Potential.com, the Education Technology (Ed-Tech) leader for lifelong learning in the Middle East and Africa, today announced the conclusion of the 2nd cycle of Hadafi, its women entrepreneurship program. The interactive online program, which aims to support women who are passionate about entrepreneurship and business, was initially launched in Saudi Arabia and is currently being expanding across the Arab world and beyond.
Hadafi, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), is a free of charge program which aims to reach out to Women who would like to turn their passion into a successful enterprise. The program supports them in enhancing their business skills through a series of weekly webinars, startup tools, exposure, prizes and financial support. Hadafi is supported by global and regional headline partners such as Dell, Intel Corporation, Zain KSA, and Harvey Nichols KSA.
Each cycle of the program lasts for five months and consists of three phases including: an awareness phase, a training and development phase, and an awards phase which took place on 14 June at the Ritz Carlton – JBR in Dubai. The Top 10 finalists were shortlisted from over 1000 submissions representing six countries: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Tunisia, Jordan, and Palestine, and competed for the top 3 positions.
The top 3 winners were, first rank, Noura Al Harithy from Taef, Saudi Arabia, second rank, Mariam AlMutairi, from Riyad, Saudi Arabia, third rank, Qamar Al-Tarawneh, from Amman, Jordan.
First place winner, Noura Al Harithy, introduced Wardat Store an online store for selling and marketing products of Taif roses of all kinds (including aromatic, cosmetic, household, etc (. Mariam Al Mutairi, the runner up, presented “Ivant”, a platform that helps build an online social network and community for people to manage and organize events. IVant assists individuals to organize, plan and promote events easily through its online tools.
Third place winner, Qamar Al Tarawneh, created ABJAD an innovative glove that has alphabets on it and which enables hard of hearing individuals to communicate with others. ABJAD is a product that bridges the communication gap between individuals with hearing impairments and the general public without the need for prior knowledge of sign language.
Winners won cash, product prizes and services such as incubation, post event coaching, online marketing support, totaling more than $50,000. They also got a chance to meet with investors at the event.
Shadi Banna, Managing Partner of Potential.com commented, “We are very excited in the positive response that Arab women demonstrated by being part of the Hadafi program and community. This has prompted us to expand our investment in the program and the various services provided to participating women so we help increase their chances of success in their ventures.” Dave Brooke, General Manager for Dell Middle East, said “At Dell we are committed to assisting entrepreneurs and helping them to overcome the challenges they face with technology solutions designed to enable them to maximize their opportunities. We are already involved in a number of entrepreneurial programs such as the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network. Supporting Hadafi provides another way in which we are able to encourage and celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit.”
In addition to the headline partners listed above, other leading local and international took part of the Hadafi program and community. This has prompted us to expand our investment in the program and the various services provided to participating women so we help increase their chances of success in their ventures.”
Organizations such as the UAE Higher Colleges of Technology, Riyadah, BCI Group, Girls in Tech, Mena Apps, Dubai Business Women Council, Al Nahda Society, AllWorld Network, Makeen, Qotuf, and 3eesho have also supported the program.
Banna concluded: “We would like to thank all our partners for supporting this initiative. They have enabled us to provide this program for free. We believe that the region has huge untapped potential that is represented in Women who are still not actively participating in the economy and through this program we aim to empower them to succeed in their career as entrepreneurs or employees.”
The 3rd rollout of HADAFI program will be launched in October 2014 and women from all across the Middle East and North Africa region are invited to register and benefit from this amazing opportunity. To register or for more information, please visit: english.hadafi.me
