March 11th marked the first in the line of events that is meant to raise the profile of entrepreneurship in Bahrain. Falling under the patronage of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, there were seven categories acknowledged and presented for the finals ceremony. The seven categories and the winners respectively are: Micro Enterprise of the Year – Namaste, Start-up of the Year – Obae & Hill, Enterprise of the Year (SME’s) – Creative Style, Enterprise of the Year (Large Companies) – Abdulla Ahmed Nass & Sons Co, Sustainable Business Award (SME’s and Large Companies) – BMMI, People’s Choice Award – AlMoayyed Contracting Group and Life Time Achievement Award – Mr Hussein Ali Yateem.
The 10 Judges lined up for this award are some of the more prominent figures in the industry. The criteria on which they had to judge were Enterprise Growth, Impact on Bahrain’s Economy, Optimisation and Development of talent, Leadership and Innovation, Entrepreneurial Spirit and finally Business Responsibility. The esteemed judges were:
1) HRG Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed – Founder of KBW Holding and KBW Consultancy.
2) Ahmed Nassef – CEO of Vyu
3) Badr Jafr – Managing director of the Crescent Group and Founder of Pearl Initiative.
4) Habib Haddad – CEO of Wamda, Founder of Yamil and Yalla Start-up.
5)Hala Fadhel – Chair of MIT Pan-Arab Forum
6) Nina Carley – Managing Director of Flat6Labs and Former Editor-in-Chief of Wamda
7) Rama Chakaki – She created Baraka Ventures and established BarakaBits
8) Rosemary Tan – Creative director of Palam Mesra Bhd
9) Talal Al Zain – CEO for Pine Bridge Investment
10) Tony Bury – Launched 3Sixty Capital and also founded the Mowgli Foundation.
For more information on the winners, judges or on how to apply visit their website.