Muscat – Oman’s Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED) has entered into an agreement with a Bahrain-based group to telecast an entrepreneurship-themed reality television show in the sultanate.

Through this agreement, Hope Ventures will expand the Season 3 of Beban to Oman that it expected to encourage and guide Omani entrepreneurs to be successful in their business endeavours.

Hope Ventures was established with the vision to foster a generation of Bahraini youth with an entrepreneurial mindset, skill, and outlook.

The show’s expansion also aligns with ASMED’s mission to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and support Oman’s small and medium enterprises to accelerate their business growth and succeed locally and internationally.

Beban, inspired from the famous American TV series Shark Tank, is centred around entrepreneurs and business owners as they pitch their businesses before a panel of regional investors for equity investment and business opportunities.

The show aired for two seasons, through which it featured a total of 62 businesses of various sizes and resulted in successful co-investments by the private and public sectors exceeding US$6mn in GCC-based startups.

This collaboration between ASMED and Beban TV show will contribute to the ease of access for Omani businesses to a diversified pool of investors and strategic partners, who will fast-track their businesses’ growth into regional markets, stated a press release.

Entrepreneurs will benefit from the intensive training bootcamp they will undergo as part of the Beban journey to develop their businesses in various aspects like expansion planning, financial modelling, and pitching in front of a panel of regional investors on a televised show.

‘It will also provide Oman-based entrepreneurs with tools and resources to develop their businesses while giving them added regional exposure through the show, all while promoting cross-border knowledge exchange between entrepreneurs of the region,’ ASMED stated.

‘We encourage and invite entrepreneurs based in Oman to apply for Beban Season 3 and reap the show’s benefits,’ the producers urged.

Entrepreneurs will be selected through an evaluation process comprising five stages, starting with screening businesses for viability based on certain criteria, followed by an evaluation stage led by experts and specialists in the business sector.

Candidates will then be nominated to participate in an intensive training bootcamp stage. The last stage will announce the eligible finalists, who will then go on to film the production’s episodes.

Oman-based entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the forthcoming season through the link hopefund.bh/beban by July 6.