The 30 finalists from the Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition congregated in Jeddah this week to attend an intensive five-day boot camp hosted at Qotuf AlRiyadah. Arriving from Buraidah, Onaizah, Makkah, Tabuk, Hail, Al Ahsa, Riyadh and Jeddah, 30 budding entrepreneurs representing the three main competition categories Social Entrepreneurship, Production and Manufacturing and Development in Lifestyle and Health attended the program. The five-day training program included key sessions in finance & accounting, lean start-ups, managing & leading, branding, HR, market research, customer acquisition, communications, presentation skills and pitching. The finalists were divided into groups to concentrate on key deliverables for each of their business plans and presentations. The Social Entrepreneurship category witnessed the highest number of finalists with 14 ladies from Makkah, Jeddah, Qassim, Riyadh and Al Ahsa. The Social Entrepreneurship category and award is in partnership with the King Khalid Foundation the Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition Strategic Partner. Overseeing the program boot camp, Ms. Tuba Terekli, CEO of Qotuf Al Riyadh commented: "It has been an exciting session that showcases entrepreneurial opportunities within the various regions of Saudi Arabia. The 20-plus program attendees have the passion and drive for their projects and our role is to help them develop their ideas into executable companies with market readiness. Such training programs encourage the participants overcome their fear of failure and build their business perspective and we're excited to see the next level the entrepreneurs will achieve." "The Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition is supported by a number of key organizations and companies whom we recognize and thank for their support including the program Strategic Partner King Khalid Foundation, Academic Partner Effat University, and Organizing Partner Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Young Business Women's Committee," said Sarah Al Ayed, Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition Chair. "We thank all our partners and supporters and especially would like to thank Nada Alattas and Suha Mousa for their coaching support for the finalists during the five-day program." The initiative is organized in cooperation with Qotuf, Makeen, Tashkeil, Saudi Women Entrepreneur's Network and Women Entrepreneurship Day. As part of the TRACCS CSR initiatives the Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition focuses on key themes that are of relevance to our budding entrepreneurs, seeking to learn and to transfer knowledge from regional and global entrepreneurship best practice and descriptively applying its most important elements. JEM is the public forum through which potential entrepreneurs are able to present their innovative business idea and ventures directly to potential stakeholders. Upon completion of the boot camp the finalists will begin preparing their business plans and presentations to meet with the judging committee the following week. The judging committee will be assessing the projects based on the evaluation criteria: Start – Operate – Grow. One winner will be selected from each category and will each receive SR100,000 in funding and an 18-month mentorship program. Three runners up will be selected within each category and in turn will receive SR25,000 and also be mentored for 18 months. Winners will be announced during the Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition finale on the Jan. 26-27 at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet and Competition sponsors include: Dallah Al Barakah (Saleh Watan CSR initiative), Flynas, TAM, UTURN, Alif Alif radio, Arab Woman Mag, Sayidaty magazine and exclusive newspaper partner Makkah Newspaper. The finalists who attended the boot camp are: Development in Lifestyle & Health: Hiba Mohamed – Spoon Fed Fitness (Jeddah); Amina Al Zahrani – Autism Center (Jeddah); Warqaa AlWazir – Homework Center (Jeddah); Eman Othman – Captain Mama (Jeddah); Ghadeer AlKhathlan – Online Games (Riyadh) and Aysha Al Shehri – Healthy Breakfast (Tabuk). Social Entrepreneurship (in Partnership with the King Khalid Foundation): AJowhara Al Bishri – Service Provision for SMEs (Makkah); Asma Fattani – edkhary (Makkah); Huda Suleiman – School Cleaning Services (Hail); Haneen Ali – Hanabi (Jeddah); Lulwah Mohamed – Women Security Firm (Qassim); Roa Amer – Training and Employment Firm (Jeddah); Reem Turki – Tawasuli (Jeddah); Aysha Nass – BeautGuide (Jeddah); Mashael AlZaid – Daraty Educational Platform (Riyadh); Rahma Saleh – Gulf Geniuses (Riyadh); Laura AlJehani – Environmental Awareness (Jeddah); Eman Oudah – Space Syntax Company (Jeddah); Aysha Muthafar – AlEedaniyah (AlAhsa) and Manahel Al Mutairi – Turning leftovers to compost (Riyadh) Production and Manufacturing: Reema Al Harbi – AlAtta (Qassim); Sarah AlZenaidi – Café Vian (Qassim); Khadijah Enani – Clothing Manufacturing (Jeddah); Rasha Endijani – Thekra (Jeddah); Jannah Baarmah – Rock Scissor Paper (Jeddah); Shaden Ayman – Architectural Model Makers (Jeddah) ; Nadia AlSalhi – estickery (Jeddah); Huda Fodah – Habkah for Digital Production (Jeddah) ; Al Anoud Al Maghlouth – Acuarella (AlAhsa); Fatmah Al Jaafari – Season Fruits (AlAhsa) and Moneera AlOmareeni – Party Special (Qassim)
