After winning several prizes in the past year, student company Shatla Team is currently all geared up to represent Oman and the Middle East and North Africa region in the de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award being held in the US.

The online competition aims to support student companies set up projects and develop skills. 

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Sarah Haseeb al Zaabi, marketing manager of Shatla Team, said, “We won three awards at Injaz al Arab’s Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration 2020, including the Company of the Year Award in the high-school category.”

Additionally, Shatla Team won the Citi Client Focus Award, FedEx Global Possibilities Award and the Soraya Salti Company of the Year Award, with To Read from Lebanon as joint winner. 

“Following this, our team qualified to participate in the de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award.” 

Shatla – Arabic for ‘seedling’ – is an online platform that connects nurseries and customers, creating opportunities for both. 

“Through our website, Shatla connects customers and provides detailed information about specific plants, including care instructions in multiple languages. This helps nurseries increase sales, which in turn contributes to the sustainability of the environment as more plants are grown and cared for,” Sarah explained.

The de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award recognises outstanding Junior Achievement (JA) entrepreneurs, which is one of the world’s largest youth-serving NGOs dedicated to educating students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programmes. 

The first place winners of each of the annual regional JA student-company competitions are automatically entered as finalists for the award. “The winning team receives a US$15,000 award, free registration to the next JA Global Youth Forum, and a stipend for travel costs to the forum,” said Sarah.

She added that the result of the contest will be announced on July 7. A report and a video about the team members and the company’s goals has been prepared and presented to the competition officials. 

“Shatla Team comprises five students from Al Sahwa Schools – Shahad al Hasni as CEO, Zainab al Lawati as finance manager, Ahmed al Lawati as research and development manager, Hashim al Lawati as human resource manager and me as marketing manager,” Sarah said. The team is committed to serving Oman and supporting the national economy, Sarah informed.