Kuwait City: – Coinciding with the launch of the Zain Innovation Center (ZINC) at Zain’s head office on Sunday 6 May, Zain Group announced partnering with Erada Business Incubators, fully licensed and accredited by the Kuwait National Fund (NF) for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. The initiative is aimed at preparing and building a thriving ecosystem for the startup community, through private and public-sector collaboration.

Launched in Kuwait, Erada combines the best of Silicon Valley’s long-heralded incubator nurturing approach and international best practice with local expertise to help budding entrepreneurs kick-start their journeys.  Erada cooperates with multiple leading entities in Kuwait with expertise in various industries including design, talent development, sales strategies, payment solutions, financial modelling, and legal structuring, to ensure the growth and success of startups.

Through the partnership and incubator program, Zain will support Erada and the startups on multiple fronts including in the provision of space for startups to work at ZINC; Zain personnel, associated technology and other partners providing advisory services; and by offering startups special prices on Zain voice and data services.

Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO stated, “Erada is the first-of-its- kind in the country, and we are delighted to be working with them as an essential partner in this endeavour to empower and promote aspiring Kuwaiti entrepreneurs. Zain has a long history of supporting the youth of Kuwait and this strategic partnership bolsters our efforts in the development of a diversified and sustainable economy. At Zain, we hope and look forward to having other leading Kuwait entities join the Erada initiative and be part of its future success.”  

Al-Kharafi added, “This partnership supports the future prosperity of the Zain Innovation Center (ZINC) and also offers Zain a prime opportunity to capitalize on the most promising innovative ideas in the regional digital space with the aim of investing in or partnering with these entities to offer our customers unique life-enriching services.”

Erada Founding Directors, Talal Al-Ajeel and Mohammed Al-Roumi see the empowerment of Kuwait’s young population as a vital part of their responsibility as community leaders. With two-thirds of Kuwaitis currently under the age of 30, preparing the local youth for the challenges of the 21st century is crucial. “We are very proud to launch Erada Business Incubators in partnership with Zain, as we strongly believe in the potential of the Kuwaiti youth and are dedicated to building an ecosystem that enables them to bring their business ideas to life.”

- MORE ON ERADA (STARTUP APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN AT WWW.ERADA.IO - ENDING MAY 18)

Erada’s first training program is now open for applications, with the first cohort starting in May 2018. Successful applicants in the creative industries will receive a subsidy from the NF for the entire program. These entrepreneurs will benefit from the customized and localized training that Erada provides in addition to a dynamic mentor network to help guide them through every stage of the business life-cycle from ideation through to market launch and beyond. 

As a pre-incubation program, Erada does not accept equity from its participating entrepreneurs. Participants simply enrol in the 12-week program (held at ZINC and other locations in Kuwait) and come away from it with a comprehensive business plan, feasibility study, marketing plan, and financial plan. This knowledge places them in a prime position to acquire funding from NF and other private investors thereafter.

NF subsidies are available to Kuwaiti entrepreneurs who wish to start a business within the creative industries. Successful applicants will form the first cohort to enter the Erada Business Incubator program. Additional non-subsidised cohorts are set to commence in the summer.    

Erada currently cooperates with the following Kuwaiti entities:

Al-Reyada Capital, a local collaborative working space for entrepreneurs operating in multiple industries;

era.media, a data-driven creative agency with a strong emphasis on content development, empowering brands;

Binan, a firm providing business consultations, solutions, and products and services for SMEs. The firm also provides clients with Islamic Financial services and Lean Six Sigma consultation;

Nuqat, a non-profit organization that arranges and develops workshops, seminars and cultural events throughout the year to nurture curiosity in children and adults;

Prime Sales provides sales solutions and strategies, implementation and results analysis, to improve organizations’ sales management by focusing on essential sales competencies;

FTL Legal Services, a business and creative focused company offering legal services;

TAP Payments, a Kuwaiti payment facilitator offering simple, secure online transactions; and National Web Solutions Company, a leading web solutions development solutions provider.

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© Press Release 2018