Company concludes its Zain Great Idea accelerator program

Eaman Al-Roudhan and Zain’s executive management are pictured at the event

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, recently concluded the fourth edition of its Zain Great Idea accelerator program, where Zain's entrepreneurs pitched their startups to Kuwait's investment community at Zain Demo Day, the final phase of the program.

Zain Demo Day, the final phase of Zain Great Idea, aimed at providing Zain's 12 entrepreneurs with the opportunity to meet capital ventures, investment firms, and investors who showed interest in their bright tech startups. The event witnessed the attendance of Zain's executive management headed by Zain Kuwait Chief Executive Officer Eaman Al-Roudhan.

During her opening speech, Roudhan said: "I would like to thank our strategic partners Brilliant Lab and Mind the Bridge for their exceptional support, which led our program to the success it enjoys today."

Roudhan continued: "throughout the past three editions of ZGI and until the fourth edition that we are concluding today, our main goal has always been to support innovation and entrepreneurship in Kuwait by offering a healthy environment up to international standards for creative Kuwaiti youth who have great ideas. We are proud that we have embraced and trained hundreds of Kuwaiti innovators and helped accelerate their projects from ideas on paper and into real business that operate in the market."

Roudhan added: "Zain strongly believes in the role played by technology and telecommunications in our lives nowadays. Looking at the young demographics of our society, it is important to direct our support and empowerment at young people and drive their creativity into the future. We look at startups as the perfect environment to find such young innovators and help drive them into success."

Roudhan concluded: "I would like to thank all who contributed in making this program a success. I would also like to thank the investors who attended today and showcased their interest in supporting our entrepreneurs. Finally, I would like to thank the entrepreneurs' families, who are considered their first and most important supporters during their journey to success."

Innovation strategy

The Zain Great Idea (ZGI) accelerator program is an initiative established by Zain in association with Brilliant Lab, a startup accelerator Service from Kuwait, and Mind The Bridge, a global organization bridging the world through entrepreneurship education for startups, enterprises and investors to succeed in global markets. Mind The Bridge is based in Silicon Valley with offices in San Francisco and London.

ZGI has been one of the most successful initiatives Zain presented to the Kuwaiti market as part of its comprehensive innovation and entrepreneurship strategy. Throughout three successful two-year programs (2010-11, 2013-14, and 2015-16), ZGI empowered, trained, and invested in hundreds of creative and driven Kuwaiti youth, of which many now own thriving and active Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to this day.

The first phase of the program, the ZGI boot camp, lasted for over two weeks at the company's main headquarters, where the participants learned about the tech startup culture and workings from leading mentors from Stanford University, IE Business school, entrepreneurs and regional and international venture capital firms. From over 130 participants, 12 bright entrepreneurs where chosen to continue to the second phase, the International Accelerator Program in Silicon Valley, London, and Berlin.

Throughout two weeks at Silicon Valley, one week at London, and a day at Berlin, Zain's entrepreneurs underwent intensive workshops, seminars, and field visits to the biggest tech companies in the world to enrich their knowledge and further develop their startups. During the final phase, the ZGI Demo Day, Zain brought together its entrepreneurs with Kuwait's investment community, where they showcased their startups to investors and venture capitals and had the chance to fully-launch their ideas in the market.