Khaberni - Zain has launched the first phase of the new regional version of its entrepreneurial program Zain Great Idea - one of the most prominent platforms for accelerating technology startups in the region - by setting up intensive training camps for participating entrepreneurs, bringing together a selection of international, regional, and local experts in Zain's markets.
The company revealed that this step confirms its commitment to supporting technological innovations, enhancing the role of entrepreneurs and startups in the tech sector, and enabling their presence in regional and global markets.
Zain explained that the new version of the program has launched in several Gulf and Arab countries, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, bringing with it an ambitious vision and goal to empower entrepreneurs to develop their projects and build more impactful and sustainable business models.
It reported that the first weeks of the program featured a series of intensive training sessions, focusing on strategic aspects including marketing, financing, operations management, and digital transformation, aiming to accelerate the growth of startups and qualify them to enter regional and global markets with confidence and efficiency.
Zain Jordan, through its ZINC platform, implemented the program in Jordan, and promoted it through various social media platforms and its extensive network of Jordanian entrepreneurs, attracting a large number of applicants. Seventeen startups were selected out of 120 applying companies to join the first phase of the program, after an evaluation process that involved reviewing the ideas, business models, and readiness of the entrepreneurial teams to compete regionally. This is part of the platform's ongoing efforts to support entrepreneurship and empower startups in the Kingdom, by providing training opportunities, mentoring, networking with investors, and experts in various sectors.
The training phase kicked off with an intensive training camp that focused on two main aspects, with the first being training participants on presentation skills before investors in preparation for their journey to Silicon Valley, while the second aspect involved preparing the participants to make their pitches before the judging panel that would choose the Jordanian startup to represent Jordan and join the regional business acceleration program by the Zain Group (Zain Great Idea), with the training sessions presented by Ahmad Taqatqa, co-founder of Sadu Capital, who provided the participants with practical guidance on building business models and preparing to attract investment.
The local phase concluded with an event specifically for pitching the projects before a judging panel that included key figures in entrepreneurship in Jordan, such as Tamer Salah - General Manager of Endeavor Jordan, Tambi Jalouqa - Founder and General Partner of Maza Ventures, Saad Al-Jasser - Director of Digital Investments at Zain Ventures, and Ahmed Ibrahim - Head of Entrepreneurship at Zain Jordan, where they provided constructive feedback to the owners of the innovative projects and solutions submitted to develop the projects and qualify them for the next regional phase.
This year, the program launched with strong support from Zain Ventures - the investment arm of the Zain Group in emerging technologies, and ZainTECH - its regional arm for digital solutions and information and communications technology, where, for the first time in the program's history spanning more than 15 years, the door was opened for applicants from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, offering unprecedented opportunities to obtain guidance, funding, and global experiences.
Zain Ventures aims to explore promising opportunities in the participating startups and invest in them, while the ZainTECH team works alongside the ZGI team to provide strategic support for the selected startups that will participate in the Silicon Valley journey, by offering advanced solutions and technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, analytics, robotics, and other advanced technologies that enhance business growth.
It is worth noting that this expansion represents a significant leap for the ZGI program since its inception, as all previous editions were exclusive to the Kuwaiti market, and this regional launch strengthens Zain’s commitment to supporting technological innovations and entrepreneurship at the regional level.
