InspireU, a program launched by stc to support startups and entrepreneurship in the region, announced that despite the difficult conditions that countries all over the world are facing in light of the spread of the novel coronavirus ( COVID – 19 ) , it will continue to incubate many startup projects in its sixth and seventh intakes, whose agenda will be announced in the upcoming days.
Since its establishment in 2015, the program has managed to launch 38 startup projects and offer them support through many services such as financing, training and consulting. The launched companies have obtained investments amounting to SR 60 million; the market value of these investments is SR 300 million. Around 16 million users benefit from InspireU projects, which contributed to the creation of 160 thousand job opportunities, including part-time jobs.
Othman Dahash Aldahash, Corporate Development VP at stc Group, stated that among the program’s many successful accomplishments, was the adoption by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of a number of projects supported by the program in the field of marketing and learning, in order to facilitate people’s lives during the current period, since many precautionary measures have been taken by the Kingdom to limit the spread of the coronavirus and encourage all residents to stay at home and work remotely to maintain their safety. He added: “We are proud to see that InspireU’s outputs are contributing to the Kingdom’s digital economy and this is only a testament to our effective role in Digital Empowerment “.
Among the projects adopted within the initiative taken by the Communications and Information Technology Commission to optimize the technologies used in shopping and purchasing of necessities, or distance learning is the Mrsool application that provides delivery services, in addition to the Haseel application, fresh fruit and vegetable e-commerce platform that contributes to the delivery of fresh vegetables and fruits to the customer in refrigerated cars after processing them in a private laboratory to maintain a high level of quality, with several distribution points available in Riyadh to ensure that customers are being served in a timely manner.
Other projects adopted by the Commission include the Zid app, a mobile app for retailers, that simplifies e-commerce and makes it accessible at a competitive cost. Another project is the Voxel project specializing in air and ground 3D digital scanning software and services. The project carried out air thermal scans using the latest drone technologies to accurately and rapidly check and analyze body temperatures at crowded gatherings as part of the precautionary measures taken to address the threat of the coronavirus in cooperation with the Qassim Municipality. One more project is the Carwah platform, an electronic system that makes it easy for customers to search for cars to rent across the cities of the Kingdom via phone by facilitating the booking of cars and showing all nearby branches available offering customers a selection from thousand distinctive economic, sedan, or luxury vehicles. Customers can book a car to their name and have it delivered to their location at competitive daily rates.
In the field of education, the Dhad application for audiobooks has been adopted, offering a large collection of Arabic books and novels that can be accessed at any time free of charge, especially during the current conditions that require everyone to stay at home for long periods.
