Lebanese Student Company Scoops Best Company Award at INJAZ Al Arab Young Entrepreneurs Competition 2010

On October 25, The Fifth Wheel, the Lebanese Student Company scooped the title of “Best Company of the Year” in the Regional Competition For Young Entrepreneurs that was held by in Morrocco. The Lebanese team with their product “Carmate” won the Lebanese National Competition and went to represent their Country at the INJAZ Al Arab Regional Competition.

Thirteen student teams from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Yemen participated in the regional competition, all of whom were winners of the local INJAZ competitions in their home countries.

Four Judging panelists participated in selecting the winners, Mr.Sam Schamma (Intel), Mr.Maher Qaddoura(Meydan), Mr.Hassan Ouriagli(ONA Group), and Mr. Hamad Al Ammari(FIKR Conferences).

The criteria on which the student companies were graded included their ability to demonstrate sound business acumen, financial knowledge, marketing support and feasibility studies. Students spent three days showcasing their products, presenting to the public, and had a private and quite rigorous Q&A session with the judges.

After seeing all 13 student companies, the judges had to decide on the four companies to win 4 respective awards. The main award, “The Best Company of the Year”, was given to the Lebanese team “The Fifth Wheel”. The Yemeni team “Port Mokha” won the award of “Best Marketing Plan”. The Palestinian student company “Grow Green” won the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year”. The Egyptian student company “Vintage Revolution” won the “Most Innovative Product” award.

Commenting on her team's win, Gaelle Feghali, CEO of The Fifth Wheel, said, "We are extremely proud of our achievement. This whole experience has been very enriching and liberating - we now feel like we can take on the world with our new found knowledge and entrepreneurial skills. I, for one, am definitely going to look at starting my own company when I am done with my studies."

Commenting on the competition, Soraya Salti, Vice President MENA of INJAZ Al Arab, said, "The INJAZ annual Young Entrepreneur Competition aims to encourage and showcase the entrepreneurial spirit in Arab youth, and we are pleased that this year's competition has succeeded in both recognizing and rewarding The Fifth Wheel for their product and campaign. This all helps bringing us one step closer to achieving our target of reaching one million Arab youth annually by 2018."

Back to Media Center