AUK Team Win National Entrepreneurship Competition

Two AUK teams competed in the 2016 Startup Kuwait National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge held in Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa on 29 and 30 May, 2016. The initiative was launched by Kuwait University's Global Center to enable students to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions in the face of current social and economic challenges.

Kuwait Startup is under the patronage of the Minister of Commerce, Dr. Yousef Al-Ali and Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Bader Al-Eissa who attended the event along with the Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah.

Over 600 students competed in the challenge from GUST, ACK, Box Hill College and Kuwait University.

Participating teams presented their business ideas to a panel of judges consisting of entrepreneurs, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa and John Preseton from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in addition to audience members that included investors and fellow students.

One of the two AUK teams was selected as one of 5 winners of Kuwait Startup; students Ahmed Khalil and Abdullah Al-Ansari received KD 3000 to start their project, and were honored in an awards ceremony that was attended by AUK Dean of the College of Business and Economics Dr. Jin Wang.

Startup Kuwait is an initiative that was formally launched in November 2015 by the Global Center at Kuwait University's College of Business Administration. It is backed up by a Government allocation of KD 2 Billion to fund and support businesses.  

Image from the Event