The MIT Arab Business Plan Competition is a competition designed to encourage all entrepreneurs in the Arab world to start their own company and, ultimately, create a nest of leading firms in the Arab world.
The current version of the competition officially started on November 10th 2008, by opening up registrations. Now, after two rounds of selection, the following 10 finalists from around the Arab world have made it to the final round of the competition (in alphabetical order):
- AqarMap.com: Amad Almsaodi, Mohamed Hareth, Redwan Mohamed (Yemen)
- Blog Souq: Ahmad Takatkah, Adey Salamin, Ammar Ibrahim (Jordan)
- Digital Security Innovations: Adel Bouhoula, Seifeddine Aloui, Amine Ben Khalifa, Mohamed Abid (Tunisia)
- EnglEasy: AbdulAziz Ahmed Al-Sulaima, Ahmed Siddiqui, Ayman Makki Hoho (Saudi Arabia)
- HAYATI Healthcare LLC: Michael Matly, Tariq El-Titi, David Matly (United Arab Emirates)
- Rice Straw Fertilizer Company: Ibrahim Khater Youssef, Ahmed El Dorghamy, Mohamed Abdel Raouf (Egypt)
- Syphir (GFMail): Husain Al-Mohssen, Courtland Allen, Ghassan Fayad, Faisal Alibrahim (Saudi Arabia)
- Transterra Media: Irina Prentice, Hassan Ibrahim, Eli Andrews, Jonathan Giesen, Raya Mamarbachi (Egypt)
- Vaxeal Therapeutics: Ahmed Bouzidi, Bernard Maillere, Giampietro Corradin, Wassim Chehadeh, Mohammed Bouziane, Francois Spertini (United Arab Emirates)
- White Smile Whitening Boutique: Jomana Musmar, Lamis Maddur, Nigah M. Ajaj, Saoussen Besrour (United Arab Emirates)
The final round consists of oral presentations of the finalists’ business plans to the jury panel in Dubai, on June 11th 2009. The awards ceremony will take place the following day in Dubai, on June 12th 2009.
The winner of the competition will receive prize money of USD 50,000. The check will be issued in the name of the company. The members of the winning team will also be given the opportunity to attend the MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW).
The first and second runner-ups will receive a check of USD 10,000 and USD 5000 respectively.
Besides the financial reward, the winning teams will be provided with coaching/mentoring from the members and network of the MIT Enterprise Forum who will also help the winners get their businesses up and explore further funding opportunities by introducing them to business development centers, financing institutions, and similar organizations.