- Bader Al-Kharafi: “In every idea, I find new inspiration, and with guidance and mentorship, young people’s ideas turn into a reality that shapes the future”
- Zain’s award-winning accelerator brought together technological momentum, support and guidance, and the flow of smart investments.
- 11 tech startups from 6 Arab countries showcased their business models to investors and business partners.
- Zain Ventures unlocks new growth pathways for the current ZGI cohort by exploring investment and partnership opportunities.
Kuwait – 09 February 2026
Zain Group, a leading provider of innovative ICT and digital lifestyle communications operating in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, hosted Demo Day as the decisive and concluding milestone in the journey of its flagship startup accelerator Zain Great Idea (ZGI), opening the door to partnerships and investment for entrepreneurs from six Arab countries where the Group operates across the regional map.
At the event, founders from 11 tech startups across six of Zain’s regional markets (Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) delivered pitches to a select audience of investors, business partners, and executive leaders from across the region. They showcased their business progress and strategic growth plans and had the opportunity to connect and engage directly to explore potential pathways for investment, collaboration, and partnerships.
The event was held at the Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait, joined by Zain Vice Chairman and Group CEO Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Sheikh Jaber Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and CEO of Zain Kuwait Nawaf Al-Gharabally, along with senior executives from Zain Group and its operating companies. This directly reflected Zain’s vision of turning business accelerators into real growth engines and platforms that empower startups.
Zain Ventures is unlocking new growth pathways by exploring partnership and investment opportunities with the current Zain Great Idea cohort. This embodies the company’s commitment to turning acceleration tracks into scalable funding and growth opportunities.
The step also comes as part of Zain Ventures’ strategy of linking innovation to outcomes by enabling promising startups to accelerate their expansion, strengthen their readiness for commercial and investment partnerships, and enter new markets with greater confidence.
Bader Al-Kharafi said: “The final stop of this journey is where ideas turn into opportunities, and opportunities into real partnerships and investments. It is the moment of transformation that will take these ideas to the market. In every idea, I find new inspiration, and with guidance and mentorship, young people’s ideas turn into a reality that shapes the future.”
He added: “This gathering creates opportunities that transform dreams into value and innovation into reality. Today, we test the strength of the business models we have built together, to see the extent to which they can generate economic value.”
Al-Kharafi explained that over the past 15 years, Zain Great Idea has not been “a passing local initiative,” noting: “Our objective was to establish a smart ecosystem that connects talent with opportunity, an ecosystem that turns ideas into startups that lead change.”
He continued: “Today, we proudly lead the largest regional business accelerator across six markets: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. We know modern technologies are the vital nerve of business expansion, which is why we adopted, in this edition of ZGI, a clearer vision that reshapes traditional investment by building a platform that brings together technological momentum, support and guidance, and the flow of smart investments.”
He added: “This year, we delivered a stronger, more integrated model by combining Zain Ventures’ investment support and venture capital with ZainTECH’s advisory expertise and advanced technology solutions across artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.”
Addressing the founders, Al-Kharafi said: “My message to you is clarity, decisive decision-making, continuous discussion of problems, awareness of challenges before they arise, and the pursuit of partnerships that create value. An investor does not bet on the idea alone, but on a team with a clear vision and a decision-maker who executes without hesitation.”
He concluded: “What we are celebrating today is a collective effort carried out by teams driven by a passion for leadership and change. This effort did not pass without global recognition and appreciation, as ZGI has recently gained an international stature by winning the ‘Rising Star in Business’ award from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.”
Al-Kharafi concluded by saying: “My appreciation goes to the ZGI and Zain Ventures teams, who succeeded in turning this regional vision for the program into an impactful reality in the world of entrepreneurship.”
The event embodied the legacy spanning more than 15 years of Zain Great Idea, which in its latest edition moved to an unprecedented regional level across six markets within Zain Group’s regional operations, strengthening its position as a platform that connects talent with opportunity and accelerates the transformation of innovations into companies capable of scaling and creating impact.
The latest edition gained momentum through the integrated roles of Zain Ventures, the Group’s investment arm, and ZainTECH, its regional digital solutions provider, combining corporate governance with practical market access. Participants benefited from advanced academic and technical support, in addition to being connected with Zain’s technical, commercial, and enterprise teams to explore pilot implementations and build commercial partnerships across the Group’s markets.
Throughout the journey over the past months, founders of the participating startups moved through multiple milestones including intensive bootcamps, mentoring and guidance sessions, as well as the Silicon Valley international accelerator program, which was one of the season’s most prominent phases.
The global acceleration experience in Silicon Valley enhanced the startups’ readiness through structured training and refined business pitches, culminating in the international tour’s own Demo Day in Palo Alto, which provided a high-quality environment to accelerate potential partnership and funding opportunities.
Since its launch in Kuwait, ZGI has generated measurable, positive impact across the startup ecosystem. This edition further elevated that role by serving as a digital bridge between local innovation in the region’s markets and global technology players, reflecting Zain’s core belief that investing in creative talent is essential to advancing a knowledge-based economy.
Demo Day brought together a number of entrepreneurs representing Zain’s various regional markets, as they worked to address real-world challenges through scalable, technology-enabled solutions.
Representing Kuwait, Nour Al-Fadhli lead VEHAB, a VR platform reshaping rehabilitation through immersive 360° simulations that support physical and cognitive recovery in realistic environments.
Also representing Kuwait, Ahmad Al-Ebrahim co-founded theQA, Kuwait’s first research platform connecting brands with verified local participants for fast, high-quality insights, while Eid Al-Mujaibel founded Tenmeya, an Arabic-first platform enabling creators to monetize digital content and products simply in one place.
Hanan Al-Kulaib and Basma Al-Humaidhi, co-founders of Playbook Kuwait, made it easier for parents to discover and book kids’ parties while helping vendors grow, and Rashed and Yousef Al-Otaibi co-founded Outing, a trusted Kuwaiti booking platform for verified chalets, villas, and holiday homes with secure payments and reliable listings. Completing Kuwait’s representation, Abdulwahab Al-Tabtabaei co-founded Farah, a one-stop digital destination for planning weddings and streamlining the journey for couples.
Across the wider regional cohort, founders showcased how innovation is being built across different markets and sectors. Representing Saudi Arabia, Maha and Leen Al-Rossais co-founded WePay, an escrow-based fintech platform designed to elevate transaction security and trust between buyers and sellers, whether individuals or businesses.
Representing Bahrain, Ghassan Esfahani co-founded Wajba, a platform that helps F&B businesses sell surplus food at discounted prices, cutting waste, recovering revenue, and making meals more affordable. From Iraq, Khalid Al-Saady founded Jaamila.com, an online platform connecting buyers and sellers while enabling digital trade, inventory management, and more streamlined supply chain workflows.
From Jordan, Ahmad Al-Saif founded Alefredo EdTech, an AI-powered education assistant that manages the entire academic journey — from any grade to the first day at university. Alefredo has served thousands of students across multiple countries and recently expanded its impact through the acquisition of a UK-based tutoring platform, accelerating its vision to simplify education for families.
The cohort also included representation from the UAE, where Kausar Tahir founded MeNOW Health, a femtech solution supporting marginalized women by bridging science, empathy, and innovation to create more informed and empowering women’s health experiences.
Recently, Zain Great Idea was recognized as one of the “Corporate Rising Stars” for 2025 at the Corporate Startup Stars Awards in Paris, a global acknowledgment presented at a gala hosted at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) headquarters and co-organized with Mind the Bridge. In its tenth edition, the Corporate Startup Stars Awards spotlighted corporations that embed open innovation into their strategy and build structured pipelines for startup collaboration, with the Corporate Rising Star category celebrating five high-potential organizations demonstrating outstanding commitment to working with startups and strengthening emerging innovation ecosystems
