Community Jameel, a global philanthropy, was formally established in 2003 to continue the Jameel family’s tradition of supporting the community, dedicated to supporting social and economic sustainability, across the Middle East and beyond, through a range of initiatives. One of these initiatives is Bab Rizq Jameel, an organization geared towards “making a positive change in the lives of young men and women in the region”, by providing a link between job seekers and employers and supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses.

“We create a brighter future for promising young men and women,” Bab Rizq Jameel

For the fourth consecutive year, Bab Rizq Jameel has collaborated with the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Saudi Arabia, part of the MIT Enterprise Forum global network, to host the MITEF Saudi Competition, a “technology accelerator” with the goal of promoting and enriching the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.

The Competition focuses on attracting high-potential social and business startups and is designed to provide an avenue for early-stage entrepreneurs to showcase their projects and business concepts, enhancing their role in the future innovative business environment.

Registration for this year’s Competition is open to all Saudi and non-Saudi entrepreneurs of all ages; registration has already begun and will continue until December 21, 2019: register here.

The competition has three tracks for interested applicants:

  1. Ideas Track: for innovative and scalable ideas that provide effective business or social solutions.
  2. Startup Track: for high impactful startups with skilled and experienced team members, and scalable and expandable business or social activities.
  3. Social Track: for life-changing social enterprises that address a social challenge with a for-profit angle. 

Bayan Algamdi , Head of MITEF Saudi Chapter and Entrepreneurship Program comments:

“The competition focuses on attracting high-potential social and business startups and ideas in all social and business fields. Entrepreneurs of all ages can apply. The submitted project must be innovative, have the potential for scalability and must have a positive impact on the community.” 

Hassan Jameel, President of Community Jameel Saudi Arabia, said:

“The MITEF Saudi Startup Competition demonstrates the values at the heart of Community Jameel’s mission. We continue to drive excellence within Saudi Arabia’s entrepreneurial environment, in line with Vision 2030, by promoting technical projects, smart ideas and creating jobs for young Saudis.”

The winning teams are awarded an equity-free fund and also benefit from access to a range of support designed to help their project flourish, including top-tier training, mentorship, coaching, media exposure and networking opportunities.

Finalists will have the opportunity to participate in the Saudi StartSmart Forum, a program of the global network of MIT Enterprise Forum, which will be held before the winners are announced on March 7, 2020 in Jeddah. Saudi StartSmart aims to “encourage, motivate, and guide entrepreneurs in terms of ideas creation and commercial and social enterprises through workshops and seminars focused on technology and innovation”.

Read more about the MITEF Saudi Competition here.