Latest News

● Roadshows continue to take place around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until the end of November 2021.

●. The online roadshow will be live-streamed on Instagram on November 24, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Saudi Time

● The StartSmart Conference and Awards ceremony will take place in King Salman International Convention Center in Al Madinah Al Munawara on February 23, 2022.

● The total non-equity cash prize for this year’s competition will be $160K.

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, November 17, 2021: MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Pan Arab and MITEF Saudi Arabia are proud to announce the Startup Competition has already launched. This year´s non-equity cash prize will be $160K awarded to nine (9) winners from three different tracks: Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship. Additionally, there are many benefits like the Bootcamp (top-tier training), media exposure, and most importantly the networking opportunities with world-class investors, judges, and entrepreneurs.

The Bootcamp will be hosted by Taibah University, welcoming 60 semifinalist teams in Al Madinah Al Munawara on February 17 and 18, 2022. The Bootcamp will help the semifinalist teams to prepare their pitches, build their business model, develop ideas, and much more.

On December 27, 2021, 60 semifinalists (20 from each track) will be selected from the pool of applications to proceed to the next steps. These teams will have the opportunity to attend the final event in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia, during which this year’s Startup Investment Forum (SIF) will also take place. Three lucky winners will be selected from each track, and their names announced during the Final Awards Ceremony taking place in king Salman International Convention Center in Al Madinah Al Munawara on February 23, 2022.

A total of nine (9) winners across the different tracks will receive cash prizes as follows: The first prize for the winners of both Startup and Social Entrepreneurship tracks will be 50K for each team.

The first prize for the winners of the Ideas track will be 15K. The prize for the first runner-up of each track will be 10k, and the prize for the second runner-up of each track will be 5K.

Applications are open for submissions until December 6, 2021. We will also be hosting a roadshow for the entrepreneurs’ questions and allow them to make their applications stand out. The roadshow will be live-streamed on Instagram on November 24, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. GMT. We will be introducing the competition, answering all questions, and giving out advice and insider tips. Also, note that we will select one of the attendees that ask their most relevant questions and interact with us to meet with our team and get a 1-on-1 session for advice to perfect their application.

Entrepreneurs and innovators from the Arab world and Saudi Arabia of all ages and industries can apply to one of the competition’s three tracks: Ideas, Startups, Social Entrepreneurship through the competition website.