MITEF Pan Arab's 12th Arab Startup Competition Gears Up For The Finals in Beirut The Arab Startup Competition has become a platform for innovation from the Arab region.
By Tamara Pupic
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MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Pan Arab has selected 66 semifinalists to compete in the 12th edition of the Arab Startup Competition, with money prizes reaching a total sum of US$160,000.
The final award ceremony and conference will take place in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 28-29, 2019.
The competition is held in partnership with Community Jameel, World Bank Group, and in collaboration with Touch.
Touch's CEO Emre Gurkan said, "This year marks an exciting time for the Lebanese startup scene as for the first time in Lebanon, the MITEF final award ceremony will take place here in our country's grounds. We should celebrate this success as it is a testament to the Lebanese talent present here as well as their entrepreneurial spirit. Supportive of MITEF's international dimension, this exceedingly places Lebanon at the forefront scene of developing the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem and provides them with great opportunities to be exposed both regionally and globally."
This year's semifinalist's country breakdown includes 19 teams from Lebanon, 9 from each Egypt and the UAE, 6 from each Jordan and Tunisia, 4 from KSA, 3 from Morocco, 2 from each Syria, Yemen, and Algeria, and one team coming from each Sudan, Qatar, Palestine, and Bahrain.
Hala Fadel, Chair of the Board of MITEF Pan Arab, said, "This year's application pool is particularly diverse both in terms of geography and nature of the projects, reflecting a real step up in innovation in the Arab startup ecosystem. The competition has become a platform for innovation from the Arab region to solve global problems using technology creating social impact."
During the application period all participants had the option of applying for one of three different tracks: Startups Track, Ideas Track, and Social Entrepreneurship Track. Each track had its own eligibility criteria, including the level of growth, development stage, funding rounds, prototype status, among others.
The semifinalists will be participating in a pre-bootcamp at ZINC (King Hussein Business Park) in Amman, Jordan, on February 26-27, 2019.
Stay tuned for future updates and announcements by following #ASC2019 #MITEFArab hashtags.
Related: Innovation For Impact: MENA Startups Are Taking On The Refugee Crisis
