Huawei inaugurated the first edition of the Huawei Cloud Startup Program in Kuwait. The program was launched in collaboration with local partners, including the Central Agency for Information Technology, Rasameel Investment Company, Youth Assembly of Kuwait, and eWTP Arabia Capital.
During the event, Dr Ammar Al Husaini, Acting Director General of CAIT, Mr Rico Lin, CEO of Huawei Kuwait, Mr Dakhil AlDakhil, CEO of Rasameel Company, Ms Jessica Wong, Founder and Managing Partner of eWTP Arabic Capital delivered speeches and shared their opinions on enabling digital transformation and supporting the startup ecosystem.
Members of the youth assembly like Mr Saleh Al Shammari and Ms Jamila Al Otaibi supported the event. Locally well-known business leaders like Mr Sulaiman Al Tarrah, CEO of Bleems, Mr Abdulaziz Al Loughani, CEO of Floward, and Eng. Ashwaq Al Mudhaf, CEO of Accelerate Incubator, also provided insight into their experiences in various SME-related fields.
For a chance to be accepted into the Huawei Accelerator programme, the programme invites Kuwaiti entrepreneurs in the industries of Financial Services & Insurance, Healthcare, Education, Telecommunications, eCommerce/Internet, Media & Gaming, and Mobile Applications to compete. The programme gives startups the chance to grow their companies by utilising Huawei’s top-tier technological know-how and through privileged mentorship sessions, networking assistance, and technical training.
Rico Lin, CEO of Huawei Kuwait said: “Huawei will devote technological and human resources, leverage its complete business portfolio in the cloud-plus-cloud collaboration space to foster technological innovation, global and local services and business ecosystems to accelerate the growth of startups. We will utilize the startup program to offer Kuwaiti entrepreneurs access to capital, technology, and the market.”
Dr Ammar Al Husaini, Acting Director General of CAIT said “The Huawei Cloud Startup Program seeks to encourage youth entrepreneurship in Kuwait, unlocking the path of promising opportunities for startups to access the technology and market knowledge from Asia. It also supports accelerating the digitalization of SMEs, which will contribute to the country’s digital transformation.”
Startups that want to join the programme can register via the website until 31 January 2023. The programme offers three levels of benefits: the first level includes a voucher for $5,000, the second level includes a voucher for $8,000, and the third level includes a voucher for $15,000. In addition to branding opportunities, joint expansions, training and technology support, and solution support, these levels also include vouchers for $8,000, $8,000, and $15,000. By March 2023, the program will have culminated with a pitch and migration. The top 10 finalists will pitch live in front of a jury panel, followed by the migration of the startup solutions to the cloud.
The goal of the Huawei Cloud Startup programme is to encourage young people to innovate while also helping local SMEs go digital and expand faster. The initiative is managed by Huawei Cloud in collaboration with regional venture capital firms and municipal authorities. The programme, which has had tremendous success all around the world, is now being offered in Kuwait for the first time to support the country’s startup community and offer them technical and business support.
