Qatar University and Hyperthink announce “Qatar Entrepreneurship Awards” at CEED 2022

As a part of the 5th Conference on Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED 2022) activities which is going to be held on 17- 19 May, on behalf of Qatar University, the Center for Entrepreneurship, at the College of Business and Economics is hosting the 1st Edition of the Qatar Entrepreneurship Awards (QEA) in a partnership with regional consulting and technology firm HyperThink Systems.

The QEA awards ceremony is a pre-conference activity running on Tuesday 17 May 2022, at Qatar University. The event and related awards aim to provide recognition to the growing startup ecosystem in Qatar and recognize the prominent local entrepreneurs and promising startups in the country. The awards are important to encourage more innovation and to realize the potential of entrepreneurs in Qatar.

QU – Hyperthink entrepreneurship awards are spread across 6 categories- Best Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Health-tech of the Year, Best Delivery/E-Commerce of the Year, Best Fintech of the Year, and Best Social/Sustainable Entrepreneur of the Year. In addition to this, the event will witness Shark-tank style pitches by some of the inspiring startups in the country.

Professor Belaid Aouni, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Business and Economics, mentioned that the College is keen to support various entrepreneurship activities and research through different means including conferences. This conference is a good opportunity to promote Qatar University as a hub of entrepreneurship research in the region and to attract international researchers in entrepreneurship to Qatar. As this helps to develop networking with well known scholars and to exchange ideas and collaborate in new research projects.

Dr. Mahmoud Abdellatif, the Director of Center for Entrepreneurship, said that the event is an important pre-conference activity to shed the light on a number of success stories among innovators and entrepreneurs in Qatar. As we are keen to bring the 1st edition of the QEA to CEED 2022 along with our partner Hyperthink. The goal of bringing the awards to the conference is to strengthen the industry-Academia collaboration and to recognize the startups in Qatar and help them to gain visibility and recognition. We also aim to build the awards platform as an annual event at CEED and showcase the growing collaboration between academia, industry and startups in the country and beyond.

Dr. Boumediene Ramdani, is the CEED 2022 Program Chair, said that the CEED is the leading entrepreneurship conferences in Qatar bringing a community of scholars and practitioners interested in entrepreneurship research, teaching and practice. He also said that the conference is a forum for sharing cutting-edge ideas to advance entrepreneurship research in the region with the objectives to foster research collaborations among our members; share experiences in entrepreneurship and innovation practices; and develop sustainable policies that address economic, social, and environmental challenges. The three-days conference will witness renowned keynote speeches from many scholars in the filed including Dr. Shaker Zahra who is the Chair of Entrepreneurship, University of Minnesota, USA, Dr. Peter Kawalek, Director of the Centre for Information Management, Loughborough University, UK, and Dr. Wim Vanhaverbeke, Professor of Digital Strategy, University of Antwerp, Belgium. The conference will hold 14 sessions with diverse topics including Business Model Innovation, Smart Government, Digital Entrepreneurial Women, Digital Transformation through Blockchain, and Entrepreneurial Fintech among others. The conference will hold multiple panel discussions on The Future of Fintech; Entrepreneurship & Digital Transformation in the Arab World, Realities of Entrepreneurship & Digitalization in Qatar, and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the Arab World.

Mr. Awdesh Chetal, CEO of Hyperthink Systems emphasized that at Hyperthink, we believe that the future will be shaped by founders that master technology and innovation. Hyperthink wants the awards to be a platform for connecting, promoting, and showcasing the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Qatar and on the global scene through communication/PR, a competition, and event activities.

Awdesh added that HyperThink Systems Venture and Incubation programs support entrepreneurs in Qatar through its startup and venture support programs including startup incubation, fundraising, training, mentoring, intrapreneurship, and connection to the regional and global tech innovation ecosystem. It helps top-quality startups, investors and global businesses discover and engage with each other, blending platforms, practices, and people. The firm works with government, corporates, and startups across verticals and industries including manufacturing, healthcare, fintech, B2C, consumer/ mobility, Deep Tech (IOT and AI) among others.