The MIT Global Entrepreneurship Forum continued its initiatives in the Kingdom in partnership with Bab Rizq Jameel, announcing that the forum’s new branch will begin accepting applications for the second edition of the MIT Entrepreneurship Forum Competition in the Kingdom starting October 6, The competition focuses on attracting new ideas and investments from leading commercial and social enterprises across all fields and sectors.
Applications will be accepted until January 4, 2017. Saudi and non-Saudi entrepreneurs of all ages and from all economic sectors can apply to participate in one of the competition’s three tracks: the Ideas Track, the Startup Track, and the Social Enterprise Track. In the startup track, the competition targets commercial projects with a significant impact that are officially registered in the Kingdom and have capable teams with extensive experience and ideas that are scalable and replicable. In the Ideas track, the competition targets creative ideas that are scalable and capable of providing effective commercial and social solutions, while the MIT Enterprise Forum Saudi Arabia Social Enterprise competition focuses on for-profit social enterprises officially registered in the Kingdom. The competition offers cash prizes totaling 325,000 riyals, in addition to workshops and training and mentoring sessions led by specialists and experts in all commercial and social fields throughout the competition period.
On this occasion, Hashim Daghistani, General Manager of Business Development and Entrepreneurship Programs at Community Jameel, explained the competition’s judging criteria, stating “The competition will assess five key criteria: the scalability and potential for expansion of the idea or project; the quality and extent of innovation and the solutions presented; as well as the experience, added value, and each team member’s contribution to the project submitted to the competition.”
He added, “Project ideas or startups should not be limited to the local market; the business plan submitted must target global markets, alongside the ability of social and for-profit ideas and projects to maintain financial sustainability. and for social enterprises, an additional criterion is the extent of the social impact these projects have on society.”
