To further enable early-stage companies that are constantly innovating in their sectors, KPMG Kuwait announced in July 2022 that it will be conducting its first-ever Global Tech Innovator competition. 

 

Given the heightened participation and growing interest across sectors, the firm has pushed the last date of application from August 25 to September 8, 2022. This will offer eligible organisations another opportunity to apply in case they failed to do so the first time. The competition will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Kuwait, and will aim to give Kuwaiti tech businesses the much-needed global exposure. 

 

The competition draws inspiration from pitch-based TV shows and will aim to provide local entrepreneurs, start-ups and early-stage companies in tech with the much-required boost by giving them a platform to pitch their ideas before the country’s finest industry experts.

 

Cutting-edge technologies

Speaking about the competition’s Kuwait debut, Ankul Aggarwal, Partner and Head of Deal Advisory, KPMG in Kuwait said: “I am excited to see the number of applications we have received and continue to for the Global Tech Innovator competition. A few of the applicants are using cutting-edge technologies and have innovative business ideas to disrupt the Kuwaiti market. We are also inviting industry leaders from the Kuwait market as our panel of judges and we will soon announce their names on our social media channels. As many of the entrepreneurs may have missed the opportunity to file their applications the first time, given the stature of the competition and the impact it can have on companies that are in their early stages, we are moving the application submission date to give them another chance.” 

 

The competition’s Kuwait leg comes off the back of the 2021 edition’s grand success across the world and in the GCC region. Interested entrepreneurs and start-ups can apply on or before September 8, 2022 (23:00 hours) by visiting KPMG Kuwait’s website kpmg.com/kw or via the direct link.

 

The applications will be reviewed by experts from KPMG Kuwait, and shortlisted participants will have to then pitch their ideas and strategic ambitions to a panel of industry leaders from Kuwait. To be considered a tech innovator, interested companies in Kuwait must meet the following eligibility criteria:

•They must be a Kuwait-registered company, with a revenue between $1 million and $15 million or have a minimum raised equity of $500,000.

•They should be in active operation for not more than five years (in their current form) and must not be owned by a large corporation.

•They will need to be a pure technology, tech-driven, tech-enabled or tech-led business and be able to conduct all of their pitches in English.

•They must be available to pitch virtually or physically at the Kuwait finale. 

The winner will be crowned as the 2022 Kuwait Tech Innovator and earn a chance to present at the Global finale at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal in November 2022. There, their pitch will be evaluated along with the other local winners based on six parameters, namely disruption and innovation, market potential, customer adoption, market traction and marketing, long-term potential, and pitch quality. The panel’s decision will be treated as final. 

 

Winners Report

The emerging winner will be declared the 2022 Global Tech Innovator and feature in KPMG’s ‘Winners Report’. They will also get a chance to connect with investors and network with other businesses and people who are from a similar domain. In 2021, the competition saw participation from about 700 innovators and influencers, with 4 out of the 17 finalists emerging from the GCC region alone. These were Taajer — a Bahrain-based food and beverage company, SkipCash — a mobile payment app from Qatar, KLAIM — an insuretech platform from the UAE, and Natufia — a smart kitchen garden start-up from Saudi Arabia.

 

Brazil’s agritech start-up Krilltech NanoAgtech was selected as the winner of the 2021 KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator competition.-- TradeArabia News Service