Saudi Gazette report

Jeddah — An annual startup competition in Saudi Arabia has attracted 2,536 entries for 2018 — up 14 percent on the previous year.

Under the theme “Create your tomorrow,” the MIT Enterprise Forum competition has three categories — ideas, startup, and social enterprise.

‘Startup’ has shown the biggest growth at 45 percent, followed by ‘ideas’ at 27 percent and ‘social entrepreneurship’ at 14 percent.

Teams qualifying for the semi-finals will be announced on Jan. 15, 2018. They will receive intensive guidance and training over the next two months, with the winners to be announced on March 3 at an awards ceremony in Riyadh where the guest of honor will be Majid Al-Qasabi, minister of commerce and investment.

The competition is organized by Bab Rizq Jameel, the Community Jameel initiative that provides sustainable jobs, training, and education for Saudi Arabian citizens in partnership with Zain Saudi Arabia and Dulani Business Centre.

The 2018 competition is the third in the series.

MITEF Saudi Arabia is part of the MITEF global network of chapters dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation worldwide.

MITEF Saudi Startup Competition was established in 2015 dedicated to promoting and enriching entrepreneurship in the Kingdom with a view to supporting and celebrating all Saudi Arabian startup companies and entrepreneurs.