Muscat – The Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED) on Tuesday named nine projects that have qualified for the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) 2022.

The EWC is one of the most diverse startup pitch competitions and supports programmes of its kind, featuring more than 370,000 entrepreneurs from over 200 countries contesting for ‘life-changing’ prizes.

In a statement, ASMED said three out of the nine projects have stood out for their innovation and creativity. The ‘Nashid project won the Idea segment, while the ‘I lab marine’ project won the Early segment and ‘Rahal’ won the Growth category.

The nine qualified projects will undergo a virtual one-month training camp to empower them with skills so as to enhance their communication with investors worldwide. The virtual training camp also gives a participant a chance to exchange expertise with participants from other countries.

ASMED organises the competition at the national level, where the qualified projects represent the sultanate in the international qualifiers for the cup.

The international competition attracts more than 200 entrepreneurs from all over the world as they compete on the basis of their projects’ innovation, sustainability and creativity. The projects are categorised into three segments (Idea, Early and Growth).

The total value of the EWC prizes is US$1mn.

Since its launch in 2019, the EWC has awarded US$3mn in cash prizes, besides the in-kind prizes valued at US$150mn.