QU college holds entrepreneurship contest

Qatar University’s College of Business and Economics (QU-CBE) held a competition entitled ‘Entrepreneurs and Cash Catch,’ within the framework to support entrepreneurship and innovation among its students. The contest, a part of the Entrepreneurship and Small/Medium Business Management course in the Fall 2022 semester, is being organised in co-operation with QU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship & Organisational Excellence.The aim was to identify students' entrepreneurial ideas. The students were required to present a creative poster summarising a business plan for a new entrepreneurial project, which was then shown to investors, business incubators and entrepreneurs in Qatar with the aim of seeking financial support for their projects. Winning students were judged for their presentation which had to encompass the name of the project, identify a problem, provide a solution, target market, technology (if applicable), competition, marketing and sales, the team, financial forecasting, current status of the project (sold, or startup) and finally clarify the sources of funding.Poster presentations were followed by a panel discussion entitled ‘Financing Opportunities for Entrepreneurial Projects in Qatar’, moderated by Dr Sarah al-Maadeed, assistant professor of management at QU.Dean Dr Rana Sobh noted that the CBE is concerned with supporting entrepreneurs and innovators in general through its academic programmes and activities. This year the college began to offer minors in entrepreneurship and innovation to all QU students from various disciplines, which contributes to developing their entrepreneurial knowledge and capabilities and encouraging them to innovate. Dr Rana stressed that this competition works to link the academic aspect with on-ground experience, allowing students to contribute in providing new services and products to society. Th exercise supports the spirit of competition among students and allows them to interact with business leaders, creating a link between the college and the community.The competition also helps support the development of a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation among QU students in general, helping to widen their horizons and encouraging a new generation of entrepreneurs who contribute to achieving sustainable economic development, one of the main pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030. The Centre for Entrepreneurship & Organisational Excellence director Dr Said Elbanna said the competition gave students the opportunity to present their entrepreneurial projects to investors, business incubators, supporting financing institutions and experts.Dr Mohammed Elgammal, section head of Case Study and Community Engagement at the Centre for Entrepreneurship & Organisational Excellence thanked the experts who spoke at the event. They were Rashid al-Mansoori, CEO of Aamal Company; Dr. Hashim al-Sayed, chairman of the Qatar Association of Certified Public Accountants; Mahmoud Abdullah, head of SME at Qatar International Islamic Bank; Omar Sharif from IT services provider Eden Solutions; Abdulla al-Mansoori, director of the Qatar Career Development Centre; and Suleiman al-Haidar, director of Startups at the Qatar Stock Exchange.The following projects won the competition: ‘Makani’ project by Maha al-Dosari, Shahd al-Dosari, Al-Dana al-Qahtani, Aisha al-Nuaimi; the ‘Wakala’ project by Saad Haroun, Saeed Haroun, Mohammed al-Mazrouei; Al-Amal team comprising Majd al-Shammari, Amna al-Mohannadi, Shouq Shajaa, Moudi al-Mutawa; the ‘Mealzz’ project established by Yaman Khamis, Musab Roshan, Miqdad al-Taher; the ‘LifeSmart’ project by Lolwa Issa, Moza al-Nuaimi, Aisha al-Emadi, Maryam al-Muftah, Islam al-Shara'a; and the ‘Tourdom’ project by Rania al-Yamotia, Samira Patel, Amina Mustafa, Shaima Sharif.