Eligibility Criteria for the Ideas track
- At least two members per team
- At least one Arab national on the team
- No Working Prototype required
- No Sales
- No Registration required when applying, but winners are required to incorporate a company in one of the Arab countries in order to be able to receive their prize
- Should not have received any previous funding
- Your Ideas can be in ANY industry
Judging Criteria
- Team: The team composition takes an important share of the grade. Judges look for experience, value add, and relevance of each team member.
- Innovation: Creativity and improvement of existing solutions and/or business processes with respect to current competitors or comparable. Within this definition, innovation does not necessarily mean technology.
- Scalability: A business idea or a startup should not be limited to a local market. At a minimum, a nationwide market should be targeted. Preferably, the business could easily be replicated regionally or globally as the company expands
How to Apply?
In order to compete in the 9th Edition of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, applicants must select one track – and only 1 of the 3 available tracks: Ideas , Startups , Social Entrepreneurship
Prizes
Startups Track: $50K for the first winner, $15K for the second winner, and $10K for the third winner
Ideas Track: $15K for the first winner, $10K for the second winner, and $5K for the third winner
Social Entrepreneurship Track:$15K for the first winner, $10K for the second winner, and $5K for the third winner
Timeline
- Deadline for submissions: January 4, 2016
- Announcement of the 70 semifinalist teams: February 1, 2016
- Pre-boot Camp in 4 different Arab countries (Egypt,Jordan,Morocco and UAE): Date TBC
- Lean startup Training: 11-12 April, 2016
- Round 2 Judging-Speed dating activity-Networking dinner & announcement of the finalists: April 13, 2016
- Final oral presentations: April 14, 2016
- Final Awards Ceremony-Announcement of the winners followed by a Gala Dinner: April 14, 2016
- MIT Technology Review Arab Edition full day conference: April 15, 2016
Selection of Semifinalists
20 teams of the Ideas Track will be shortlisted for the second round of the competition.
Teams are expected to work on specific deliverables required from them prior the Workshop & Conference. Each member of the qualifying team will not be paying a participation fee. Each of the participants is expected to pay for their own flight ticket. The MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab will be paying all other expenses for up to two members/team including Accomodation, Lunch & Coffee breaks, Ground Transportation from/to the event venue, Workshop and Conference tickets. Other members attending the event can benefit from our special rates
Application link: http://www.mitarabcompetition.com/user/default/signin
