The idea of holding the first Arab business plan competition was in 2005, the Arab business plan competition received about 48 business plans in its 1st version. The submitted business plans represented about 13 Arab Countries: Egypt (8 business plans), Jordan (11 business plans), United Arab Emirates (5 business plans), Morocco (5 business plans), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (4 business plans), Syria (3 business plans), Kuwait (2 business plans), Bahrain (2 business plans), Iraq (1 business plan), Palestine (1 business plan), Sudan (1 business plan), Libya (1 business plan), and Tunisia (2 business plans).
The technological Projects that submitted in the 1st Arab technology business plan competition covered the following fields:
- Information & Communication Technology.
- Electronics & Electrical instruments.
- Transportations.
- Medical & Materials science.
- Constructions.
- Water and Desalinization.
- Agriculture.
1st Arab Technology Business plan Competition phases was:
1st Round:
• Applying the Competition Applications and Executive Summaries (June 2005).
• Deadline for Applying the Applications and Executive Summaries (July 2005).
• Announcement of the 1st Round Winners (August 2005).
2nd Round:
• The starting of the Training Program for Participants (August 2005).
• Deadline for applying Business Plans and presentations (September 2005).
• Presentation for judging panels and Announcement of the top Winners (September 2005).
3rd Round:
• Deadline for applying Business Plans and presentations (November 2005)
4th Round:
• Top Teams Joined Intel + UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge in USA (January 2006).
The winners in the 1st Arab technology business plan competition were:
1st place: “Hakaya” business plan, Hakaya is a technological company specializing in software services and products, it include no. of domains cover the following fields:
- Telecommunications
- Health Services
- Manufacturing
- Insurance
2nd place: Astroleap” business plan which was a leading provider of mobile marketing solutions, Astroleap focused on mobile transformation from just a phone device to powerful money/time saving device to the end user.
3rd place: for “WadiMobile” business plan which was startup company in process to be setup in Dubai, UAE. “Wadi Mobile” product, called the Casta Platform, and it was client-server software application which enable compelling, interactive, and highly graphical mobile applications and services that were never possible before.