Once the series of presentations is completed, the top 30 projects will be selected for the final stage. Projects will be judged based on many factors including creativity and uniqueness. The judging panel includes Nezar Al Saie – Owner and Managing Director N.A. Saie, Delta Partners; Dr. Jameela Al Mahari Professor at College of Business Administration in University of Bahrain and Joseph Kirikian Investment Manager – Private Equity at Mumtalakat Holding.
Winners then proceed to the prototyping phase leading up to a special three-day fair (July 12 – 14) at Bahrain City Center to market their ideas to potential customers and investors in a lifelike experience.
The competition will conclude on the final day of the fair with a final ceremony in which Mashroo3i awards will be handed out to the winning teams.
The projects and business plans were a result of hard work put in by students working in groups under the supervision of mentors who offered guidance and advice in weekly meetings with their respective student teams. The mentors are comprised of leading business, education, and civil society figures, and include Hassan Haidar CEO of Tenmou; Abdullah Al Absi Owner of Blaze Burger; Brandon Moseley Founder and Managing Director, Sylvan Learning Bahrain; Damien Balmet VP of Corporate Development at Mumtalakat Holding and Roua Al Hayki Founder and CEO, ADAMOV Management and Consultancy.
In addition, the students attended weekly presentations at the Directorate of Training in the Ministry of Education covering a wide array of helpful topics. The presentations were delivered by leading experts and knowledge providers.
The “Mashroo3i” initiative is part of Tamkeen’s mission to encourage and promote entrepreneurial culture in Bahrain. It gave Bahrainis aged between 16 and 23 the opportunity to unleash their business creativity and learn how to write a viable business plan. Since its launch on 8 March this year, more than 200 young talented Bahrainis applied to participate in this nationwide competition. The nation-wide participation is a reflection of the success of the initiative and its popularity among the local youth.
The competition offered valuable educational lessons and provided an opportunity for young Bahrainis to learn from experts in a systematic, interactive, and fun manner. The competition’s website, www.mashroo3i.bh, also served as an information center offering participants training and educational material and resources to help them during the competition.