It was a moment of joy and hope for young Bahrainis aspiring to become future entrepreneurs. Out of more than 150 business ideas that were submitted towards the Tamkeen “Mashroo3i” business plan competition, the top 60 teams were shortlisted by distinguished experts in their own right and entrepreneurs playing the roles of mentors in addition to public voting.
Two months after launching the second edition of “Mashroo3i”, a Tamkeen initiative aimed at promoting entrepreneurial culture among young Bahrainis, distinguished mentors from various entrepreneurial backgrounds evaluated business ideas received from 15-26 year old Bahrainis.
Basim Al-Saie, Damien Balmet, Deema Al-Haddad, Fahad Al-Shirawi, Hassan Al-Balooshi and Safa Sharif were faced with the challenging task of choosing the 55 most eligible teams due to the high standards of the business ideas presented. The remaining five teams were shortlisted through public voting where the public “liked” their videos on the Mashroo3i website.
The shortlisted teams were introduced to the mentors, who were excited about sharing their knowledge and experience with the youth, in a kickoff meeting that took place at the Ministry of Education’s Directorate of Training in Gudaibiya.
The meeting signals the launch of the Business Planning phase of the competition, during which the participants will be trained on writing their own business plans by the mentors. All the necessary resources are also made available for the teams on (mashroo3i.bh).
It is important to highlight that this experience is considered one of a kind because it focuses on mentorship by successful Bahraini entrepreneurs who will enrich the programme from their own experience, the mentorship meetings will be conducted every weekend on Saturday. Furthermore, young participants will benefit from inspiring talks from successful figures in the business and entrepreneurship arena during the mentoring sessions.
The 60 teams have to submit their business plans on Tuesday, February 4th, followed by a live presentation to the competition judges. The public can follow each team’s progress on the various social media channels as well as on mashroo3i.bh, and can also share their thoughts and comments on (facebook.com/tamkeenbahrain).