Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
The “Talabaco” team, consisting of Amin Taha, Ahmed Adkidik, Rula Odeh, and Tariq Ziad, representing the Middle East, Palestine, and Birzeit University, was nominated at the United Nations in New York last week, as part of the “Hult Prize” competition, the world’s largest engine for launching good start-up businesses from universities.
Talabco, a startup from the B-hub Business Forum at Birzeit University, competed with more than 200,000 teams globally, and was selected among the top 6 teams in the semi-finals, held in London, and were invited to... Then to present their business idea in New York.
“Talabaco,” the only Arab team and the first Palestinian team to qualify for the finals in the history of the competition, qualified ahead of international universities such as Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge, and surpassed the large numbers of participating teams, during a year of university qualifiers, then regional, then semi-finals, all the way to the final, to compete for a prize. Its value is 1,000,000 US dollars to make this idea successful and prosperous.
Amin Taha (23 years old), one of the project’s founders, says: “Although we are not the final winner, our arrival at this advanced stage is a great achievement for Palestine and the Arab world.”
Regarding the project, Taha said: “The Talabco project aims to provide 235,000 training opportunities for university students throughout the Middle East within 5 years, which works to raise the level of university education by twinning it with paid vocational training during the university years, so the university student saves his expenses.” During his studies, he accumulates practical experience that qualifies him to work after graduation in the best local and international companies. At the same time, he provides local companies with university students with unique knowledge and skills to invest and occupy in the part-time jobs that these companies need.”
Ahmed Edkidek, co-founder, adds: “Although I have a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, the conditions we live in in Palestine always make us need to invent everything new using the resources and capabilities available to us to eliminate the biggest problems facing Palestinian youth and even the entire world.” This is the problem of unemployment and the scarcity of jobs available in the labor market compared to the number of graduates each year.”
Baher Edkidek, business mentor at the Business Forum, said: “We spent hundreds of hours with the Talabco team from refining the idea to developing a business model, and all of these hours were crowned with great success.” Today, the Business Forum is working with Talabco to expand its business in regional Arab markets, with support from the European Union.
It is worth noting that the “Hult Prize” competition is the largest global competition for social entrepreneurial projects, to create a company to address one of the societal challenges facing the world at the regional level, with the aim of involving them in creating positive change around the world. Western society calls it the “Nobel Prize for Students,” because it contributes to creating... Work for students and helping marginalized groups, and the topics presented each year differ from the next. More than 2,000 universities around the world participate in it, and it is held in more than 150 countries.
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
: From
To