Zain: 10 entrepreneurs heading to the second phase of ZGI
10 finalists to take part in trip to San Francisco and London
KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, announced the names of the finalists who will take part in the second phase of the Zain Great Idea (ZGI) accelerator program in its fourth edition during the Super Saturday pitch event held at Courtyard Marriott Hotel last weekend. The program aims at identifying and accelerating tech entrepreneurs in Kuwait.
Participants who took part in the first phase of the program - the ZGI boot camp - pitched their projects and ideas to the judging panel, who in return selected 10 finalists that will take part in the second phase, the international accelerator program in San Francisco and London with Brilliant Lab and Mind The Bridge.
Zain announced the 10 finalists: Khalid Al Mutawaa - StudentHub, Mai Al-Ruzzuqi - My Dikaan, Nourah AlAskar - Nutribox, Khalid Al-Amiri - Li3ib, Fahad Al-Nouri - Yalfish, Mohammed Al-Dakheel - Scoot, Noor Al-Otaibi - Day Out, Nasser Al-Qatami - Orddr, Ahmad Al-Obaid - Armada, and Abdulwahab Al-Zankawai - Swap.
The judging panel consisted of 10 experts and specialists of various business fields, including Abdullah Al Hassawi, Asset management, Portfolio management, financial modeling, Technical analysis, and equity reports specialist, Saud Al-Subaie, CFA, Deputy Manager at AlSayer Facilities Company, Munir Taher, FCCA, CFA, Asset Management - Special Situations Global Investment House and Chartered Financial Analyst, Ijaz Ahmad, Board Member at Mobify, Sadegh Zobeidi - CPLP, MBA, Director of the Center for Professional Advancement and Continuing Education (PACE) at Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), Mahmoud Al Marzouq, Assistant Manager at KFH Capital Investment Co., Aatef AbdulMajeed, Entrepreneur and Investment Banking specialist, Jassim Al Sane, Director at Citi ME Investment Banking, Mohammed Al Jouan, Asset Management, MandA, Food and Beverages specialist, as well as Saleh Al Musalam, Founder of Ghaseel.
The first phase of the program, the ZGI boot camp, lasted for over two weeks at the company’s main headquarters, where the participants learned about the tech startup culture and workings from leading mentors from Stanford University, IE Business school, entrepreneurs and regional and international venture capital firms. Speakers included Fadi Ghandour - Founder of Aramex, Mohammad Al Hajeri - Chief Investment Officer at Impulse International, Abdulaziz Al Loughani -
Judging panel consisted of 10 experts of various fields
cofounder and Managing Partner at Faith Capital, Hasan Zainal - Partner at Arzan Venture Capital, Abdulhameed Shararah - Founder and CEO of RiseUp, Malek Osseiran - head of LinkedIn GCC, Matea Malokanovic - Head of Marketing, Careem GCC, Sammi Hasaan - Assistant General Manager at Careem, Aby Sam Thomas - Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur ME, as well as representatives from the Kuwait National Fund For Small And Medium Enterprise Development, and more.
The accelerator program, launched last September, is a Zain initiative in partnership with Brilliant Lab, a startup accelerator service from Kuwait, and Mind The Bridge, a Silicon Valley-based organization specializing in entrepreneurship education for startups, enterprises and investors. The previous three successful two-year programs (2010-11, 2013-14, and 2015-16) has seen the empowerment, training, and investment in hundreds of creative and driven young Kuwaitis, of which many now own thriving Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).