As part of its ongoing efforts to equip entrepreneurs with financial knowledge and empower them to manage their businesses effectively and sustainably, the StartSmart Hub organized the "Financial Lab", supported by Community Jameel Saudi Foundation, on Monday, November 12, at Dar Hussein Jameel in Jeddah. The lab aimed to enable entrepreneurs to gain essential skills and insights for managing their operations with strong financial discipline, enhancing their ability to achieve sustainability and scalability. 582 entrepreneurs benefited from the lab and it provided 85 specialized mentorship sessions. The initiative reflects the Hub's commitment to providing practical learning platforms that combine theory and application, while raising financial awareness across Saudi Arabia's entrepreneurship ecosystem. The Lab featured several interactive tracks, including enrichment sessions led by experts from Abdul Latif Jameel, covering key topics such as financial planning, cash flow management, and tax compliance. It also included group mentorship sessions, where participants applied financial concepts to real business scenarios in small teams, as well as one-on-one mentorship sessions that offered personalized guidance based on each participant's specific needs. Commenting on the Lab, Dr. May Taibah, a member of the Board of Trustees of Community Jameel Saudi Foundation, said: "At Community Jameel Saudi, we believe that financial empowerment is one of the most important pillars of a startup's sustainability. Through the Financial Lab, we aim to provide entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge that help them gain a deeper understanding of the financial aspects of their ventures, which will positively impact their long-term growth and stability." Mohammed Abdulghaffar, Senior General Manager of Entrepreneurship and Social Initiatives, added: "The Financial Lab is an extension of StartSmart Center's commitment to developing entrepreneurs' skills in various operational aspects, especially those that directly affect startups' sustainability. We are working to build an integrated system of labs that combine theoretical knowledge with practical experience, enabling participants to transform ideas into effective financial practices." The Financial Lab comes as part of StartSmart's broader efforts to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem through innovative, knowledge-driven initiatives such as "the Social Media lab", "the AI lab" ,StartSmart competition", and the monthly meetups with entrepreneurs which focus on the core factors of business success and sustainability. Total number of beneficiaries from all our activities are more than 382 thousand to date. These activities align with the ambitions of Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to empower entrepreneurs, enhance the contribution of startups and SMEs to the national economy, and promote a culture of sustainable growth and innovation.
