At Community Jameel Saudi, we always believed that small and medium enterprises played a vital role in growing the national economy. Driven by this convection, we have organized the MIT Enterprise Forum in Saudi Arabia since 2016 to stimulate the growth of the local entrepreneurship ecosystem. Today, we are re-innovating that highly anticipated annual event to meet the dynamic needs of the ecosystem. Equipped with a new name, the StartSmart Competition will utilize its membership in the MIT-Jameel World Education Lab network to deliver value and knowledge to Saudi entrepreneurs.

Over the years, we have seen some of the finest and brightest minds contending in our competition. Their innovations, business models, and aspirations were truly remarkable. More notably, they continued their journeys after the competition to grow their ventures. Some of them achieved evaluations that are worth hundreds of millions of Riyals, while others are ontheir way to being publicly listed on Tadawul. We are proud to have played a positive role in their growth stories, and will continue our efforts to contribute to the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of increasing the SMEs’ contribution to national GDP from 20% to 35%.

Dr. May
Member of the Board of Trustees at Community Jameel Saudi,
Director of Bab Rizq Jameel and Nafisa Shams