KUWAIT: Through their partnership with Beban, the regional entrepreneurship-themed reality TV show, Zain and Sabah Al Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity (SACGC) - a center of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), announce the hosting of the show’s bootcamp at the Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC). From over 75 applicants, 40 Kuwaiti startups were selected to enroll in the intensive bootcamp for the chance to be one of 5 startups from Kuwait to join Beban’s upcoming third season.
The bootcamp, which runs for two weeks at ZINC, offers invaluable training material presented by industry experts, and covers a wide range of topics that are key to any aspiring business owner, like understanding funding sources, business models, market research and go to market strategy, business strategy and risk management, and more. The bootcamp also covers company identity and values, crowdfunding, strategy planning, investor relations, business financials, financial statements, valuations and forecasting, corporate governance and term sheets, and more.
At the end of the bootcamp, the participants will learn how to pitch their businesses to investors and potential business partners, an invaluable skill they will need should they be selected to join the third season of Beban, where they will have the chance to pitch in front of a panel of regional investors for equity investment and strategic business development opportunities. Zain and SACGC’s partnership with Beban comes under the umbrella of the award-winning Zain Great Idea (ZGI) tech startup accelerator program, which was recently named Ecosystem Enabler of the Year in the Region by the prestigious Entrepreneur Middle East magazine.
This award recognized the program’s leadership in promoting a vibrant tech startup acceleration ecosystem. It also attests to Zain’s endless efforts to empower Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, accelerate hundreds of startups, and embrace thousands of aspiring minds for 13 years. The new season of ZGI comes with a fresh approach that is more flexible, giving entrepreneurs and startup owners more freedom to join the programs, sessions, bootcamps, and workshops at their own pace. Since each participant is unique in their schedule, business size, and needs, they will no longer have to commit to a fixed schedule of training.
The partnership with Beban is the first of ZGI’s many programs in its new season, which will feature even more bootcamps, regional accelerators, and other leading programs. Beban, an entrepreneurship-themed reality TV show, is one of the top programs of its kind in the region where entrepreneurs pitch to investors for immediate investment offers and strategic business opportunities.
The program is a production of Hope Ventures, the investment arm of Hope Fund, established by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. Beban is aired on Shahid and a number of major regional TV channels. Zain and SACGC’s partnership with Beban as Country Partners from Kuwait reflects their shared commitment and interest to nurture the growth of the local entrepreneurship ecosystem and empower aspiring Kuwaiti talents to embark and build on their business journeys by providing them with the tools and resources needed to scale their businesses to new markets across the GCC.
In its previous seasons, Beban aired on Shahid, the region’s first and biggest video-on-demand platform, as well as leading regional TV channels such as Al Rai TV, Dubai TV, and Bahrain TV. It featured a total of 62 businesses of various sizes and resulted in successful co-investments by the private and public sectors that exceeded USD 6 million in GCC-based startups. Season 3 of Beban is anticipated to feature 40 regional opportunities from the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the State of Kuwait.