THE TANK, UMNIAH’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION INCUBATOR, OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF QUEEN RANIA NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD

THE TANK, UMNIAH’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION INCUBATOR, OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF QUEEN RANIA NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD April 7, 2019 – Amman, Jordan: The Tank, Umniah’s entrepreneurship and innovation incubator sponsored the tenth Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award. The move is directly in line with its strategy to support entrepreneurship and innovation while simultaneously motivating entrepreneurs to transform their creative ideas into successful business plans into products and services of high value. The objectives of the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award and The Tank converge towards the development of an entrepreneurial spirit among Jordanian university students, motivating comprehensive entrepreneurship concepts, supporting creativity, and embracing successful ideas to facilitate building startups that make fundamental changes to society. This year’s award focused on the technology axis, with all business plans submitted targeting specific challenges in Jordanian society and offering suitable technological solutions for them. This is the year that The Tank sponsors the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award, with the first time last November on the sidelines of International Entrepreneurship Week, which saw Umniah hosting an entrepreneurship program for Jordanian university students. Speaking about the sponsorship, Umniah CEO Ziad Shatara said, “Our sponsorship of this award underlines Umniah’s interest in continuing to support creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the Kingdom. We will continue to dedicate all our capabilities and resources in order to support initiatives that make a positive and tangible difference, projects whose results are able to exceed limitations to include all Jordanian society. Today, we are proud to offer our official sponsorship for the first time to the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award, whose objectives share a clear and close relationship with our own.” Shatara went on to add, “Finding innovative solutions to economic problems and transforming the country into the digital economy requires that innovation and business entrepreneurs become part of the social fabric through services that are directly compatible with their needs and aspirations. This is what we do at Umniah and The Tank, our entrepreneurship and innovation incubator.” The Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award is a platform that works at increasing awareness of potential opportunities for startups and identifying innovation and creativity in ideas and projects related to technology and the development of entrepreneurial skills. The award program will help participants write up business plans, develop projects and improve operations as well as emphasizes the spirit of innovation among university students and graduates, encouraging them to take their projects from the concept stage through to implementation. Director of the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award Muhammad Obeidat spoke of the successes achieved by the award over the past nine years, expressing his hopes that the awards would surpass expectations in its tenth year. He spoke of the valuable role played by the award in the Jordanian entrepreneurial sphere, collecting and developing ideas, and working at developing team spirit and economic development through training and guidance by experts in their fields. Umniah’s sponsorship of the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Award is directly in line with other initiatives supported by The Tank. Last February, as part of its involvement in the 2019 Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Umniah sponsored 10 Jordanian startups the opportunity to present their ideas and projects at the YFN4 innovation platform. Over the past several years, The Tank has succeeded in strengthening its position as the most prominent business incubator for startups, launching advanced programs, including the first practical online program at a regional level to embrace Jordanian startups. Umniah crowned its efforts by sponsoring 10 startups each year together with 10 virtual startup “projects.” The Tank’s Internet of Things (IoT) program was also a great success, offering participants pre-incubation services such as awareness and training courses, transferring ideas, modern business trends, vocational and technical training, and specialized hackathon courses. The Tank also keeps business entrepreneurs and incubated businesses abreast of all the latest international technological trends such as the blockchain technology, financial technology (FinTech), artificial intelligence, electronic trade, among others. The winner of the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship award in the startup company category will be presented with JD10,000, with second place taking JD7,000 and third place receiving JD5,000. – End-