The fifth edition of StartUp Bahrain Pitch showcases five emerging local startups

Manama, Bahrain — StartUp Bahrain, the leading platform for startups in the Kingdom of Bahrain, recently held the fifth edition of the highly anticipated StartUp Bahrain Pitch series with the presence of His Excellency Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce. The event was organized in collaboration with key industry stakeholders, including the Ministry of Industry & Commerce, the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), the Bahrain Economic Development Board, and Bahrain Development Bank (BDB). The event included a keynote speech by Tarabut Gateway’s Chief Financial Officer, Tariq Sanad, who shared his insights on pursuing entrepreneurship and benefitting from Bahrain as the ideal launchpad for businesses to kickoff and expand in the region. ​

During the event, five Bahraini startups had the opportunity to present their businesses to an esteemed panel of judges including: Mokhtar Ibrahim, Principal of BECO Capital, Mohammed AlMunifi, Venture Capitalist at Faith Capital Holding, and Christina Andreassen, Director of Programs at AstroLabs, and Tariq Sanad, the Chief Financial Officer at Tarabut Gateway.

The startups represented various sectors and industries, who presented their own innovative solutions after going through a rigorous fundraising and pitching bootcamp, Raise: Art of Fundraising. Among the participating startups were Mame Pod, a local restaurant focused on serving a variety of healthy Japanese snacks; Oreem Delivery, an application that enables customers to order anything from anywhere in Bahrain under one umbrella; Sakani, a real estate application that allows customers to find property and contact agents and banks to receive approval for purchasing property; Kyan Jewelry, which specializes in creating 18k gold jewelry driven by art and nature; and lastly Lunchy, a foodtech app dedicated to providing personalized healthy lunch subscriptions for school children.

The esteemed panel of judges conducted a thorough assessment of each startup’s potential, acknowledging their impressive presentations. Ultimately, Mame Pod, founded by Fedaa Tawfeeq, was announced as the first-place winner.

“Winning the fifth edition of StartUp Bahrain Pitch is surreal as much as it’s an honor for myself and my team,” expressed Fedaa on their win. “I am deeply grateful to be granted the opportunity to participate in the bootcamp where I gained new skills and expanded my knowledge around pitching and fundraising, and directly followed by the StartUp Bahrain Pitch event which provided a real-life valuable platform for me to pitch my business. I’d like to thank the Ministry of Industry & Commerce, Tamkeen, the Bahrain Economic Development Board, Bahrain Development Bank, and the panel of judges as well as StartUp Bahrain for the support they have provided us with and this valuable experience which inspired us to reach new heights.”

On this occasion, Mr. Ali Hasan, Executive Director of Programs and Partnership Development at the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) highlighted Tamkeen’s unwavering commitment to nurturing Bahrain’s ecosystem through bespoke support programs and initiatives. “At Tamkeen, our foremost focus is to help startups overcome the challenges of securing funds, which is among some key challenges facing startups worldwide,” he emphasized. “StartUp Bahrain Pitch has consistently proved to be an avenue for founders in procuring potential investments and furthering their growth and prospect of expansion.”

Entrepreneurs interested in participating in the next cohort of StartUp Bahrain Pitch events can apply before 10 September 2023 through startupbahrain.com/pitch. Those selected will participate in the ‘Raise: Art of Fundraising’ bootcamp which will prepare them for pitching and raising investments. Following the bootcamp, they will get the opportunity to join the StartUp Bahrain Pitch event and present their concepts to a panel of seasoned judges.

If you’re interested to learn more about StartUp Bahrain and how you can be involved, follow @startupbahrain on social media, and get in touch to learn more.