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Seven young entrepreneurs from the technology sector pitched in front of a panel of investors in London for potential backing in their businesses as part of the C5 Cloud 10 technology accelerator programme, or Scalerator, in partnership with Tamkeen, the Bahrain Economic Development Board and powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The entrepreneurs placed their proposals to Atkins Global, HSBC Private Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, C5 Family Offices, C5 Cloud Partners and AWS Venture Capital Programme.
Qusay Al Arayedh, executive director of Tamkeen, said: “Going forward, we have the utmost confidence that our investment in such a successful programme is a solid step that will pave the way of making Bahrain a regional hub for accelerators.”
Tamkeen will continue to work with its partners to achieve its objectives of fostering entrepreneurship as its significance to the economy is not limited to creating jobs but also in nurturing and exploiting innovation, he added.
During the meetings, the entrepreneurs presented their elevated business plans, requirements for investment and took the opportunity to network with some of the world’s most experienced professional technology investors.
This pitch day represents the culmination of the first Cloud 10 Scalerator programme that has taken bright, young, tech-savvy entrepreneurs and provided them with a highly-structured three month programme of intensive mentorship giving them the practical tools to rapidly scale their businesses and given them access to investors.
The first batch started the programme in September and ended with the ‘pitch day’ in London and a subsequent one in Bahrain which will be taking place this month.
Cloud 10 is the first and only platform of its kind in the region that has been created to help young, technology enterprises – business to-business firms including FinTech, MedTech and EnergyTech - to scale-up their businesses using cloud computing.
The programme aims to create 300 technology champions over the next four years. It is open to enterprises from all over the region and participants will be invited to work out of the Accelerate offices, and C5 - a London, Luxembourg, Cape Town and Bahrain-based technology investment firm - will use its global network to provide technology and financial coaching, desktop support and mentorship.
It is believed that the project will play a role in creating a cloud ecosystem in Bahrain that will support innovation and provides opportunities and access for entrepreneurs to scale and compete on a regional and global level.
Companies interested in applying for the programme can contact Tamkeen or C5 Accelerate for more information concerning the application process. Another batch is set to start in January.
To apply to the Bahrain Cloud Accelerator, visit https://www. c5accelerate.com
