Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) announced the winners of its eighth wave of LeanStartup Program (LSP) on Demo Day.
Thirteen out of the original 46 startups that joined LSP 8 pitched to a panel of judges, investors and key partners yesterday at the QBIC campus under the sponsorship of QNB.
Demo Day 8 contained business ideas in the fields of marketing, F&B, fashion, sports, industrial, cultural, ICT, trading, health and education. Additionally, startup ideas in the field of tourism fell under the QBIC Tourism specialised incubator, guided by Qatar Tourism Authority, whereas ideas in the area of technology belong to the Digital and Beyond specialised incubator, powered by Ooredoo Qatar.
Throughout the 10-week program, entrepreneurs worked on developing their ideas and building prototypes in preparation for Demo Day using the Business Model Canvas as part of the ‘lean’ methodology. 7 startups were incubated at QBIC and will be receiving mentoring services, office space and most importantly financial support to start their businesses.
The Demo Day was an opportunity for QBIC to introduce new activities and events including a QBIC Alumni Network and a Mix and Match Networking Session where aspiring entrepreneurs with business ideas presented them to an audience in hopes of finding a business partner. Moreover, QBIC continues their ‘Investors Pitch’ sessions. These sessions provide a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to a panel of potential investors. Incubated entrepreneurs from previous waves also had the opportunity to present their accomplishments at Demo Day 8. Each startup was given 60-seconds to share their exciting success stories with the attendees as well as family and friends. Moreover, the entrepreneurs were given stands in order to showcase their startups’ products and services outside the main hall.
Qatar Development Bank CEO and QBIC Chairman Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, said: “After almost three years of success we are thrilled to be hosting the eighth edition of Demo Day. We are capitalizing on this opportunity not only to announce the incubatees who successfully completed the eighth wave of our renowned LeanStartup Program, but also to celebrate and showcase the success of our existing entrepreneurs.”
Al Khalifa added: “With the number of our incubated startups rapidly increasing, I can confidently say that with the help of our partners and by unifying our efforts, we’re playing a central role in developing the local private sector and more particularly SMEs in Qatar; and through that we’re aligning ourselves with Qatar’s wider national vision.”