Process and Timeline

Rounds Dates Action
Round 1 September 15, 2015 Open call for submissions
November 30, 2015 Deadline for submissions
December 3 – 14, 2015 Judges evaluation and feedback
December 15, 2015 Announcement of the 30 semi-finalist teams
Round 2 December 15, 2015 – 09 January, 2016 Working on demos and requirements with assigned mentors and workshops
December 18-19, 2015 Workshop @ KAUST
January 9, 2016 Private event and announcement of the 18 finalist teams
Round 3 January 16, 2016 StartSmart Saudi conference and announcement of the 6 winning teams
    Round 1
    • Teams must fill and submit an online application that consists of two sections:
      • Management Team: accounts for 30 points of the Grade
      • Project/Startup Profile: accounts for 70 points of the Grade
    • Applications are accepted in English and Arabic.
    • In Round 1, each application is graded 3 times by 3 different judges with preferences given to the following criteria depending on the track you are applying for:
    Team The team composition takes an important share of the grade. Judges look for experience, value add, and relevance of each team member.
    Innovation Creativity and improvement of existing solutions and/or business processes with respect to current competitors or comparable. Within this definition, innovation does not necessarily mean technology.
    Scalability A business idea or a startup should not be limited to a local market. At a minimum, a nationwide market should be targeted. Preferably, the business could easily be replicated regionally or globally as the company expands.
    Social Impact The extent to which your project benefits the community (for Ideas and Startups who are interested in social enterprise track)
    Financial Sustainability How the social enterprise is maintaining its financial sustainability on the long term (applies to both for-profit and non-for-profit social enterprises)
     
    • Teams are respectively selected for the Idea and Startup tracks. These are teams that got the highest average score on their application forms. MITEF Saudi reserves the right to modify the number of teams selected.
    • To be eligible for Round 2, the semifinalist teams must achieve certain deliverables required.
     
    Idea Startup
    Developing a prototype (Model or built product or service to test a concept or a process) Submitting 2 pages executive summary
    Submitting 2 pages executive summary Securing More than 1 client
    Securing 1 client 10-12 business plan
    Submitting oral presentation
    Round 2
    • In Round 2, the selected semifinalist teams will attend the Workshop and a private judging event. The workshop is led both in English and Arabic.
    • The selection of the finalist teams for each of the tracks happens during the private judging event.
    Round 3
    • In Round 3, the finalist teams pitch in front of a Final Jury where they will have 6 minutes to present followed by 6 minutes of Q&A. After the final round oral presentations, the jury deliberates and selects the top three winners for each of the Ideas and Startup tracks.
    • In Round 3, the final round Oral Presentations are to be held in either English and Arabic language.
    • Information about the Final Round Judges will be available on our website as soon as the names are finalized.