Al-Fikra National Entrepreneurship Competition

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The Competition

Al-Fikra is a national entrepreneurship competition for students, faculty and researchers in higher education institutions, helping them develop skills and create impactful businesses through specialized training.

Organized by Qthe Center for Entrepreneurship â€“ College of Business & Economics (Qatar University) in partnership with Qatar Development Bank.

Objectives

Create a collaborative innovation community in higher education.
Develop entrepreneurial knowledge and skills.
Turn research and innovation into socio-economic impact.

Highlights:

Who is it for?

Teams (2-5 members) with a startup idea or project.
Lead member must be affiliated with a university in the state of Qatar.
Early-stage ideas only; incubated teams/startups are excluded.
Open to students, researchers, faculty, and staff from any university in Qatar.
Priority is given to undergraduates in their 3rd year or beyond.

Participation Requirements:

English communication skills.
In-person training is mandatory; online sessions as needed.
Agreement to be filmed during competition.

History

The launch of the National Entrepreneurship Competition (Al-Fikra) dates back to 2013, when the first version of the competition was launched, with the aim of fostering and developing entrepreneurs in the country.

Over the years, Al-Fikra gained interest from entrepreneurs, sponsors, the business community and various supporters making it the biggest and most anticipated entrepreneurship competition in Qatar. In 2022, Al-Fikra focus shifted towards Universities as they play a pivotal role as the knowledge and innovation entities in the national ecosystem.

Al-Fikra competition received on average 200 teamâ€™s applications equivalent to over 400 team members from over 15 higher education institutes across Qatar. Al-Fikra provides the opportunity to attract the higher education segment across Qatar including undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, staff and faculty members to learn how to take their ideas forward while being hosted at Qatar University.