Following an informative address from Startup Weekend Facilitator Jaroslaw Bialek, who has flown in especially for the occasion, a number of aspiring entrepreneurs presented their business ideas to the audience. Nine ideas have been chosen and teams formed to develop the ideas into viable business plans. Each team includes participants with various qualifications and experiences including web design and development, marketing, business development and public relations. The team names are Lantern, Baby Language, Anadev, Money App, Raykum, Letz Hub, U Track, Promolio and Treq.ME.
Batelco Staff Centre will remain open round the clock giving the teams’ access to facilities to develop their business models in preparation for presenting them to a panel of judges on Saturday evening.
Bahrain Startup Weekend has attracted excellent support with speakers and coaches from leading companies including Mumtalakat, Microsoft, Tamkeen, Ericsson, BDB, Tenmou, and Batelco, all volunteering their time to support the teams in developing their business ideas.
The teams will have the opportunity to win cash prizes and support to put their business plans into action. The winning team will receive a cash prize of BD4000, second prize is BD2000 and third prize is BD1000. Additionally the first three teams will be given free incubation services by Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) and free Cloud Services from The Cloud W.L.L. Furthermore, all teams will have the opportunity to benefit from funding from Tenmou of up BD20,000.
Startup Weekend is a 54 hour event that provides the networking, resources, and incentives for individuals and teams to go from idea to launch. Startup Weekend’s motto is Build Community. Start Companies. No Talk. All Action. Startup events are open to anyone interested in their local entrepreneurial community and it puts them in a setting where anything is possible.
Batelco has received an outstanding response from local companies who have pledged their sponsorship and support to ensure the success of the Bahrain Startup Weekend.
“We extend our great appreciation to the companies that have committed their support to help us deliver such a worthwhile event that will undoubtedly benefit all the aspiring entrepreneurs who take part,” Ahmed Al Janahi, said.
More information on Startup Weekend including video clips from previous events is available online at bahrain.startupweekend.org Interested parties may also keep up to date with details by following the progress on the Facebook page (facebook.com/StartupWkndBH), Twitter and Instagram, on the following user name (@StartupWkndBH).
Participants who pitched business ideas on Thursday evening