Page 20 - SAMENA Trends - January 2021

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Zain Introduces Virtual Zain Great Idea Program

Zain, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, announced operational and commercial costs. Participants will be able to
the launch of the sixth edition of its Zain Great Idea (ZGI) tech apply for this funding by pitching their startups to the investment
startup accelerator program, which comes this year in an all- committee we created along with our partners at Rasameel
virtual format to adhere to the health guidelines posed by the Investment Company and Brilliant Lab”. Al Khashti expressed his
COVID-19 pandemic. The program comes in joint collaboration appreciation to the teams at Zain, Brilliant Lab, and ZGI partners
with Brilliant Lab, a startup Accelerator Service from Kuwait, and who work tirelessly and around the clock to make this initiative a
Mind the Bridge, a global organization based in Silicon Valley success amid exceptional circumstances to redesign the entire
that bridges the world through entrepreneurship education program in an all-virtual format while maintaining the program’s
for startups, enterprises, and investors to succeed in global known high-quality level. Zain Kuwait’s Sustainability, Innovation,
markets. ZGI offers a refreshed opportunity for local talents and and Entrepreneurship Department Manager Haya Al Mana said:
Kuwait’s entrepreneurial community, as it has been one of the “Our ZGI finalists will be able to benefit from Zain’s leading
most successful initiatives Zain presented to the Kuwaiti market experiences across many areas that are essential to any startup,
as part of its comprehensive innovation and entrepreneurship including marketing, advertising, customer care, public relations,
strategy. Throughout five successful editions, ZGI empowered, digital partnerships, business/consultancy/legal services, and
trained, and invested in hundreds of creative and driven Kuwaiti much more”. Al Mana continued: “Any entrepreneur who gets
youth, of which many now own thriving and active Small and accepted into the program’s first phase will join our bootcamp,
Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to this day in local and regional which will be completely virtual this year and will continue for four
markets. Commenting on the program’s launch, Zain Kuwait’s weeks. The bootcamp will feature workshops, training sessions,
Chief Corporate Communications and Relations Officer Waleed Al panel discussions, and more, facilitated by world-class experts,
Khashti said: “We are delighted to announce the official launch of academics, and trainers from top international educational
the sixth edition of our Zain Great Idea tech startup accelerator institutions such as IE Business School, MIT, Stanford, and more.
program. This year’s edition comes in an all-virtual format in an In addition, we will offer one-to-one sessions with top experts in
effort to abide by health guidelines and restrictions posed by the various fields for every finalist”. Neda Al Dehani, Founder and CEO
COVID-19 pandemic”. Al Khashti explained: “The pandemic was of Brilliant lab commented: “Today, the Zain Great Idea program
not a barrier that prevented us from renewing our commitment to has become a reference for the local startup market. The program’s
Kuwait’s entrepreneurial community. On the contrary, we took it as previous editions featured many startups that continued to
a challenge to reintroduce the program more exceptionally than develop and attract promising investment opportunities to the
ever. We at Zain are the first to believe in technology’s excellence Kuwaiti market”. Al Dehani added: “Many of the unique startups
as an effective and high-efficient tool to develop skills and train that were a part of ZGI received investment interests recently,
talents”. Al Khashti continued: “After 10 years of continuous feats including, for example, three of last year’s ZGI 5 alumni: Armada
achieved by this initiative, we have succeeded in pushing forward (order & delivery solutions), HOT (online training and workouts),
hundreds of brilliant entrepreneurs who own thriving businesses and Baims (e-learning platform)”. Al Dehani also mentioned that
and SMEs that operate not only in the local market, but even across the year 2020 witnessed a new startup acquisition within the local
regional and international ones as well”. Al Khashti unveiled: “In market, where Provision recently acquired “Li3ib”, an app that
this virtual edition, all participants will have a chance to receive was a success story of ZGI 4. Al Dehani continued: “I advise new
a cash investment of USD 50K to fund their tech startups’ startup owners, whether from the Kuwaiti or GCC markets, to join
the sixth edition of ZGI and make use of the investment, business,
and marketing services it offers”. Al Dehani concluded: “This
program surely puts the national and regional startup economies
on strong grounds, because it offers great career opportunities
for the youth, as well as real-world training experiences that will
ultimately develop their business skills and produce a productive
workforce based on world-class experiences”. Zain is well aware
of the crucial role played by private sector organizations in
supporting social and economic sustainability projects. Springing
from its growing commitment towards practicing its social
responsibility, the company is committed to printing a positive
impact through all its activities. This has led Zain to embrace the
most influential issues in the community, including the support of
youth, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

20 JANUARY 2021