Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC), founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Social Development Centre (SDC), has kicked-off the seventh wave of its LeanStartup Programme (LSP) with a ‘women edition’ speaker series entitled ‘The Rise of Female Entrepreneurship in Qatar.’
QBIC aims to encourage new entrepreneurs to refine their business ideas, overcome obstacles, and dedicate themselves fully to their startups as they take their first steps towards turning their ideas into reality by organising a speaker series session and inviting local and successful entrepreneurial experts.
QDB chief executive officer Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa, who is also QBIC chairman, said: “Small and medium-sized enterprises are the core of a diversified and flourishing economy. We keep witnessing different ideas that have the potential to highly-contribute to the local economy, and this is why we’re pleased to continue kicking off our flagship programme twice a year. With our assistance and support, we are actively expanding and developing stronger SMEs.
“The major role we play at QBIC benefits the interest of entrepreneurs as we ensure that their startup ideas are turned into reality, through which they can actively participate in the local economic and SME development. Uniting our expertise with established entrepreneurs is an essential part of transferring knowledge, which encourages aspiring ones to venture into the field of entrepreneurship. Female entrepreneurs are a great example of this.”
He added: “Our significant partnerships are essential to help us achieve our mission of developing the next QR100mn companies in Qatar, and it is only by unification that we can promptly and efficiently move towards a knowledge based economy. We look forward to incubating startups under our specialised incubators that are available in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and telecommunications giant Ooredoo”. This wave of the LSP entails business ideas in the fields of marketing, fashion, and education. Additionally, startup ideas in the field of tourism will fall under the QBIC Tourism specialised incubator, guided by QTA, whereas ideas in the area of technology will belong to the ‘Digital and Beyond’ specialised incubator, powered by Ooredoo.
Throughout the 10-week programme, entrepreneurs will work on developing their ideas and building prototypes in preparation for ‘Demo Day’ using the Business Model Canvas as part of the ‘lean’ methodology.
While QBIC previously hosted various speaker series sessions with renowned entrepreneurs such as Mohamed Jaffar, former CEO of Talabat.com; Christopher Free, general manager of Uber Qatar and the UAE; and Elmar Mock, co-inventor of Swatch, QBIC aims to shed light on the local accomplishments of Qatari women to showcase that businesses do not require feasibility studies to succeed – they require hard work, determination, and customer assessment, QBIC said.
The resource persons for the women edition speaker series, Razan Suliman, founder of Fanilla Couture; Aisha al-Jaidah, founder of Blue Penguin; Noof al-Marri, founder of Newline 4 Media; and Noora al-Amri, founder of Tartebkom Holidays, shared their personal achievements and the knowledge they acquired, which made them successful in entrepreneurship.
QBIC CEO Aysha al-Mudahka said: “Our entrepreneurs have been greatly benefiting from practical work, networking, and collaborating with experts in the field. We strongly believe in the local talents making a difference in the Qatari market, and we especially value and believe in the capabilities of Qatari women, which is what we wanted to highlight in this edition of our Speaker Series.”