Advertiser retains sole responsibility for content S11ADVERTISEMENT FEATUREorganic and innate to us all,”
says Shaikha AlSubaey, who
participated in the 2019 edition
of AIA, and was named joint
third-place winner.
On the fi nal day of the
AIA, a Grand Pitching Session
sees participants live-pitch
the startup ideas they had
developed from scratch over
the previous two weeks to
an international audience of
investors and experts.
As the organization behind
the world’s largest “extreme
entrepreneurship” programs
— organized every summer in
France, Italy and Portugal — the
EIA, a non-profi t educational
institution, allows aspiring tech
entrepreneurs from around the
world to access the support
and mentorship necessary
to launch a new startup in
rapid time.
“Innovation distinguishes
between leaders and followers,”
says Alar Kolk, president of
EIA. “If you want to succeed,
you should follow new paths.
Innovation is not achieved by
imitating the success of others;
it’s achieved by those who
choose to risk failure in order tocreate something completely
new.
“With the most innovative
technology, including artifi cial
intelligence and robotics, we
are teaching entrepreneurship
to students and young
professionals as we truly
believe that a new star will
rise from Arab countries
to disrupt economies and
businesses in the future.
We are providing the tools
and cultivating a mindset of
innovation among young people
to challenge the world’s biggest
problems — problems that
a ect one billion lives every
day. Here and now is the right
moment and place to create our
new future.”
Looking ahead to the third
edition of AIA, Saleh says, “At
QSTP, the initiatives we have
taken and the projects we are
engaged in revolve around our
commitment to the process
of research, development
and innovation. With leading
programs like AIA, we
encourage our talented youth
to take the next step and propel
their ideas to the stage of
practical implementation.“We aim to develop an
innovative mindset among our
talented youth to nurture an
unprecedented and competitive
environment in the MENA
region. More importantly, we
believe that investment in our
region’s talent pool is the key to
achieving long-term economic
sustainability and prosperity.”
The AIA is just one of the
pathways of support that QSTP
o ers to tech entrepreneurs —
both established and aspiring
— across the MENA region
and beyond. Its Innovation
Mindset program, which targets
university students, teaches
them new skills and expertise
in the fi eld of innovation,
entrepreneurship and product
development. And it also
includes Student InnovationTrips, where participants visit
Silicon Valley and can enroll
in the European Innovation
Academy Summer Program.
Meanwhile, its Summer
Internship Program allows
students to learn about how to
develop a tech product.
In terms of accelerating
innovation, QSTP’s XLR8
program works with people
who have a tech-based service
or product idea, and are looking
for mentorship, training and
coaching, with the MENA
Dojo — run in partnership
with 500 startups — is open
to tech startups that have
previously raised funding from
other investors, and are now
preparing to scale up.
Once a startup has been
established, the Research
to Startup program at QSTP
supports its entrance into
the marketplace through
enterprise creation. These
promising tech startups have
the choice of becoming part of
QSTP’s Incubation Center — a
technology-focused incubation
program that helps nascent tech
ventures to grow by o ering
the facilities and support that
remove many of the basic
barriers facing many budding
tech entrepreneurs, as well as
access to a network of mentors,
funding programs, training and
prototyping facilities.
As capital is critical for
startups and small to medium
enterprises, QSTP o ers two
funding streams. Through
the Product Development
Fund, selected companies
have access to funding of up
to QAR 1.2 million; while the
Tech Venture Fund allows tech
founders and entrepreneurs
to source seed-stage capital
when they fi rst embark on their
entrepreneurial journey.
Put it all together, and
it represents an complete
ecosystem for innovation,
research and tech
entrepreneurship — within
Qatar and beyond.AIA is the largest entrepreneurship boot-camp of its kind in the region.AIA’s greatest impact is the mindset it
has instilled in its participants.THE AIA IS JUST ONE OF THE
PATHWAYS OF SUPPORT THAT QSTP
OFFERS TO TECH ENTREPRENEURSImages: ©Leo C.BautistaUntitled-1356 1 28/10/2019 18:04