing programmes provided by Bab Rizq Jameel Microfinance, cooperating in the field of entrepreneurship with the MIT Enterprise Forum Saudi Arabia, supporting employment programmes for the small and medium enterprises in partnership with Bab Rizq Jameel Recruitment, and cooperating with Bab Rizq Jameel Services in providing digital solutions for entrepreneurs. In continuation of this constructive cooperation, we provide support to the MITEF Arab Startup & Saudi Arabia Competition, the largest event for entrepreneurs in the Arab world, to empower entrepreneurs and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Saudi Arabia and the Arab region.”

Hassan Jameel, Vice Chairman of Community Jameel, said: “At Community Jameel Saudi, we believe small and medium enterprises are a vital part of the national economy. We recognise Monshaat’s significant contribution to this sector and its role in the success of several Community Jameel-led initiatives in the Kingdom. We are also proud to have the Province of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah as a co-organizer and sponsor of this year’s edition and hope to work closely with all our partners in enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Kingdom and the Arab region moving forward.”

A series of roadshows for the MITEF Arab Startup & Saudi Arabia Competition are currently being held until November in most regions of the KSA and Arab countries. In the KSA, the roadshows are launched in cooperation with Monshaat and cover Saudi universities in various regions of the Kingdom, with the aim of introducing entrepreneurs to the criteria and mechanisms for applying to the competition, helping them with their applications, and enhancing their chances of winning the competition. To find out the schedule of the roadshows in Saudi Arabia, please visit the competition website.

The MITEF Arab Startup & Saudi Arabia Competition, organized this year under the theme ‘Empowering today. Transforming tomorrow’, is a seven-month journey filled with excitement, coaching, networking opportunities, mentorship, funding, and media exposure. In addition to hosting the Startup Investment Forum (SIF), the final events of the 2021/2022 Edition will be held at the Start Smart Conference in Madinah during March 2022, and concluded with the announcement of the winners for this year.

Entry for the competition is already open since September 15 until December 6, 2021. Entrepreneurs of all ages and economic sectors can apply to participate through the competition website within one of the three contest tracks: ideas track, startups track, and the social enterprises track, according to the terms of the competition.

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