Entrepreneurs selected to compete at global IBTEC competition

Intel in cooperation with the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) have selected two Egyptian entrepreneurs from the second regional 'Arab Technology Business Plan Competition' to compete at Intel's annual Intel UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge (IBTEC) that took place from November 13-15, 2007 at the Haas School of Business, Berkeley, CA.

Hani Samuel, co-founder of ConsentWare, a company based in Egypt developing a new and innovative three-factor authentication security device called the Smart Pen Mouse, made it to the final round reaching fourth place over one thousand business plans from 52 countries. Another Egyptian finalist selected was Basil Elwy, co-founder of Algorithm Innovations.

Basil's company, co-founded by, Cherif Algreatly, CTO of the company, specializes in developing a patentable 3D human computer interface device called 3DNaviEditor™, which offers six degrees-of-freedom through a 3D mouse.

Dr. Abdalla A. Alnajjar, President of ASTF said, 'The Arab Science and Technology Foundation, through this regional competition, seeks to increase Arab investment in technology and promote entrepreneurship in the Arab world. This last regional competition has created more awareness on potential opportunities in technology startups, recognized innovative and outstanding technology business ideas and has brought to the limelight some great innovative ideas from the Arab world'

Commenting on Intel's drive to foster Arab talent, Bassem Nasir, Higher Education Manager, Intel Middle East Turkey and Africa, said, 'As part of Intel's ongoing drive to endorse Arab youth's entrepreneurial skills, Intel has joined a growing movement of multinational and Pan-Arab organizations that focus on raising the caliber of Arab youth through investment in the young entrepreneurs of the future.'

'ConsentWare and Algorithm Innovations have proved their successful business models which showed they have undergone a very strong research and development (R&D) stage, as well as a clear financially feasibility and offered attractive returns on investments. They also qualified for developing and deploying technologies with regional or worldwide market potential, and highlighted financial proposals that were clearly spelt out for investors.

Other general criteria we used to judge their proposals were innovation, uniqueness, strategy, experience, competitive advantage and business model, marketability, financial feasibility and funding requirements of the projects. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to provide a platform for Arab entrepreneurs to get this type of exposure. Under the Intel World Ahead Program, we are committed to educating youth and enhancing their entrepreneurial skills, as this will translate into far-reaching benefits for the community. The long-term goal is to help develop a more competitive IT workforce capable of driving innovation and economic growth in the region,' Nasir added.

Speaking about the competition, Hani Samuel, co-founder of ConsentWare said, 'It was a very exciting experience to compete on an equal footing with the best technology business plans from the whole world. Being ranked the fourth on the whole world proved that we Egyptians are deemed to play a very significant role in the world's top-level technologies. Thanks to Intel and ASTF for giving us this great opportunity, which showed the whole world that we, the Arab Technology Entrepreneurs, are as competitive as the best technology entrepreneurs from the whole world.'