Syrian startup Future LabY has just won first place in the Growth stage of the EdTech Startups competition. While the Jordanian startup, Hafithni, won first place in the Idea stage. A total of six startups won up to $10,000 in in-kind prizes during the final pitch at SPARK’s virtual IGNITE 2021 conference.
BY WESAM OSAMA
Startups Without Borders and SPARK concluded the EdTech Startups Competition last October 13th, where six EdTech startups were awarded, three on the Idea Stage and three on the Early Stage. The startups took home up to $10,000 in in-kind prizes provided by the competition prize partners Zoho, Botme, Now Sprint, PyramidBits, Refugee Investment Network, and Forward Incubator.
Iraq-based Syrian startup Future LabY has just won first place in the Growth stage of the EdTech Startups competition. In which they presented a simulation system for Dental Science Education.
“We have developed an operative dentistry lab to be the first-ever virtual lab for dentistry students. By using our virtual lab, students are able to decrease the required time to learn and practise by 40%. Since we’re using augmented reality, we are able to provide a completely interactive educational tool with an explanatory system. Therefore, each student has a personal assistant to guide them step by step,” says Hasan Dayoub, the co-founder.
Turkey-based Syrian languages learning App, lisan.app, won second place in the Growth stage.
The startups took home a prize bundle that includes $1800 in Zoho Wallet Credits to use Zoho cloud services, fast track to join the Resilient 100 acceleration program by RIN. The startup will also get a server management service for a month along with Zoho applications onboarding and services by PyramidBits. Besides a free monthly consultation meeting on Chatbot optimization by Botme, together with their services and a six months free Messenger pro subscription package.
The jury members in the Growth stage were Omar Christidis, CEO and Founder at Arabnet, Dave Parker, CEO and Founder of Trajectory Media, Victoria Mehran, Venture Partner at Expert Dojo, John Kluge, Founder of RIN, and Mohamed Al Hadi, Lead Fragility and Resilience Specialist at Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
The Jordanian languages learning App, Hafithni, won first place in the Idea stage.
“Hafithni helps students memorize information online through scientifically proven spaced repetition flashcards,” says Nouran Hammad, Hafithni’s CEO.
Turkey-based Syrian startup, Efkar Design, won second place in the Idea stage. Efkar Design specializes in product design and educational tools manufacturing. They launched Efkar Kids, which produces toys for children to improve their sensory and intellectual skills.
The startups’ prize bundle includes $1800 in Zoho Wallet Credits to use Zoho cloud services and fast track to join the pre-acceleration program by Now Sprint. The startup will also get two hours of one-on-one consultation on MVP Building along with Zoho applications onboarding and free training by PyramidBits. Besides a free monthly consultation meeting on Chatbot optimization by Botme, together with their services and a six months free Messenger pro subscription package.
The jury members in the Idea stage were Dania Ismail, Co-founder of Jusoor, Fadi Bishara, Founder and CEO of Blackbox, Mariam Kamel, Manager of AUC Venture Lab and AUC Angels, Aleksander Kuczek, Chief Revenue Officer at Contabo, and Nouf Al Kaabi, Manager of Program and project Dept. at QFFD.
A Special Mention prize of a fast track to join the Resilient 100 acceleration program by RIN was given to Electrogami, a Turkey-based S educational and robotic startup, in the Growth stage. While another Special Mention prize of a fast track to join the Resilient 100 pre-acceleration program by RIN was given to Hi Deaf, a Lebanon-based Syrian startup that created a sign language teaching App, in the Idea stage.
The competition – organised with high contributions from Qatar Fund For Development, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) – the Tadamon programme – was open to refugee, migrant, and local entrepreneurs based in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.
The jury selected 50 semi-finalists, who were matched with Startups Without Borders’ exclusive network of mentors. The fields included Business Model Canvas, Marketing, Financial Planning, Pitching, and Product-Market Fit. The startups went through a 3-month mentorship journey with international mentors to take their business to the next level.
The finalists got the chance to pitch on the global stage at SPARK’s virtual IGNITE 2021 conference. Besides a mentorship program with top international experts from the corporate and startup landscape in Europe and the Middle East.
