Bahrain:American Express Middle East in partnership with Nest concluded its first Accelerator programme the ACCELERATE ME by hosting its first annual Demo Day. At the event, the six participating start-ups presented their business solutions to Bahrain’s business and Fintech community.
The Demo Day follows the eight week ACCELERATE ME programme, which aims at connecting the next generation of startups and newly established SMEs from around the world with Bahrain and the Middle East region in general. ACCELERATE ME start-ups focused on a range of innovative technologies in areas such as delivering differentiated service experiences, automated payment solutions, and alternative physical and digital platforms to drive the move to a cashless society using secured and progressive technologies.
Speaking on this occasion, Mazin Khoury, CEO of American Express Middle Eastsaid:
“As a founding member of Bahrain Fintech Bay, and as proud contributor to the overall fintech ecosystem here in the region, American Express Middle East is delighted to be here today to support showcase the solutions offered by the ACCELERATEME participating Startups.
Through this initiative, we are backing new partnerships to be formed, bridging the gap between corporate organisations and the fintech community in Bahrain and the region to enable the move to a cashless society and make a difference in community we live in.
We fully understand the role that new technologies is playing in businesses in the region. Our 2018 Global Business and Spending Outlook report found that, with the rise of the connected customer, executives identified new technology as their number‐one spending priority; where 35% of respondents across the region said that mobile technology, for the purpose of delivering new products and unique services, will be one of key areas of focus in 2019.
At American Express Middle East, we will always bring our powerful backing to the powerful new business solutions and ideas for the future – ACCELERATE ME is simply an extension of this philosophy.”
CEO of Nest, Lawrence Morgan also commented:
“ The Accelerate Me programme has provided a great platform for the participating start-ups. Drawing on our Asia roots, Nest is focused on connecting the fast-growing markets of Asia, the Middle East and Africa by helping companies scale and corporates adopt new technologies. This is the start-up frontier and we are excited to partner with American Express Middle East on innovation and digital transformation”.