The Dubai chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) announced its official participation in the TiE-University Global Pitchfest, a world-wide initiative dedicated to empowering aspiring student entrepreneurs across the globe. Through the TiE-University Global Pitchfest initiative, TiE Dubai aims to provide ambitious students in the UAE and the across the Arab world with a boost in their entrepreneurial journey.
The challenge encourages students that have an idea, product or service that they are looking to launch into a business and who meet the eligibility criteria to apply and be part of the 2021 competition to compete globally for prizes reaching up to USD $50,000.
The pitch competition is aimed at fostering the future generation of entrepreneurs helping to build their business skills and develop their startup ideas to get them investor ready. Successful student applicants will have the opportunity to pitch ideas to investors and scale up their projects to be a part of the regional dynamic business ecosystem.
Ashish Panjabi, President of TiE Dubai commented, “We are delighted to be part of the TiE-University Global Pitchfest and open the opportunity for bright-minded young professionals in our region to help create a better future for the next generation of business leaders. Start-ups and SME’s have long been the backbone of Arab economies, and our youth play a key role in the region’s economic future. The TiE University Global Pitchfest Competition provides recent graduates in the MENA region as well as aspiring students the [i]opportunity to apply what they're learning in their coursework to a real-world situation, while funding their concept and business idea.”
A report by the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) also highlights the rise of MENA entrepreneurship as the startup scene matures. The region’s large and young population with a relatively high level of digital connectivity has contributed to the emergence of a vibrant startup ecosystem in the MENA region According to the 2021 MENA Venture Investment report, the MENA region in 2020 saw a record of $1 billion dollars of investment in startups, highlighting the fast-paced growth of potential startups in the region.
The TiE-University Global Pitchfest is open to all currently enrolled college students and recent graduates across the MENA region. 16 successful applications from the UAE and MENA region will be shortlisted to participate in a live online pitch to represent the region in the Global Finals.
The regional winners will be selected by a panel of independent jury members comprising of successful entrepreneurs, investors, and exceptional leaders. All entries received will be evaluated on various criteria relating to the economics of the business and the ability of the applicant to be successful. These include problem definition, solution and success viability including operation and executional approach and attractiveness of business solution. They will then be mentored by TiE Dubai in preparation for their participation in the Global Finale event.
The initiative was launched locally by TiE Dubai in partnership with Skyline Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (SEIC), communication partner Young Vision and Kregzo who will be supporting all the participants to take their ideas forward post the pitch competition to bring their business projects to life.
Eligible students or graduates can submit their entries till March 7th, 2021. For more details on how to apply, visit https://dubai.tie.org/
