BIBAN
After four days of fierce competition, with 100 up-and-coming startups representing 53 countries, one has emerged the victor of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC). White Helmet, a company that provides a platform to manage and monitor construction operations remotely, from anywhere and at any time, returns home with a US$300,000 share of the $1 million prize pot.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230313005706/en/
The EWC winners and finalists at Biban 2023 came from around the world to compete (Photo: AETOSWire)
Co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and Monsha’at – the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority in Saudi Arabia – EWC is one of the world’s largest pitch competitions and startup support programs.
Since launching in 2019, EWC has engaged more than 400,000 entrepreneurs from 200 countries and connected founders with over US$4 million in cash prizes and another US$266 million worth of perks and free support and services.
The competition attracted over 30,000 founders, with 100 of the top-performing countries invited to pitch to a panel of international judges at the Global Finals after several qualifying rounds. The final pitches were held at Biban 2023, the largest forum for entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized enterprises in Saudi Arabia.
Providing over 105,000 participants a platform to advance entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, the forum’s theme this year is “Attract-Connect-Achieve”.
In addition to the grand $300,000 prize, 10 startups from diverse countries received cash prizes of $25,000-$200,000 to take their innovative solutions to the next level.
Sami Ibrahim Alhussaini, Governor of Monsha’at, said: “Saudi innovation and ingenuity has driven the advancement of the Kingdom’s startup and SME ecosystem forward over the past years. We are proud to have a Saudi company named the champion of the latest edition of the EWC. We hope this win will inspire more of our people to take that step forward and realize their entrepreneurial ambitions.”
“These founders and their companies are disrupting their industries and testing big ideas with potential to transform our world,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of GEN. “GEN is proud to co-host the Entrepreneurship World Cup for the fourth year, giving promising companies the opportunity to connect to global markets and investment.”
The Entrepreneurship World Cup is supported by several national and global partners including One Valley, The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF), Entrepreneurs’ Organization, King Abdullah University for Science and Technology and Startup Genome. The Misk Foundation is a founding partner.
*Source: AETOSWire
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230313005706/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Cinemo Launches Cinemo ICO™, Accelerating the AI-Driven Intelligent Cockpit19.12.2025 11:00:00 CET | Press release
The future of in-car intelligence, delivered today for hyper-personalized, safer, smarter, and more exceptional journeys Cinemo, a global leader and highly innovative one-stop-shop provider for fully integrated digital media products announces today the launch of its next-generation, AI-powered cockpit solutions - Cinemo ICO™. By bringing agentic AI, Cinemo unlocks a truly intelligent cockpit - connecting vehicles, drivers, passengers, and their digital ecosystems into one seamless, personal and context-aware flow. The first product launched within the Cinemo ICO™ portfolio is Cinemo ICO™ MediaMind, enabling advanced intelligent media discovery. It combines the latest agentic AI technology with Cinemo’s core expertise of providing automotive-grade media management, helping users effortlessly discover the right content for every ride - perfectly matched to their taste, context, and environment. With Cinemo ICO™ MediaMind, the digital media experience evolves: using cutting-edge large la
Cyviz Awarded Two Classified NATO Defense Contracts19.12.2025 08:00:00 CET | Press release
Norwegian technology and platform company Cyviz AS has been awarded two classified defense contracts by major European NATO-partner nations to deliver a fully mobile, containerised Command & Control (C2) capability, strengthening Europe’s operational readiness in high-threat and expeditionary environments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251218625485/en/ Image from a previous military exercise where Cyviz demonstrated a mobile command center solution. The contracts cover the design, integration, and delivery of secure, deployable operations centres engineered to NATO security standards, enabling military and security forces to establish full theatre-class command capability wherever operations require. Due to the sensitive nature of the missions, contract value and customer identities remain undisclosed. From Demonstrated Readiness to Operational Deployment The awards follow growing interest among European def
S3NS Announces SecNumCloud Qualification for PREMI3NS, its Trusted Cloud Offering19.12.2025 07:00:00 CET | Press release
PREMI3NS, S3NS’ (pronounced “sense”) trusted cloud offering, has now received ANSSI’s SecNumCloud qualification, meeting the most stringent protection requirements against extraterritorial laws in France and Europe The fruition of the partnership between Thales and Google Cloud enables organizations from the private and public sectors to innovate and transform with one of the broadest ranges of managed services in a trusted cloud environment Early adopters of S3NS include companies from the insurance, manufacturing, healthcare and finance industries S3NS, a subsidiary of Thales in partnership with Google Cloud, today announced that PREMI3NS, its "Trusted Cloud" (Cloud de confiance) offering, has received the SecNumCloud 3.2 qualification delivered by the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI). Meeting SecNumCloud 3.2’s protection and resilience requirements, which are known as the most demanding ones in France and Europe, it offers immunity from non-Euro
Meiji Seika Pharma Partners With MBC BioLabs to Strengthen Global Innovation in Drug Discovery19.12.2025 02:00:00 CET | Press release
Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Toshiaki Nagasato) today announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with MBC BioLabs which is a private organization supporting the development of biotech startup companies in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. MBC BioLabs provides fully equipped research facilities and a supportive community that help biotech entrepreneurs accelerate from concept to company. By removing the burden of building and maintaining laboratory infrastructure, resident companies can focus early on research and development while efficiently advancing commercialization. Through this partnership, Meiji Seika Pharma will further advance its open-innovation initiatives and strengthen research and development in its priority therapeutic areas: infectious diseases, hematologic diseases, and immune-inflammatory diseases. By engaging with the entrepreneurs and startup community at MBC BioLabs, the company aims to discover inn
Enry's Island SpA Strengthens Its Leadership in Venture Capital with Explosive Growth and Redesigns the Future of VC Through Gaming19.12.2025 00:34:00 CET | Press release
Announcement of Enry’s Island AdVentures: the world’s first video game to learn how to launch and scale startups, focused on democratizing innovation for “Long Tail Users” Enry’s Island SpA (WBAG:EIOS), the world’s first publicly listed venture builder, announces a new era of growth, innovation, and the democratization of Venture Capital (VC). The company has delivered exceptional results, consolidating its position as an industry leader through a strategic positioning in the rapidly expanding gaming market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251218742236/en/ Record Growth and Performance Enry’s Island SpA has demonstrated an extraordinary growth trajectory and a strong financial and operational track record: Revenues: +250% year-over-year (YoY). Exit: $3.6M in exits realized via IPO. Portfolio: 1 IPO of a portfolio company completed in December 2024, with an additional 2 IPOs expected in 2026. The performance of
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom