Section 1 | Participation and Attendance


1- The “MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Competition 2021-2022” is brought to you by the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia.

2- By entering the competition, you hereby warrant that all of the information that you submit is accurate and complete in every respect

3- Entering the competition and accessing our website is free of charge

4- Only one entry is allowed per team in the same edition

5- Applications are submitted through our website www.mitarabcompetition.com or www.mitefsaudi.org. You must:

  • Log in to your account or create a new one if you don't have one
  • Choose the language you would like to continue with
  • Select the track you are eligible for
  • Fill out the application form
  • Submit the application before the deadline

6- If you are selected as a semifinalist, you will be notified of your selection via email. If you fail to respond within 48 hours of being notified, you will automatically forfeit your right to compete in the second round. If you do not provide the required information needed for the next phase of the competition within the specified deadline, you will forfeit your right to compete in the second round.

7- Any changes to the founding team, location, and/or name of the startup/idea after the submission of the application or after being selected as a semifinalist must be communicated with the MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia teams for notification and approval.

8- Semi Finalist teams are required to attend the bootcamp, Startup Investment Forum (SIF), judging, conference & the final award ceremony. These events will be held physically in Medina, Saudi Arabia.. At least one member (Co-founder or CEO) per team is required to attend all events. If for any reason (force majeure) the organizers are not able to hold the event physically, then the competition will be held virtually.

9- Semi finalist teams are expected to work on and submit specific deliverables prior to the bootcamp, SIF, Conference, and Awards Ceremony.

10- For the Bootcamp, MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia will be welcoming 2 members of the semifinalist teams and attendance is mandatory.

11- Startup Investment Forum (SIF) attendance:

  • Pitching to investors
  • Presence of at least one team member at the booth
  • Attend investment seminar and panel discussion
  • Apply for investment meeting through Mumayiz app

12- For the Final Event, participants are expected to attend the entire conference and award ceremony.

13- The timeline of the competition will be posted on our websites and the agendas of the BootCamp and Final event will be shared with the semifinalists. MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia reserve the right to change any date at any time.

14- All Semifinalist teams will be listed in the MITEF Pan Arab directory which includes information about the teams’ status within the competition in addition to general information about the startup.

15- After the closing of the edition, semifinalists are required to cooperate with the MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia teams

for follow up through surveys, phone calls, community giveback opportunities, and coverage on the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab’s blog.


Section 2 | COMPETITION PROCESS


1. The MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Competition is divided into 3 tracks: the ‘Ideas’ track, the ‘Startups’ track and the ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ track. The startups in each track go through 3 rounds of judging:

  • Round One:
    • Teams must fill and submit an online application which consists of the following sections:
      • General questions
      • Innovation
      • Financial Sustainability
      • Scalability
      • Team
      • Social Impact (for Social Entrepreneurship track only)
    • Each application is graded by at least 2 different judges. Judges place more importance on certain criteria, depending on the track you are applying for:
      • Team: The team takes up an important part of the total grade. Judges look for experience, value added, and the relevance of each team member to the project
      • Innovation: Creativity and improvement of existing solutions and/or business processes with respect to current competitors or comparable products and services. Within this definition, innovation does not necessarily mean technology.
      • Financial Sustainability: The entity should be financially sustainable in the long term. Donors’ grants and sponsorships are not considered financial sustainable approaches.
      • Scalability: A business idea or a startup should not be limited to a local market. At a minimum, a nationwide market should be targeted; preferably, the business should be easy to scale up regionally or globally as the company expands.
      • Social Impact (only applicable to Social Entrepreneurship Track): The extent to which your project benefits the community.
    • 20 teams per track are selected for the Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship tracks. These teams will have scored the highest average score on their application forms. MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia reserve the right to modify the number of selected teams.
    • To be eligible for Round 2, the semifinalist teams must submit certain deliverables that will be communicated to them in due time. The semifinalist teams must also sign the “Engagement Letter”. All persons whose names are mentioned as part of the team must sign the form.
  • Round 2 Judging:
    • The semifinalist teams are required to pitch in front of a Round 2 jury during the final event where they will have 3 minutes to present, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. After the oral presentation of the second round, the jury will deliberate and select the 10 finalist teams for each of the Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship tracks.

  • Final Round Judging:
    • Finalist teams are required to pitch in front of a Final Jury where they will have 3 minutes to present, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. After the oral presentations of the final round, the jury will deliberate and select the three winners for each of the Ideas, Startups, and Social Entrepreneurship tracks.

2. Online applications are accepted in English, French and Arabic

3. Oral presentations during the second and final round of judging should be delivered in English

4. Information about all the Judges will be available on our websites as soon as the names are finalized


Section 3 | Prizes


  1. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the first 3 winners from each track
  2. Prize money will only be transferred to the legal entity specified in the signed semifinalist manual
  3. Prize money will NOT be transferred to individuals
  4. If the startup is not registered as a legal entity within the 3 months following the competition, MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia will no longer transfer the money prize.
  5. MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia will endeavour to send prizes within three months of the competition end date but cannot guarantee this delivery time
  6. The monetary prize awarded to the winners is equity free, i.e. the MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia teams will not require any equity in return for the money


Section 4 | Disqualification


MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia reserve the right to disqualify any entry at any phase of the competition. The reasons for disqualification can be a breach of any of the rules, eligibility criteria, any applicable law, bad conduct or offensive behavior, or invalid answers contained in the applications.


Section 5 | Liability


1- MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia do not claim any proprietary rights over the initiatives, technologies, and ideas submitted to the competition. All ideas and technologies are the sole property of the submitter

2- Personal information collected about you is used for the purpose of the competition and will not be distributed to third parties without your consent

3- MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia reserve the right to amend the above mentioned rules at any time

4- In the event of any misinterpretation regarding these rules, the conduct or results of the competition, or any other matter relating to the competition, the decision of MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia shall be final and unchallenged

5- While every care is taken to ensure that the competition runs successfully, MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia will not be held responsible for any loss, damage, inconvenience, or disappointment of any kind suffered by any entrant resulting from the competition

6- MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia does not endorse any external linked sites and is not responsible for their content

7- MITEF Pan Arab & Saudi Arabia reserve the right to conduct the bootcamp, SIF, and awards and final event ceremony virtually should there be any changes in the rules & regulations that prohibit foreigners from entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.