The Entrepreneurship World Cup invites startups from anywhere to compete for the championship.
Entries are now open for one of the most valuable, prestigious and inspirational startup competitions in the world: the 2020 Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC).
This year entering its second edition, in 2019 the Saudi Arabia-based event attracted more than 100,000 entrants from 187 countries and disbursed an estimated $70 million in cash prizes, mentorship services, training and other resources.
“The Entrepreneurship World Cup is a supercharged, global startup development program that aims to find, develop, and connect the most talented entrepreneurs anywhere in the world,” says Abdulrahman Alsuhaymi, who leads global entrepreneurship initiatives at the non-profit Misk Foundation, the organizer of the competition.
The World Cup brings together young, innovative entrepreneurs from all corners of the world to connect with their peers, share ideas, learn how to develop their businesses and compete for prizes.
In November 2019, 100 startups from 60 countries participated in the grand finals of the very first World Cup, kicking off with a two-day mentoring bootcamp at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The startups then moved on to a pitching competition in Riyadh at the Misk Global Forum, the Foundation’s flagship platform which helps young entrepreneurs navigate barriers to enterprise and turn great ideas into successful businesses.
At the end of the inaugural competition, the initial 100 startups were narrowed down to just five finalists from five different countries. Those finalists received prizes totaling $1 million, including $500,000 for the overall winner, Canadian healthtech startup NERv.
For competitors, finalists and winners, the EWC can be a truly life-changing experience – and not just because of the money they receive.
“What the EWC provides is unique,” Alsuhaymi says. “The connections that contestants make, whether with other entrepreneurs or with experts, mentors and potential investors, is even more valuable than the financial incentives we offer.
“Business today is global. The EWC helps entrepreneurs walk out with a powerful and supportive global network. It takes them to a completely different level.”
“The EWC offers start-ups life-changing prizes, support and opportunities.”
Abdulrahman Al Suhaymi, MISK Foundation
One of the finalists in Riyadh last year – and the winner of the national competition – was Sadeem, a fast-growing Saudi startup which deploys connected sensors to monitor floods and air quality in cities around the world.
Co-founder and CEO Mustafa Mousa says that Sadeem’s success in the competition has raised the visibility of the company with the media and helped provide the business with a truly global profile.
Furthermore, participation in the EWC was an invaluable learning experience for Mousa and his team. All entrants to the cup have access to an unparalleled range of incubation and acceleration services, designed to help young entrepreneurs understand the strengths and weaknesses of their business, minimize the risks of failure and seize the opportunities for growth. In the later stages, the most promising startups receive personalized mentorship and support services, all to help them successfully scale their businesses.
“It was incredibly enriching and inspiring to be connected to the mentors and to other competitors in the EWC,” Mousa says. “As a startup we learned how to improve our business and take the right steps to grow and expand.
“It was extremely motivational to hear stories from other entrepreneurs at the EWC about how their businesses started from nothing and are now overachieving.”
While Mousa is too modest to say it, Sadeem itself is a story of achievement that illustrates the growing strength of Saudi Arabia’s own thriving startup scene.
Emerging from KAUST’s Entrepreneurship Center in Jeddah just five years ago, Sadeem has actively deployed its technology in 10 cities in four different countries – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Mexico and the US. The developer of the world’s first multi-patented flood information technology, Sadeem’s wireless sensing network provides city authorities with the data they need to reduce financial losses from floods and save lives.
For Alsuhaymi at the MISK Foundation, the success of Sadeem is compelling proof of the potential of a new generation of startups – and a clear demonstration of the power of the Entrepreneurship World Cup.
“Many of our 100 top startups have inspired ideas, but they need support when it comes to scaling up and going global,” Alsuhaymi says. “Competing in the EWC gives young entrepreneurs the opportunity to truly change the world”
As published in FORTUNE magazine
