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Kuwait – November 10, 2025:
Zain Group announced that 13 tech startups from across its six operating markets in the region have been selected by judging panels to advance to the next phase of its flagship accelerator program Zain Great Idea (ZGI) — the Global Acceleration Phase in Palo Alto, California, specifically in Silicon Valley, the world’s capital of entrepreneurship.

From Jordan, Alefredo Exams qualified — an educational platform that provides school and university students with an interactive assessment tool offering explanations that identify their weaknesses and recommend supportive material to improve them.

From Kuwait, the selected startups are:

• Farah – a comprehensive destination for wedding planning, enabling couples to book all wedding needs directly from verified providers in one place.

• LumenPro – a platform bringing together the most powerful AI tools in one hub, offering a creativity center where ideas are transformed into images within seconds, designed for creators, companies, and visionaries across the MENA region and beyond.

• Playbook – a digital platform that helps parents discover and book children’s parties easily while supporting suppliers to manage and streamline their operations efficiently.

• Provis Management Consulting – founded by Nasser Al-Helali and Fatima Buarki, a human resources company that helps local firms and startups build strong teams and operates Searly, a specialized platform for recruiting culinary and kitchen talent across the GCC.

• Tenmeya – the first Arabic platform enabling content creators to monetize their work by uploading and selling digital content and delivering products in one place without technical complexity.

• theQA – the first research platform in Kuwait connecting brands with verified local participants to collect fast, high-quality insights, helping companies make smarter, data-driven decisions.

From the UAE, FortyGuard qualified — an AI solution for ultra-accurate temperature measurement, with precision up to two meters and 115 times more accuracy than traditional models. It serves logistics, real estate, energy, and smart city sectors, with readiness for global expansion as the gateway for temperature intelligence.

From the Kingdom of Bahrain, Wajba qualified — a digital platform helping F&B businesses sell surplus food at discounted prices, reducing waste, making meals more affordable, helping companies recover lost revenue, and contributing to environmental sustainability.

From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, WePay qualified — an innovative fintech company redefining transaction security through an escrow-based payment platform, providing safe and transparent payment solutions for individuals and businesses.

From Iraq, three startups qualified:

• Andalusi – an edtech company offering learning-enhancement technologies through digital classrooms, creative tools, and training simulations.

• Jaamila – an e-commerce platform connecting buyers and sellers, enabling digital trade, inventory management, and streamlined supply chains.

• Saleem – a digital health innovation platform offering telemedicine, home-care applications, medical devices, and other solutions that improve patients’ access to and quality of healthcare services.

The announcement came after the conclusion of “Super Saturday” events held across the six Zain markets, where entrepreneurs applied the expertise and skills acquired during the bootcamp phase to present final pitches and business plans before judging panels. These panels selected the finalists based on several academic and business criteria.

In Jordan, the judging panel included a group of prominent entrepreneurship experts: Tamer Salah – Managing Director of Endeavor Jordan; Tambee Jalouqa – Founder and General Partner at Maza Ventures; Saad Al-Jasser – Head of Digital Investments at Zain Ventures; and Ahmad Ibrahim – Head of Entrepreneurship at Zain Jordan.

The finalists will now embark on the Global Acceleration Program in Palo Alto, California – Silicon Valley, in collaboration with Vibranium VC, a venture capital fund specializing in early-stage startup investments based in Silicon Valley.

The program will offer entrepreneurs a golden opportunity to experience real-world business management dynamics at the heart of Silicon Valley through workshops, networking with startup founders, visits to major accelerators and tech firms, pitching to investors, and building relationships while gaining a deep understanding of the global entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The first phase of the program — the intensive bootcamp stage — was recently concluded. It gathered international, regional, and local experts across Zain’s markets. The new edition of ZGI was launched across Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, carrying a bold vision to empower entrepreneurs to develop impactful and sustainable business models.

The initial weeks of the program featured intensive training sessions focused on key areas such as marketing, finance, operations management, and digital transformation, aimed at accelerating startup growth and preparing them for confident entry into regional and global markets.

The bootcamp activities also included one-on-one mentoring sessions between participants and business advisors to refine their skills and accelerate their startups toward sustainable growth and market expansion.

This year’s edition launched with strong support from Zain Ventures — Zain Group’s investment arm in emerging technologies — and ZainTECH, its regional ICT solutions and digital transformation arm.
For the first time in the program’s 15-year history, participation was opened to applicants from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, offering unprecedented opportunities for mentorship, funding, and global exposure.

Zain Ventures aims to explore and invest in promising startups from the program, while the ZainTECH team works closely with ZGI to provide strategic support to the selected startups joining the Silicon Valley journey. This includes access to advanced solutions in cloud computing, AI, analytics, robotics, and other cutting-edge technologies that drive business growth.

This expansion marks a major milestone for the Zain Great Idea (ZGI) program since its inception, as previous editions were exclusive to the Kuwaiti market. The new regional rollout underscores Zain’s ongoing commitment to supporting technological innovation and entrepreneurship across the Middle East.