02/04/2018 05:41 AST
The Saudi British Bank (SABB) recently celebrated the winners of the first batch of the Taqadam start up accelerator programme in the presence of several senior officials from the government, private sector along with the parties concerned with SME sector and start-ups.
SABB Taqadam is a mentorship-driven, hands-on multi-university startup accelerator developed and managed by the Kaust Entrepreneurship Center in collaboration with SABB. The programme helps potential university-based entrepreneurs turn projects into prototypes and ideas into businesses.
The event was attended by Hamam Hashem, director general Kafala Program; Mowaffaq Jamal, deputy governor SME General Authority for Development of Regions and Sectors; and David Dew, SABB managing director, said a statement.
The opening speech was delivered by Bader Al Saloum, deputy general manager commercial banking and supervisor of "SABB SME Initiative", it said.
Al Saloum stated that the programme, being held in cooperation with Kaust, is an example of SABB's major initiatives in support of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and exemplary for the bank's aspirations to assist and support SME sector being one of the most important elements of the kingdom's economic development.
The programme also constitutes one of the social initiatives adopted by SABB in line with its belief in its responsibility towards the community and to complement its pioneering role in supporting young people's aspirations and contribution to build a promising generation capable of leading the country's in various fields of trade, industry, knowledge and technology in future, it added.
Al Saloum emphasised the bank's intention to continue its support to more entrepreneurs during future Taqadum startup cohort events, said a statement.
Dr Kevin Cullen, vice president innovation and economic development at Kaust, also delivered a speech acknowledging the strategic cooperation with SABB to accelerate new university projects and support entrepreneurs that are establishing new ventures.
Dr Cullen praised the positive results of the programme in terms of the quality of the winning teams and their potential impact on the future of the Saudi economy. He pointed out that the drive for a partnership with SABB is to promote creativity and innovation is in line with the Kingdom's vision 2030.
At the end of the ceremony, Ghassan Al Amoudi, general manager commercial banking, SABB; and Dr Cullen, presented awards and commemorative shields to the winners.
It is worth mentioning that during the first batch of Taqadam programme, 160 initiatives were received from 13 universities, 30 of which were selected by a panel of experts and specialists, it said.
According to the programme plan, each team received financial support. Also members of the chosen teams were provided with scientific expertise and practical skills in various workshops lasting six months.
A total of six teams of entrepreneurs were selected and honoured as champions of the first version of the programme; that pave the way for receiving the Grand Prize, which is additional funding, mentorship and advisory to enable them to turn their ideas and initiatives into promising projects, it stated.
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