The seventh annual StartSmart entrepreneurial competition was convened in Jeddah, under the patronage of Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Jalawi, Governor of Jeddah, and Community Jameel. The closing ceremony, organised by Bab Rizq Jameel, announced the winners of the competition, under the theme, 'applications of artificial intelligence in entrepreneurship and the green economy. Participants competed in one of four tracks: startups, ideas, social enterprise and environment. Twelve winners were selected from an initial pool of 1,010 applicants.
Alongside the closing ceremony, Community Jameel Saudi held a series of workshops with eight expert speakers who addressed trends, challenges and opportunities existing in the entrepreneurial sector and the market at large.
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Under the patronage of His Highness Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Jalawi, Governor of Jeddah, Community Jameel Saudi successfully concluded the 7th edition of the StartSmart competition, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdullah bin Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Bin Aboud, Director of the Ministry of Sports Branch in Makkah Region, and a number of business leaders and experts.
The concluding ceremony was organised at Jeddah Corniche Circuit by Bab Rizq Jameel and Lenobadir program, in partnership with the Ministry of Sports, under the theme of “Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Entrepreneurship and the Green Economy”. This year’s edition featured four distinct tracks: Startups, Ideas, Social Enterprise, and the newly launched Environment track.
The competition witnessed remarkable participation, drawing 1,010 applicants, with 60 teams qualifying for the semi-final stage. The teams underwent an intensive training camp last July, covering a variety of topics, including strategic planning, marketing, and financial management. The qualifying teams presented their projects and ideas to a judging panel, resulting in the selection of 36 teams for the final stage, out of whom 12 winning teams (3 teams within each track) were selected and awarded valuable prizes that amounted to 465,000 Saudi riyals.