The MITEF Saudi Arabia competition announces the semi-finalists

Jeddah: The MITEF Saudi Arabia, a program of the global network of MIT Enterprise Forum, in collaboration with Bab Rizq Jameel, recently announced the semi-finalists in the competition's three tracks: Startups, Ideas, and Social Enterprises. The competition will be holding its closing ceremony virtually on March 6, 2021 under the patronage of His Excellency Abdullah A. Al-Sawahah, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) will be represented by Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology for Future Jobs and Digital Entrepreneurship Dr. Ahmed Altheneyan.

The semi-finalists were selected by a jury composed of 100 members of business and academic experts from all over the world, who evaluated more than 500 projects against the competition criteria, which are creativity, potential to expand and the positive impact on community.

The second round of judging will be held on February 20, 2021 to announce the names of the finalists (27 teams). The third round will be held on March 3, 2021, after the virtual briefing sessions and the business accelerator from January 9 to February 13, 2021. Startup Investment Forum will be held on March 4, 5 and 6.

On this occasion, Bayan Alghamdi, Head – Entrepreneurship Programs & MITEF Saudi at Community Jameel, said: “This year, the MITEF Saudi Arabia Competition saw remarkable progress in terms of the quality of entries in various categories and fields, including e-commerce, education technologies, consumer services, productivity applications, in addition to digital technologies and healthcare. The competition is organised in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 to support small and medium enterprises. The total number of applicants since the launch of the competition in 2015 has reached more than 8,500 participants from all over Saudi Arabia, thanks to the support of all governmental and private companies. Despite the hard times we have gone through this year due to the global pandemic, entrepreneurs were able to overcome this challenge with a lot of creativity and innovation that contributed to curbing this pandemic, and we wish all the best for participants and good luck to the semi-finalists."

To qualify for the competition, applicants must present an innovative project that is scalable and capable of making a positive impact on community.

The Saudi startups that qualified for the semi-finals of the 5^th MITEF Saudi Startup Competition are: Jirah, Nugttah, Grintafy, Future Platform, Winch, Meeza, Hudhud AI, LOGEXA, Linkers IoT, Tafeyette Inc., Spider Connect, Shgardi, BashQash, PhysioHome, and Hesba.

Semi-finalists in the Ideas Track included 15 teams: Genomez, Hydrojeen, Sawty, Estidama, Hakawati Game, Carissimi, Msaha, Themar, Qawam, SARsat, Aquash, Mthmr, White Helmet, Harreef, and Vending Machine Layer.

As for the Social Enterprise Track, semi-finalist teams included:  Amaleed, Cube Dx, Oqsosa, Tadwir, The Chef, Tawasal, Nusf, CoCreate, Connect SA, TAGitGames, Ithnain, Helper Robot, Ryya, Baleegh, and Ad Astra.

Learn more about the 45 semi-finalist teams of the 5^th round of the MITEF Saudi Startup Competition, by visiting the competition website.

Stay tuned for more news and developments on social media:

• Instagram @mitefsaudi
• Facebook @MITEFSaudi
• Twitter @mitefsaudi

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About MITEF Saudi Arabia:

MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Saudi Arabia is part of a global network of chapters dedicated to the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation worldwide. MITEF informs, connects, and coaches Saudi entrepreneurs—enabling them to rapidly transform ideas into world-changing companies.

Founded in 2015 with the goal of promoting and enriching the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, MITEF aims to celebrate and support all potential startups and entrepreneurs in the Kingdom through Startups and Ideas Competition.

The MITEF Saudi startup competition has three tracks: Startups Track, Social Track and Ideas Track. The competition offers over SAR 325,000 cash prize, in addition to workshops and training and guidance sessions supervised by specialists and experts in all economic and social sectors. The finalists will have the opportunity to participate in StartSmart, one of the MIT Global Forum’s programs which is organized before the announcement of the winners and attended by specialists from MIT University, USA. The aim of the program is to encourage, motivate and guide entrepreneurs to achieve success at the level of the three tracks: ideas, social enterprises and business enterprises through workshops and enrichment programs directly related to technology and creativity. 

As a part of the MITEF Pan Arab Region, the 9 winning teams of the MITEF Saudi Arabia Competition will be invited to participate in the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition.

For more information, please contact:
Abir Ben Bechir
Email: abir@communityjameel.org 

© Press Release 2021