Bahrain: Tamkeen launches Young Entrepreneur Programme
The Labour Fund (Tamkeen) announced the opening of applications for its Young Entrepreneur Programme (Mashroo3i 2.0). The programme was previously known as Mashroo3i and was launched by Tamkeen in 2012 following which it ran for six editions.
The updated version of this programme aims to empower Bahrainis who are between the age of 16 and 30 and who possess an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation. It also grants them the opportunity to bring their concepts to life and launch new business ventures, enhancing economic growth led by Bahraini Youth.
Over the course of the programme, participants will gain the skills and knowledge required to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path, which contributes to building sustainable businesses in the local economy. These include skills around ideation, concept validation, prototype planning and development, financial planning and forecasting, developing go-to-market strategies, and pitch development, among other key skills.
The Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) program was designed to support youth with a business idea to develop their personal and entrepreneurial competencies and encourage them to innovate and commercialize their concepts. It will create a pipeline of quality startups ready to benefit from accelerators and raise funds from venture capital investors. The program will offer advisory support through a deep bench of expert mentors that will help them validate their ideas and de-risk their entry into the labour market, therefore, accelerating their growth and expansion.
Innovative youth with a business idea can apply to the program online from the 11th of September 2022 through Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) page on Tamkeen’s website (www.tamkeen.bh).
The programme accepts applications from both teams and individuals with a viable business concept or who have startups that are in the idea stage and early stage. The program will run for six weeks, with the first phase comprising of a comprehensive bootcamp focused on helping participants refine and validate their business ideas. The second phase will be an intensive Startup Advisory Programme dedicated to equipping startups with the skills and connections to accelerate their launch and develop their minimum viable product. At the end of the programme, up to ten teams will have the opportunity to pitch their developed business concepts to potential investors during a demo day event.
Following this, the top participants will receive Tamkeen grants to launch new businesses while a number of participants will gain access to Tamkeen’s support through other relevant programs.
