Tamkeen launches Young Entrepreneur Programme

TDT | Manama                                                                               

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The submission of applications for Tamkeen’s Young Entrepreneur Programme (Mashroo3i 2.0) is now open.

This was announced by the Labour Fund yesterday. The programme was previously known as Mashroo3i and was launched by Tamkeen in 2012 following which it ran for six editions.

The updated version of this programme aims to empower Bahrainis who are between the age of 16 and 30 and who possess an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation.

It also grants them the opportunity to bring their concepts to life and launch new business ventures, enhancing economic growth led by Bahraini youth.

Over the course of the programme, participants will gain the skills and knowledge required to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path, which contributes to building sustainable businesses in the local economy.

These include skills around ideation, concept validation, prototype planning and development, financial planning and forecasting, developing go-to market strategies, and pitch development, among other key skills.

Commenting on this initiative Ms Maha Mofeez, Acting Chief Executive of Tamkeen, said: “We strongly believe in the importance of entrepreneurship in the economy. At the same time, we have faith that the energy and spirit of Bahraini youth can catalyze entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, paving avenues for innovation which in turn creates job opportunities, fosters competitiveness, enhances productivity, and challenges the local market.

“This programme will help equip Bahraini youth with the fundamental skills and knowledge required to set up and launch a successful business and provide them with opportunities to benefit from Tamkeen’s financial support to kickstart their entrepreneurial journey. New businesses drive economic diversity and growth, thus contributing to the realisation of Tamkeen’s mandates and the goals of the national economic recovery plan.”

The Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) program was designed to support youth with a business idea to develop their personal and entrepreneurial competencies and encourage them to innovate and commercialise their concepts.

It will create a pipeline of quality startups ready to benefit from accelerators and raise funds from venture capital investors. The program will offer advisory support through a deep bench of expert mentors that will help them validate their ideas and de-risk their entry to the labour market therefore accelerating their growth and expansion.

Innovative youth with a business idea can apply to the program online through Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) page on Tamkeen’s website (www.tamkeen.bh). The program accepts applications from both teams and individuals with a viable business concept or who have startups that are in the idea stage and early-stage.

The program will run for six weeks, with the first phase comprising of a comprehensive bootcamp focused on helping participants refine and validate their business ideas. The second phase will be an intensive Startup Advisory Program dedicated to equipping startups with the skills and connections to accelerate their launch and develop their minimum viable product.

At the end of the program, up to 10 teams will have the opportunity to pitch their developed business concepts to potential investors during a demo day event.

Following which, the top participants will receive Tamkeen grants to launch new businesses while a number of participants will gain access to Tamkeen’s support through other relevant programs. The Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) Programme is among 16 programs launched earlier this year by Tamkeen as part of its comprehensive transformation initiative that aims to drive greater economic impact in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Tamkeen has always been committed to fostering entrepreneurship in the Kingdom of Bahrain and supporting startups in an ecosystem that enables them to thrive and grow, and since its inception, Tamkeen has supported over 19K entrepreneurs to launch their business models.

This comes as part of Tamkeen’s key objectives of empowering the private sector to become the engine of economic growth and making Bahraini talent the employee of choice.