Palestine reinforces startup scene with successful contribution in the Global Entrepreneurship Week
World’s largest celebration of innovators and job creators concludes with series of inspiring activities and events across Palestine
Seven days of enriching events and creative workshops concluded on a high note as Palestine marked the seventh year of its contribution in the Global Entrepreneurship Week, the world’s largest celebration of innovators and job creators who bring ideas to life to drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
The activity-filled week from November 18 to 24, 2019, witnessed inspiring workshops and events across Palestine that helped connect participants to potential collaborators, mentors and investors, and introduced them to new entrepreneurial possibilities.
This year, GEW Palestine was honored with the participation of more than 100 partners and supporters from different local and private organizations, universities, etc., which in return filled Palestine with inspiring week full of many events and workshops all throughout the different regions from West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem.
The theme for this year’s GEW was education, which works to share resources, raise awareness and provide skills training to potential entrepreneurs around the world. This theme celebrates the tools and programs communities use to foster entrepreneurship.
One of the main highlights of the week was the Seedstars World competition, organized for the second time in Palestine, where best startups from Palestine competed for the regional and global summit, as well as an incubation program in one of the Seedstars MENA hubs.
The winner of the contest this year was Kenz, which is revolutionizing the way women shop online for lingerie and bras in the MENA region by providing the best fitting styles and sizes. In second place came WeDeliver, the first crowdsourced “on-the-way” technology-driven delivery service for businesses in Emerging Markets. As for the third place, it was taken by TollabCo, a web/app platform connects university students with jobs and work opportunities while studying. As a part of the prize, Kenz will be participating at the Seedstars Regional MENA Summit and Seedstars Global Summit, which takes place in Switzerland, in April 2020. Growth Training and Development was the local partner in Ramallah for this great event for the second year.
Apart from the startup competition, Global Entrepreneurship Week - Palestine put the spotlight on disruptive technologies and featured inspirational discussions and networking sessions. Major activities included workshops that encouraged university students and innovators to bring their ideas to life, education & entrepreneurship workshops, introduction to 3D printing, BUILDx Sessions, as well as training sessions on how to improve the pitches for startups.
Another key event was the Startup Weekend Ramallah, which took place at Fikra – Paltel Innovation Hub. The event included two winners; “Eish bi Siha – Live Healthy” and “Bubbles” who pitched in front of a panel that was designed to help fresh entrepreneurs realize their ideas with their support.
Growth Training and Development, the organizers of Global Entrepreneurship Week Palestine, aims to empower the local startup and entrepreneurship community through extensive training programs, workshops, and mentorships. It targets talented Palestinian students, graduates, professionals, and entrepreneurs to foster and promote the growth of startups and transform them into strong and enduring companies and organizations.
The Global Entrepreneurship Week Palestine was supported by more than 100 partners. The Main Sponsor of the event was Arab Bank, while the other sponsors included Safad Electronics, PALTEL Group, Advance Technologies for Business (ATB), ABA – Digital & Smart Services, and a media sponsorship from Raya FM, 24 FM, and Al-Iqtisadi.