Zain Bahrain announces the winner of its pioneering startup acceleration program “Zain Great Ideas”

• The founder of Wajba, a digital platform that helps restaurants sell surplus food at discounted prices, has been selected to participate in an intensive two-week global accelerator program in Silicon Valley, California, which will represent the Kingdom of Bahrain.
• The success of the first edition of the Zain Great Idea program confirms Zain’s firm commitment to providing initiatives that contribute to encouraging Bahraini youth to be creative and innovative and that support the growth of the digital sector in line with Bahrain’s economic vision.”
• Zain Bahrain looks forward to continuing this journey in the upcoming editions, and supporting more local startups with the ability to expand regionally and globally.

Zain Bahrain, the leading innovator in the telecommunications and technology sector in the Kingdom, is proud to announce the winner of its pioneering startup accelerator program, Zain Great Idea, achieving a major milestone in the success of the first edition of the program in Bahrain.

The winner, Ghassan Isfahani, founder of Wajba, a digital platform that helps restaurants sell surplus food at discounted prices, was selected to participate in an intensive two-week global accelerator program in Silicon Valley, California. The winner was announced during the Super Tuesday competition day, which was held at Zain Bahrain, which witnessed the best promising Bahraini startups in the field of technology presenting their innovative ideas before a distinguished jury that included Mashael Fairouz, co-founder of Jeo Capital, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Daij Al Khalifa, member of the Board of Directors of “Hope Ventures” and Chairman of the Investment Committee, Volkan Sen, Zain’s head of projects, investment and digital services, Haider Al Zaabi, is a specialist in Omantel’s innovation laboratories.

As part of this transformative experience, the founder of Wajba will represent and join a number of entrepreneurs from across the region, including participants from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, in an intensive two-week global accelerator program in Silicon Valley, which includes workshops, training events, field visits, and one-on-one mentoring with global experts and entrepreneurs.

After returning from Silicon Valley, participants will continue to work with local and international mentors and the finals will guide participants to the Demo Day, where participants will present their business development and regional expansion plans to potential investors, including Zain Ventures, seeking partnerships and investments.

Commenting on the launch of the first phase of the Zain Great Idea programme, Abdullah Khalid Al Khalifa, CEO of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Zain Bahrain, said: “Zain Bahrain is proud of the success of the Zain Great Idea programme, which was launched for the first time in Bahrain. The program represented an advanced opportunity to stimulate creativity and vision of local talent, the level of innovation and the ambitions of all participants. The success of the first edition of the program Zain Great Idea confirms Zain’s firm commitment to providing initiatives that contribute to encouraging Bahraini youth to be creative and innovative and that support the growth of the digital sector in line with Bahrain’s economic vision.”

Zain Bahrain extends its warmest congratulations to “Wajba” – a digital platform that helps restaurants sell surplus food at discounted prices, reducing food waste to achieve sustainability. Through the platform, sellers recover lost revenue, and consumers enjoy great offers. Zain Great Idea aims to support Wajba Company, and Zain Bahrain looks forward to continuing this journey in the upcoming editions, and supporting more local startups with the ability to expand regionally and globally.