MENA 100 Business Plan Competition

 

 

The MENA-OECD Enterprise Financing Network, in co-operation with the Islamic Development Bank and the MENA Centre for Investment, is happy to present the MENA 100 Business Plan Competition.

 

The MENA 100 Business Plan Competition supports and inspires innovative entrepreneurship in the MENA region:

• by supporting entrepreneurship by rewarding innovative and feasible business ideas and by connecting the entrepreneurs behind them with sources of finance and business contacts in MENA and OECD economies

• by encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit by putting regional talent into the spotlight and by exposing outstanding business initiatives

 

Read more about the MENA 100 Business Plan Competition:

Maya Rahal, 'The MENA 100 Business Plan Competition: Promoting Innovative Entrepreneurship', in wamda, 7 February 2012

www.mena100.org

Event:

MENA 100: Business Plan Competition, Manama, Bahrain 27 June 2012.

MENA 100 Business Plan Competition

 

Prizes:
First prize US$ 25 000
Second prize US$ 10 000
Third prize US$ 5 000

The Innovation 360 Institute has offered a one day training prize for the winners on Business Model Innovation for Entrepreneurs. More details about this workshop will be published as they become available.

Selection criteria include:

• Business vision
• Quality of management team
• Market potential
• Innovation
• Financial robustness

Round 1:

Applications are submitted through www.mena100.org

General information has to be provided on the business idea and means to implement it.
The best applications, based on country and quality criteria, will be selected to continue to Round 2.

Round 2: 

Complete business plans are elaborated by selected participants, detailing the business idea and its innovativeness.
Volunteer mentors support participants in the elaboration of business plans.

Round 3:

The best teams are selected to participate in the final event of the competition, which consists in a training workshop and the oral presentation of projects.
The three winners of the competition are announced at the end of the final event.

Participating Economies: 

Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Eligibility Criteria (for detailed criteria visit www.mena100.org)

1. Teams must have minimum two members and at least half of them must be nationals of one (or more) of the 19 economies listed above.

2. Only projects established or to be established in one or more of the aforementioned economies are eligible to participate.

3. The competition is targeted to independent projects in the early stages of their development. This comprises projects in seed, start-up or early growth.

The primary objective of the MENA 100 business plan competition is to encourage existing and inspire potential entrepreneurs and connect the 100 best of them in the Middle East and North Africa region with potential sources of finance to generate business transactions.

What you can expect as an entrepreneur:

Entrepreneurs participating in round 2 and 3 receive support and feedback from volunteer mentors and judges, which can prove very valuable in getting their business idea to the market. Participants in round 3 also have the opportunity to meet potential sources of finance and business contact at the final event in Bahrain.

Winners of the 2010 competition:

The winners were:

First prize (USD 25 000): Learning Arabia, from Jordan. An innovative venture providing online services allowing teachers to connect with students on a one-to-one basis or a one-to-many basis.

Second prize (USD 10 000): Fascila Limited, from Egypt. A start-up specialised in designing wireless automation systems targeted at a wide number of applications such as energy management and utilities, education, intelligent traffic systems, health care, etc.

Third prize (USD 5 000): Vastry, from the UAE. A web-based venture enabling online publishers to effectively communicate their advertisements’ profile with advertisers.

Special mention for the best “elevator pitch”: Arabiccoach, from Yemen. An online platform that will connect teachers from the Middle East with students who want to learn Arabic online in a fully interactive experience.

During the final event and in parallel to the presentations, finalists had the opportunity to connect with sources of finance such as the Bahrain Development Bank, Family Bank, Tenmou (the Bahraini Business Angel Company) and potential investors from the MENA region.

Winners of the 2009 Competition:

The winners were:
First prize: Turbo – Morocco: An innovative and high-tech after sales service centre concept for automobile owners led by two young ladies with extensive experience in the automotive industry.

Second prize: BioBusiness – Egypt: Manufacturing of scanning systems and non-invasive blood glucose monitoring solutions led by a team of three young engineers graduated from the Biomedical Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University.

Third prize: Ciapple – Jordan: Artificial intelligence software for customer relationship management and online marketing launched by a young engineer graduated in computer engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology.