30 finalists converge on Dubai for ‘Infiniti Speed Pitching’

Grand prize of $40,000 of seed level funding

DUBAI, UAE, Dec 21: Infiniti, one of the region’s fastest growing premium automotive brands, announced the conclusion of the regional final of ‘Infiniti Speed Pitching’ at the Dubai Autodrome.

“With over 100 applicants submitting their business ideas in an attempt to be shortlisted, the feedback has been nothing short of excellent,” said Juergen Schmitz, Managing Director, Infiniti Middle East. “Phase one of the competition saw entrepreneurs around the region submit business ideas spanning a range of sectors, products and services.”

Held on Dec 9 at the Dubai Autodrome, the 30 finalists were evaluated by a jury of their peers that included senior industry leaders from varied sectors in the region. Each candidate was given the opportunity to pitch their idea to a total of 3 judges (individually) in the rear cabin of the Infiniti Q70 as it was chauffeured around the track for a period of seven minutes.

As points were tallied through each of the sessions, 6 finalists were then further chosen to elaborate on their ideas and present them to the entire panel of judges and more importantly answer the question of ‘Why their idea should be chosen as one of the 3 finalists to be sent to Hong Kong?’

Whilst all ideas presented during the day were great – the stand out proposals were delivered by Stefano Fallaha from Lebanon, Zaina Al bader from Kuwait and Thea Myhrvold from the UAE.

These three finalists will now travel to the “Infiniti Lab” in Hong Kong for a three-day mentorship program. This phase will be a part of Infiniti’s broader partnership with Nest. The three shortlisted finalists will undergo an intensive mentoring and coaching programme with Infiniti, Nest and international industry leaders. The workshop will culminate with a final day of pitching their business idea to a panel of judges that will include senior Nest & Infiniti executives with one winner being awarded $40,000 of seed level funding.

To be eligible for the programme, participants had to be able to present a thorough intelligent and innovative commercial proposition. The start-up idea could have covered any product or service-related industry, participants had to be based in the GCC (Jordan and Lebanon included), and the business and related activities had to have had a clear focus on the region.