Female-only transport app wins top prize at Startup Weekend

Business Sunday 18/November/2018 18:14 PM
By: Times News Service
Female-only transport app wins top prize at Startup Weekend

Muscat: An online application for a female-only transport service won the first place at the Startup Weekend programme held as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW 2018).
Organised by the National Business Centre (NBC), a series of events in line with GEW 2018 concluded at the Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) on Saturday.
The final event of GEW Oman 2018 was the three-day Startup Weekend programme, which is a 54-hour weekend event that brought together designers, developers, marketers and startup enthusiasts to share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.
Around 20 consultants and entrepreneurship experts took take part in the event.
Celebrated by more than 160 countries worldwide, GEW is recognised as the world’s largest celebration of innovators and job creators who work together to help bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
Startup Weekend’s participants came up with a variety of innovative ideas during the programme and the best ideas were voted for. The programme concluded with the selection of the three most viable and cost-effective ideas.
Pink Line won the first place. It is a transportation application for women who are seeking a safe and convenient method of transport at a reasonable cost. At the same time, the app provides a source of income to the women drivers who will register through the app.
Scrap Oman won the second place, as the application is meant to facilitate finding spare parts for cars. The idea of the application came due to the fact that Omanis face several problems when buying second hand parts.
Return project won the third place. Its concept is based on an electronic platform that connects solid waste owners with recycling companies of solid waste.
It should be noted that GEW 2018 events, organised by NBC, comprised several events that highlighted a variety of topics, including available opportunities for entrepreneurs, employment challenges and solutions for SMEs, and investment readiness for SMEs.
The NBC, which pertains to the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), is an initiative that offers promising Omani entrepreneurs a platform to develop their business ideas and advance them into growing ventures.
The centre aims to become the premier platform for Omani entrepreneurs by providing business development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts, and state-of-the-art and fully equipped office space.