Wa’ed, the entrepreneurship arm of Aramco, today launched a national search to find and fund a new generation of Saudi entrepreneurs at a series of high-profile roadshow events to be held in six cities across the Kingdom.

The Wa’ed Entrepreneurship Roadshow will run from September through December and make stops in Jubail and Yanbu, Riyadh, KAUST north of Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah. The events will combine elements of start-up “shark tank” pitch competitions with high-level expert discussions about the state of entrepreneurship in the Kingdom.

The shows are designed to identify and finance a new generation of Saudi entrepreneurs whose game-changing ideas have the potential to open economic horizons in the Kingdom, supporting digitalization of industry and creating new jobs for Saudis.

Wa’ed has up to 100 million SAR at its disposal to disburse in loans and venture capital investments should it identify enough qualified entrepreneurs whose business ideas are unique, fill existing gaps in the Saudi economy and are commercially feasible.

Applicants ultimately selected by Wa’ed can qualify for individual venture capital investments of up to 19 million SAR each and no-collateral business loans of up to 5 million SAR, as well as Wa’ed’s incubation and mentoring services.

Wa’ed will open the online application process for all Saudi-based entrepreneurs on Wednesday, June 16, and a select group of finalists will be invited to participate in the roadshows. Applications by entrepreneurs can be made at: www.waed.net/roadshow.

The shows will focus on a range of economic sectors: technology, Fintech, agri-tech, environmental technology, industrial applications, reverse engineering, drones, petrochemicals, supply chain and tourism, among others.

The roadshows are being supported by Wa’ed partners including the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, Monsha’at, the Saudi General Authority for Small- and Medium Enterprises, Namaa Almunawarah and Wadi Makkah.