Business & Money | Monday 20 April, 2015 8:25 am |

An action-packed weekend entrepreneurship program offered a platform for young Saudis to learn and exchange ideas and brought glory to 14 participants.
The three-day program, Startup Weekend, organized by the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) at the Four Seasons Hotel, concluded on Saturday.
Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, KACST president, gave away prizes to the 14 young Saudis at the closing session of the event. He said the KACST is keen on moving toward building the knowledge industry of the Kingdom.
“To achieve this target, support has been sought from various organizations such as the ministries of Commerce and Industry, Education, Labor and Social Affairs, which would eventually pave the way for a knowledge-based economy,” he said.
The prince said that the talents and skills of the winners were harnessed in a manner that could be used for their future ventures.
Princess Nourah bint Faisal said the program helped the young men and women to come out with their respective skills to develop their future ambitions.
Startup Weekend is a 54-hour program which has been designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs.
Beginning with Thursday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development and basic prototype creation, the program culminated with demos and presentations.
The participants created working startups and were able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily network.
All the teams listened to speeches by industry leaders and received valuable feedback from local entrepreneurs. The weekend is centered around action, innovation and education.
Whether you are looking for feedback on an idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets or a team to help one to execute, Startup Weekend is the perfect environment to test one’s idea and take the first steps toward launching it.