Innovation 360 Sponsors Startup Weekend Gaza Event

Startup Weekend Dubai sponsor and mentor Kamal Hassan provides advice on business model design and offers prize money for Gaza teams
 
Dec. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- Innovation 360, a Dubai-based innovation consulting and training firm and sponsor of the recent Startup Weekend Dubai, was a Gold sponsor for Startup Weekend Gaza held 6-8 December, awarding $1,500 each to the fourth and fifth place teams in the competition. Innovation 360 president and CEO, Kamal Hassan, also spoke to participants at Startup Weekend Gaza about how to design an innovative business model.

“The teams at Startup Weekend events are judged partly on their business model idea,” said Hassan. “I explained to participants at Startup Weekend Gaza how using a business model design canvas can help them answer the key questions to design an innovative and viable business model.”

The Startup Weekend concept brings together technology and business startup enthusiasts for a three-day competition where participants pitch ideas for websites and applications of their own design. At Startup Weekend Gaza, more than 50 pitches were presented, which were narrowed down to 14 ideas. These ideas were further developed by teams on the second day and were presented to judges on day three of the event.

Five winners were chosen including first place “Take Your Medicine,” second place “Social Sports” and third place “Plancer.”  Fourth place went to “IntroVidz,” a website that provides automated video introductions. The fifth place winner was “Gaza Places,” a mobile app that provides information on nearby friends, events and points of interest based on the user’s location. The fourth and fifth place teams will split the $3,000 prize money from Innovation 360.

In an interesting twist, Hassan spoke to the group in Gaza from his office in Dubai using Skype, a technology that enables users to make free voice and video calls over the Internet. “Skype was an innovative technology produced by a team of entrepreneurs and later sold for billions,” Hassan commented. “This is the dream of every Startup Weekend participant – to come up with a breakthrough idea that not only changes the game but is also a commercial success. It’s very rewarding to play a small role offering advice and encouragement, and to help make their dreams come true.”

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Innovation 360 is a global innovation management consultancy that helps companies of all sizes and government organizations bridge the gap between innovation strategy and execution. The firm’s comprehensive offerings, including business model innovation, strategic innovation deployment, innovation management and execution, and innovation leadership development, encourage new value creation and enable organizational transformation and growth. Learn more at http://www.i360institute.com.
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