Huawei inaugurated the first edition of the Huawei Cloud Startup Program in Kuwait on 20 December 2022. 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.
The program calls on Kuwait startups in the fields of Financial Services & Insurance, Healthcare, Education, Telecommunications, eCommerce/Internet, Media & Gaming, and Mobile applications to compete for a chance to enter the Huawei Accelerator program. The program offers startups the opportunity to elevate their businesses by leveraging Huawei’s leading technology expertise and through exclusive mentoring sessions, networking support, and technical training.
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.
The event received support from members of the youth assembly like Ms. Jamila Al Otaibi and Mr. Saleh Al Shammari. Local influential entrepreneurs such as Mr. Abdulaziz Al Loughani, CEO of Floward, Mr. Sulaiman Al Tarrah, CEO of Bleems, and Eng. Ashwaq Al Mudhaf, CEO of Accelerate Incubator, also shared their experience within multiple SME domains.
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.”
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.”
Startups can register via the website until 31 January 2023. In addition to the training and technology support, branding opportunities, joint expansions, and solution support, the program features three levels of benefits, the first level encompasses a voucher for $5,000, the second level will include a voucher for $8,000 and the third level comprises a voucher for $15,000. The program will culminate with a pitch and migration at the end of March 2023. 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 Huawei Cloud Startup program aims to support innovations by the youth, the digitalization of local SMEs and accelerating their business growth. HUAWEI CLOUD runs the initiative in partnership with local venture capital firms and local governments. The program has proved highly successful around the globe and is now available in Kuwait for the first time to support the local startup scene and provide them with technical and business support.
