Mumtalakat sponsors ‘Startup of the Year’

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, signed a cooperation agreement with the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) to introduce the ‘Startup of The Year’ competition. The initiative will showcase winning projects from past StartUp Bahrain Pitch events.

The signing was in the presence of Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Chairman of Tamkeen and Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy and Chairman of Mumtalakat.

Spearheaded by the SME Development Board, the StartUp Bahrain Pitch initiative has been instrumental in strengthening Bahrain’s entrepreneurial ecosystem since its launch in 2023.

The initiative fosters stronger relationships between innovative entrepreneurs and potential investors, with support provided by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Tamkeen, the Economic Development Board, and Bahrain Development Bank (BDB). Mumtalakat will conduct a feasibility study of participating companies in the competition.

Based on this assessment, Mumtalakat will select one or more companies and invest in them via direct capital injections, subject to a predetermined set of pre-approved terms and conditions.

Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat said: “These investments aim to generate employment opportunities, promote economic diversification, and foster stronger collaborations between the public and private sectors in Bahrain.”

Tamkeen Chief Executive, Maha Abdulhameed Mofeez, said: “We launched the StartUp Bahrain Pitch initiative last year alongside our partners in the SME Development Board to address funding challenges for startups by providing them with the skills required to pitch their businesses to potential investors and secure funding.”

“As a result we trained over 64 startups through an intensive training bootcamp led by industry experts, and nine deserving winners were selected after presenting their ideas before a panel of expert judges and potential investors.