ArabNet Kuwait conference wraps up

3 chosen startups qualify to compete regionally in Dubai

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 10: The highlyanticipated ArabNet Kuwait was launched on Oct 8 under the patronage and with the participation of HE Khaled Nasser Abdullah Al Roudhan, Minister of Commerce and Industry - Kuwait. Over a 1,000 government leaders, digital practitioners and entrepreneurs gathered for the third edition of the conference which drew in high level sponsors including: Boubyan Bank, DMS, Kuwait Finance House, KUWAITNET, Al Khaleejiah and VIVA Kuwait.

The final conference day (Oct 9) featured the Money Forum, sponsored by Kuwait Finance House. The full track of the forum explored the global trends in Fintech, featuring four panels with industry leaders from Colendi, Gulf Capital, Mustard Seeds and many others. The track also hosted Kuwaiti banking leaders from Boubyan Bank, Kuwait Finance House, NBK Capital, Kuwait International Bank and more, as well as fintech leaders like Ripple and 11.2 Capital who delved into transformations created by big data, blockchain and AI.

Technologies

On the same day, ArabNet Kuwait hosted the Media and AdTech track which shed light on the technologies reshaping marketing and the consumer journey. The track featured expert international and regional marketers from Beattie + Dane, Twitter, DotSpace Group as well as Kharabeesh. Moreover, Jake Thomas, Head of Agency Development - MENA at Snap Inc took to the stage and delivered a keynote targeting millennials. Another keynote speaker was Leena Kewlani, Branded Content Director from DMS who discussed influencer marketing with real-time data. The conference also held, on its sidelines, The MatchUp, sponsored by KUWAITNET and is a series of oneon-one meetings between top business executives, and fast-growing regional startups.

For the 3rd consecutive year, ArabNet Kuwait featured the Startup Battle competition, highlighting emerging talent and innovators. With Sirdab Lab as a Training Partner and Bayt as Hiring Partner, Gamify from Palestine (1st place), Swap from Kuwait (2nd place) and Plotos from UAE (3rd place) were chosen as the top startups. The three winning startups will get the chance to participate in the Championship taking place in Dubai at the ArabNet Digital Summit 2019 for a chance to win $20,000. As for the People’s Choice Award, Scrrapfrom Kuwait was selected as the winner of a $5,000 Cash Prize presented by Kuwait Finance House.

To learn more, go to: https://www. arabnet.me/english/conference/digitalkuwait

A photo from the event