KUWAIT: Zain has successfully concluded the most engaging phase of its award-winning Zain Great Idea tech startup accelerator program—the international acceleration phase, which brought Kuwaiti tech startup entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley, the global center of entrepreneurship and innovation and home to the world’s biggest tech companies.
The global acceleration phase featured an extensive program that included masterclasses, one-on-one consultations, and visits to major tech companies. The aim was to give participants an up-close look at the dynamics of entrepreneurship by interacting with leading experts and specialists in business, innovation, and technology.
The program also provided participants with a unique opportunity to network with startup founders, visit accelerators, pitch their startups to investors, and build connections while gaining insights into the global startup ecosystem. The program was organized in collaboration with Vibranium VC, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund specializing in startup investments.
Meeting with NVIDIA CEO
The highlight of the journey was the visit to NVIDIA’s headquarters, where participants met Jensen Huang, the company’s founder and CEO. Huang is considered one of today’s most influential tech leaders, with his vision and leadership driving NVIDIA’s market value to an astounding $3.58 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable company, surpassing even the biggest tech giants. NVIDIA is the leading company globally in designing and engineering graphics processing units (GPUs) and electronic chips used in AI applications. Its technologies are integral to fields like cloud computing, gaming, AI applications, high-performance computing, and more.
This visit offered the Kuwaiti entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to witness NVIDIA’s pioneering journey up close, explore how AI technologies could be integrated into their startups, and learn how to leverage these technologies for sustainable success in a highly competitive market. Additionally, they were inspired by Jensen Huang’s success story, which centered on innovation as a key driver of growth and excellence.
The visit also gave the participants an invaluable chance to apply to NVIDIA’s Inception Program for Startups, designed to nurture startups, providing co-marketing support, engineering guidance, access to NVIDIA software and hardware, technical training, opportunities to connect with NVIDIA experts, and exposure to the venture capital community. Some of the ZGI participants were already accepted into the program.
Enhancing innovation ecosystem
In addition to NVIDIA, the ZGI journey featured a notable visit to IDEO, the leading global design and innovation firm, where the participants learned about transforming businesses to create a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future for their startups. The program also included visits to prestigious universities like Stanford, where the participants met Mike Lepech, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Berkeley, where they met Ronda Shrader, Executive Director and Professional Faculty of Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
The program also included a visit to the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where participants gained an in-depth understanding of the bank’s critical role in supporting the innovation economy, including startups and venture capital firms, and how it meets the unique financial needs of the tech sector. They learned about SVB’s financial services for innovators and entrepreneurs and the opportunities for connecting entrepreneurs with investors.
In addition, participants visited Google’s San Francisco office, where they were introduced to AI and cloud solutions, and delved into the opportunities available via Google for Startups and Google Cloud. Following that, the participants visited SAP’s headquarters, where the participants learned about the company’s leading experience in enterprise software and got invaluable tips on building partnerships with large enterprises, including how to get a startup’s product onto their shelf and into their marketplace.
Next, the ZGI participants attended a live recording of the Silicon Zombies Podcast, hosted by Nick Larson with guests Peter Walker, Keith Teare, and Alexander Johnson, who are some of the most influential voices of technology and innovation in Silicon Valley, and founders of companies like TechCrunch, Carta, SignalRank and Velvet. Other visits included a tour at the Computer History Museum to gain insights into the history of technology, and visits to Escalon, a company specializing in supporting entrepreneurs, and Zendesk, the platform that enables startups to provide exceptional customer experiences.
These visits broadened the participants’ perspectives, giving them a glimpse into work environments centered on innovation, collaborative spaces, and initiatives encouraging employee engagement. They also saw how software solutions could give startups a competitive edge and discussed current tech trends, challenges, and strategies employed by Silicon Valley companies.
Masterclasses to develop skillsets
Alongside these visits, the journey featured numerous masterclasses, workshops, one-on-one consultations, and interactive programs to enhance participants’ skills in various areas. The program kicked off with an introductory session by Zamir Shukho from Vibranium VC, who outlined the program’s goals and highlighted the importance of building partnerships to create added value and achieve success.
The program also included a special session with Alex Dang, co-author of the bestseller The Venture Mindset, who shared insights on the latest tech trends and the impact of the AI revolution on startups.
Stanford professor Pedram Mokrian spoke about investing in new technologies and innovative business models to accelerate startups and explored the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. Ali Moiz discussed market strategies in the US and how best to implement them for business success.
Other sessions included discussions on setting up a legal structure and the importance of partnerships by Aravinda Seshadri, a lecture on AI and software platforms for product development by Oleg Sotnikov, and a session on user experience and interface fundamentals with AI by Ario Jafarzadeh. The journey also featured sessions with Ella Shukho from 500 Global on acceleration ecosystems in Silicon Valley, Maria Kitaygora on sales strategies. Patricia Liu provided insights into pitching projects to investors, Peter Mebert covered financial modeling and planning, and Jason Diehl from TriNet shared insights on human resources and building and expanding teams, among many other activities.
Ambitious Kuwaiti entrepreneurs
The journey featured ambitious Kuwaiti entrepreneurs and their partners, selected by a panel of judges during the Super Saturday event. The ZGI participants utilized the expertise and skills they acquired in the first phase, the ZGI Bootcamp, to prepare the final business pitches of their startups and present them to the judges panel.
Participants included Lama Aloraiman and Ksenia Ozkok from BLU DOT— a platform that transforms access to space, Dalal Thani from Akrem — an app that enables secure and easy tipping to service providers, Raghad Al-Zamel from MAWADA — an app offering the ultimate gifting platform, Hamad Althunayan, Nasser Al-Qimlas, and Ryan Dougherty from DAWRATY — a quality education platform, and Abdulrahman Al-Hamdan from Nextbite — a platform that revolutionizes the dining and hospitality experiences.
Also joining the program are Faisal Tawfiqi, Fahad Alzuabi, and Maxime Rousselet from USim — a seamless internet roaming app, Eissa Alloughani from STAX — an app that offers one membership to access the best gyms in Kuwait, Abdullah Albusairi from EYON — an Arab live streaming platform, Abdullah Shaban from Mawqif — an app that offers the ultimate parking solution, and Talal Alzafiri from Q8MAPS — an e-mapping and GIS solutions app.
Unlocking investment opportunities
ZGI was recently launched in strategic partnership with Rasameel Investment Company, continuing its decade-long mission to open sustainable growth and investment doors for entrepreneurs and startups in Kuwait. For more than 14 years, Zain Great Idea has been a unique success story, establishing itself as one of the most impactful business accelerators locally and regionally. It has provided numerous opportunities for hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs and startups, connecting many with leading tech companies and organizations in places like Silicon Valley, to gain first-hand experience.
Through this program, Zain aims to empower Kuwait’s tech startup ecosystem and foster an innovation-driven environment that creates tangible economic and social impact. This step also translates the company’s strategic plans as a business that seeks promising opportunities for diversification and sustainable growth in a highly competitive market. Additionally, Zain may acquire shares in the ZGI startups to boost their potential and commercialization drive.