The winners of the seventh Mubadara 2014 Annual Young Enterprise of the Year Competition were announced yesterday at the grand final hosted by INJAZ Qatar, a non-profit organization and member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU) Student Centre.
Mubadara 2014 is a competition for student enterprises established through Junior Achievement’s globally recognized Company Program™. Ten student teams from Qatar’s independent secondary schools and five student teams from universities in Qatar were offered the opportunity to establish and run a real business over four months with the guidance of professionals from leading businesses across Qatar.
On Saturday, the student teams presented their company presentations at the Qatar University Centre for Entrepreneurship to a panel of judges comprised of Dr Mohammed Al Mulla, CEO of QAPCO; Ibrahim Al Mannai Manager Learning & Development, Enterprise Qatar; Nasser Al Jaber, Community Investments Manager of ExxonMobil; Saeed Omar, Head of Incubation, Qatar Business Incubation Centre; Shareefa Fadhel, Managing Director, Roudha Center; and Jassim Al Baker, Head of Development of Enterprise Qatar.
The Best Company of the Year award was sponsored by ExxonMobil and presented to teams MiniRature from Al Bayan Independent Secondary School and MetFame from Qatar University in front of more than 300 guests and potential investors invited by INJAZ Qatar. Both teams will now represent Qatar at the INJAZ Al-Arab Young Enterprise of the Year Competition which comprises teams from 15 MENA countries.
The university-level winners of the Best Student Company Award at Mubadara 2014 were also awarded seed funding of QR 35,000 for their business and will qualify for the forthcoming Boeing-sponsored Start Up program which was formally announced at the ceremony.
High school teams were recognized in a series of category awards including: the Qatar University Best Social Impact award went to Bawsalat Hayati from Al Resala Independent Secondary School; the HBKU Best Marketing Campaign was won by Tadweer JA Company from Tarek Bin Ziyad Independent Secondary School; the QAPCO Most Innovative Product or Service award went to “Go Green” from Al Shaimaa Independent Secondary School and the Enterprise Qatar Young Entrepreneur of the Year was shared by Shaden Shaar, CEO of MiniRature from Al Bayan Independent Secondary School and Al Bandari Al Rumaihi, CEO of Go Green from Al Shaimaa Independent Secondary School.
At the university level, The Incubation Award sponsored by Qatar Business Incubation Center was awarded to Scintilla from Virginia Commonwealth University - Qatar; Heelz from Carnegie Mellon University Qatar received the QAPCO Most Innovative Product or Service award; Steve Accessories from Community College Qatar received the Best Marketing Campaign Award and Fatema Al Qaedi from Qatar University was awarded the Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the two award categories sponsored by Enterprise Qatar.
ExxonMobil was the Mubadara 2014 Platinum Sponsor, with Enterprise Qatar as the Strategic Partner and QAPCO as Gold Sponsor. Host partners were Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) Student Centre and Qatar University Center for Entrepreneurship, with the supporting line-up completed by Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC), Legacy Sports & Events and Boeing.
QAPCO CEO and the competition’s Chief Judge, Dr. Mohammed Al Mulla said: "At QAPCO, we are proud to support MUBADARA 2014, one of INJAZ Qatar’s innovative programs, focusing on shaping entrepreneurial and leadership skills amongst the youth in Qatar. Mubadara is a fantastic platform for students, allowing the next generation of leaders and businessmen to experiment the full life cycle of companies, encouraging them to use relevant skills, such as strategic thinking and planning and highlighting the importance of sustainable innovations for
today's businesses. It is a unique chance for the participants to experiment real-life situations and to ensure they are well prepared for their future professional life. As a judge, I was seriously impressed by the remarkable level of the projects and presentations, which surely demonstrates that the youth in Qatar is very promising and that the next generation is equipped with the skills and innovative spirit to support the entrepreneurial ambitions of the State.”
Haya Youssef Al Abdulla, a student from Al Resala Independent Secondary School for Girls said, “Through INJAZ’s Company Program we students have acquired tangible entrepreneurial skills which we implemented in the projects we presented at the competition. The competition has been a great networking opportunity where I was introduced to several established entrepreneurs and investors. It gave me a taste of the real world of business, its opportunities and challenges.”
Mubadara 2014 is followed by the Boeing-sponsored “Start Up program” which offers successful teams of 4-6 members a combination of seed funding, 20 hours of professional mentoring and incubation offered by Qatar Business Incubation Center over a two year period. Participation in the program involves a rigorous selection process to ensure readiness and suitability, and upon completion, participants will be well on their way to registering a viable enterprise in Qatar.
- ILQ News -
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