Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Nama, hosted a Speaker Series session with the inspirational Jawaher Al Fardan and Ghanim Al Sulaiti. The co-founders of Evergreen Organics shared their journey and experiences with the participants of the 9th wave of QBIC’s Lean Startup Program (LSP) as they’re about to embark on their own journey of learning and success.

QBIC witnessed a whopping 225% increase in applications from 2016 and a 47% increase in applications from the 8th wave to the 9th wave of LSP. For the first time ever, more than 100 startups were chosen to take part in this exciting 10-week journey. QBIC’s most recent outreach campaign called on budding Qatari entrepreneurs to take part in diversifying their country’s economy in order to establish self-sufficiency. The successful initiative reached out to the nationalism within the Qatari population, and ended up greatly contributing to the record number of applications QBIC received over the past few months.

Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al Khalifa, Qatar Development Bank CEO and QBIC Chairman said: “We’re so proud of how far QBIC has come and we’re thrilled by the increased interest from our fellow aspiring Qatari entrepreneurs, as this confirmed that our campaign’s message was powerful enough to make a difference. It’s our duty, as an organization, to lend a helping hand to every budding Qatari entrepreneur that’s tirelessly persevering in the efforts of growing and developing his/her country’s economy; which is why we were able to accept the largest number of startups to our Lean Startup Program.”

The center will continue to take on promising entrepreneurs of all ages with innovative ideas, as well as provide them with the coaching, financing and support they need in order to establish successful startups.

QBIC has been hosting Speaker Series sessions with reputable local, regional and international speakers since its establishment. With their most recent outreach initiative having such a powerful message, QBIC was keen to keep up the momentum by hosting successful local Qatari Entrepreneurs for this Speaker Series session.

Jawaher Al Fardan, Co-Founder of Evergreen Organics and Founder of Niya Yoga and Ghanim Al Sulaiti Co-Founder of Evergreen Organics and Founder of Botany: The Vegan Alchemist, addressed the new wave of LSP as they embark on their journey with an inspirational Speaker Series session where they shared their learnings and experiences of developing their businesses from square one.

Aysha Al Mudahka, QBIC CEO said: “We’re honored to have Ghanim Al Sulaiti and Jawaher Al Fardan join us for this Speaker Series session to help us inspire the leaders of tomorrow. It’s very important for our LSP participants to see local entrepreneurs, like themselves, who have made it in the market, and are greatly contributing to the development of their country’s economy. Setting them as an example is the perfect send-off for our aspiring entrepreneurs into this transformative 10-week program and we can’t wait to see their ideas come to life.”

This diverse wave of the LSP includes business ideas in the fields of tourism, marketing, light manufacturing, ICT, and F&B to name a few. Additionally, startup ideas in the field of tourism will fall under the QBIC Tourism specialized incubator, guided by Qatar Tourism Authority, whereas ideas in the area of technology will fall under the Digital and Beyond specialized incubator, powered by Ooredoo. Throughout the 10-week program, entrepreneurs will work on developing their ideas and building prototypes in preparation for Demo Day using the Business Model Canvas as part of the ‘lean’ methodology.

The entrepreneurs will be pitching their refined business ideas to a judging panel and potential investors during the Demo Day event marking the end of the program, which will take place on December 9, 2017.

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About QBIC:
Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) is one of the largest specialized mixed-use business incubators in the MENA region. QBIC empowers committed entrepreneurs to start and grow companies by incubating, developing, connecting and investing, and QBIC is dedicated to the long-term success of entrepreneurs.

QBIC is founded by two of the leading entrepreneurship institutes in Qatar: Qatar Development Bank (QDB), and Nama. With a mission to develop the next QAR 100 million companies in Qatar, QBIC is working to unify efforts with key entities in Qatar to develop SMEs and enhance the private sector.

One of QBIC’s flagship initiatives is Lean Startup, turning innovative ideas into startup businesses. Lean Startup is a ten-week entrepreneurial program that provides real world, hands-on learning experience on how to successfully start a company.

© Press Release 2017