Saudi Arabia | Page 8

With a speaker line-up that includes more than 500 industry leaders, ranging from footballers turned tech investors, geoscientists, and astronauts, to venture capital investors with multi-million-dollar portfolios, there's clearly a lot of people at LEAP 2023 to meet and learn from.

As the first Saudi automotive brand to produce EVs in the country, Ceer will design, manufacture, and sell a portfolio of vehicles for consumers, including sedans and sports utility vehicles.

With the capital infusion, Arab National Bank has also acquired an undisclosed stake in the startup.

Held under the theme "Into New Worlds," LEAP 2023 is set to gather the world's best entrepreneurs, investors, tech experts and government stakeholders, and more in Saudi Arabia.

The Cloud was designed with a vision to become "the Airbnb of kitchens" by enabling the transformation of regular restaurant kitchens into artificial intelligence-powered cloud kitchens.

The new capital infusion will be used to the startup's product offering, while entering adjacent markets.

The majority of the US$1 trillion investment that has been earmarked for developing the Saudi tourism economy to date has been deployed for this leisure segment.

In 2030, and Saudia is expected to be the carrier of choice for over 30 million pilgrims annually, and an additional 70 to 80 million visitors looking to explore the smorgasbord of tourist offerings in the Kingdom.

Prior to 1946, around 60,000 pilgrims visited Mecca annually; that's a 500x expansion in annual pilgrims to be witnessed in 84 years, should Vision 2030's target of 30 million pilgrims per year be realized.

"Understand that acquiring a business is not about integrating but instead about accelerating the overall vision of the company."

Gateway industries such as tourism, local manufacturing and smart services are generating jobs for future Saudi youth –and for the first time– opening Saudi Arabia to the world.

Tourism is responsible for one in 12 jobs around the world today, employing 330 million people around the world.

As a platform that enables mobile ordering and marketing solutions for hospitality brands, ChatFood hopes to capitalize on advantageous social media trends in Saudi Arabia.

The three-day Entrepreneurship Adventures bootcamp aimed to continue fine tuning the business ideas that the founders came up with during the online course in the months prior.

With the correct funding and ambition, we could be set to enter a golden age of Middle Eastern art.

Folia, which means "from the leaves" in Latin, celebrates wellness and imagination, represented with its usage of seasonal ingredients to showcase colors through cold and crisp dishes diners can enjoy.

Open banking, and at a wider level, open finance, provides the necessary environment for banks, fintech companies, and innovation players to successfully develop the future of banking in Saudi Arabia.

As an online fashion marketplace that connects brands, customers, and fashion stylists with each other, Taffi also offers expert recommendations from stylists from the comfort of one's own home.

The special report details how Saudi Arabia is evolving and developing its tourism sector from catering nearly exclusively to religious tourism in the past, to opening its doors to visitors from around the world in 2019 through major investments made in leisure tourism.

Local, regional, and international startups can apply for the Saudi Arabia-based TAQADAM Startup Accelerator until May 21, 2022.

With its age-old culture of welcoming people, and drawing upon its abundant resources, Saudi Arabia may be poised for incubating a new type of entrepreneurship.