Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
A Startup Weekend to encourage young aspiring entrepreneurs and assist them on the road to establishing successful ICT and e-business enterprises will be staged in the kingdom.
Startup Weekend Bahrain, organised by telecoms giant Batelco in co-operation with business angels company Tenmou, will take place on November 17, 18 and 19 at the Batelco Staff Centre in Hamala.
It will form part of Global Entrepreneurship Week with more than 40 StartUp Weekends taking place globally to mark the occasion. Startup Weekend is a non-profit operation based in Seattle, US, which helps promote events in cities around the world, all of which aim to support and empower people to become entrepreneurs.
The events will bring together developers, designers, marketeers, product managers and startup enthusiasts to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups. They are weekend-long, hands-on experiences where aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable.
On average, half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business, marketing or non-technical backgrounds.
Ahmed Al Janahi, Batelco Group general manager media relations, said that the company was bringing Startup Weekend to Bahrain to provide a great opportunity for young people to receive valuable feedback from those with experience in a range of industries and also have the opportunity to benefit from practical and financial support from potential investors.
“There are many opportunities to share experiences and learn from each other and from the mentors and judges who will be on hand,” he said.
A number of companies have already pledged their sponsorship and support, including media partner GulfWeekly. Throughout the weekend mentors who are entrepreneurs themselves or come from leading local and global organisations will be on hand to give advice, support and answer questions to help the teams to develop their ideas into a viable business plan.
l Young aspiring entrepreneurs of all nationalities are invited to visit the Startup Weekend Bahrain web page (bahrain.startupweekend.org) to learn more about how Startup works and register to attend and participate. Also check out facebook.com/StartupWkndBH and Twitter@StartupWkndBH.
