(Friday to Sunday)
Abu Dhabi Youth Challenge Techstars Startup Weekend
The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority and Techstars are calling all local entrepreneurs with an idea to tackle challenges in early childhood development. Build a startup. Discover a community. Build your professional development through an amazing internship. All at #ADYC2024
Your Idea in 54 Hours!
Learn how to think, work and build like a startup in 54 thrilling hours. ADYC Techstars Startup Weekend is an exciting and immersive experience into the world of startups. Over an action-packed three days, you’ll meet the very best founders, mentors, investors and partners to show you what it takes to start your own business!
Participants will work together over a period of 54 hours to pitch ideas for new startups, form teams around those ideas, work to develop a working prototype or demo and finally, present their work to a panel of judges.
The top three teams will be receiving prizes of up to AED 30,000 to continue working on their startups!
Connect with other creators
ADYC Techstars Startup Weekend is a great place to connect with passionate people driven to build something new. There is no better place to meet new potential founders, friends, colleagues, mentors and more.
Start something great
Knowing you’re not alone can make all the difference. ADYC Techstars Startup Weekend provides participants many opportunities to engage and connect with like-minded individuals — and truly start something amazing.
Learn from the best
Learn what it really takes to innovate, disrupt and start a company from people who’ve been there. ADYC Techstars Startup Weekend features deep experiential learning guided by an experienced hand.
Improve your knowledge
You need more sector-specific skills and knowledge to take things to the next level. ADYC Techstars Startup Weekend also offers participants an internship opportunity with the startups at the Anjal Z Techstars Founder Catalyst Program!
The Challenges
Daycare Oasis: Early Childhood Care for the Modern World
Daycare facilities often face challenges in fostering emotional connection, personalized care, and overall well-being of children. They have limited resources, outdated infrastructure, and a lack of engaging, personalized experiences for children. How can we find innovative solutions that can transform these spaces into hubs of meaningful interaction, holistic care, and joyful experiences, as well as elevate the daycare experience for both children and caregivers?
Reimagining Early Childhood Education for the Digital Age
Technology can be a powerful tool for supporting early childhood education. Startups in this space could develop educational apps, online learning platforms, educational robots and toys or other technology-based resources for young children. How can we leverage technology to enhance learning, personalize experiences, and bridge the gap for underserved communities without sacrificing crucial human connection and play? This involves exploring AR/VR, AI-powered learning tools, and interactive platforms while ensuring responsible technology use and ethical data practices.
Empowering First-Time Parents with Tech and Community
New parenthood is a whirlwind of emotions, anxieties, and information overload. First-time parents often lack confidence, struggle to find reliable resources, and crave a supportive community. How can we find innovative solutions that bridge the gap between overwhelmed parents and the wealth of knowledge and support available. Focus on personalized guidance, community connection, wellbeing, hacks, and curated content.
Beyond the Screen
Reimagining Children's Content for a Multisensory World: Children's content is often dominated by screens, raising concerns about attention spans, physical inactivity, and desensitization. We need fresh ideas that break the mold and engage children in holistic, meaningful ways that transcend mere screen time. How can we combat the growing disconnect between children and nature and rekindle a love for outdoor play? This could mean revamping playgrounds, incorporating nature-based learning experiences, and encouraging unstructured outdoor exploration.
Holistic Wellbeing for Every Child
Moving beyond academics, how can we prioritize children's social-emotional well-being, mental health, and physical development? This includes addressing issues like childhood stress, anxiety, and trauma, integrating mindfulness and movement into curriculums, and fostering strong social-emotional learning.
Preterm Power Up
Premature birth, throws families into a whirlwind of emotions, anxieties, and complex medical needs. These tiny warriors face unique challenges, often relying on bulky, impersonal equipment that falls short of their holistic needs. We need revolutionary ideas that go beyond survival, igniting preemie potential and empowering families to thrive. How can we design solutions that simplify and innovate NICU care, nutrition, development, support and education for these situations.
The Internship Opportunity!
Join the Abu Dhabi Youth Challenge event and seize an incredible chance to be part of the Anjal Z Techstars Founder Catalyst Program! We’re excited to offer an exclusive part-time internship opportunity for selected students. This hands-on experience involves contributing to a growth-stage startup’s proof-of-concept project, providing valuable insights into the dynamic world of startups. Read more below to be involved and ensure you gain skills while making a meaningful impact on the families and children of Abu Dhabi. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to enhance your resume and business skills – sign up today!
- Up to two students per challenge group will be selected.
- Six cutting-edge global startups will work with the selected students.
- Commitment of 15-20 hours per week alongside another student from your Challenge group.
- Minimum of a six month project duration, determined by the founder and their partner.
How It Works:
- Step 1: Sign up to secure your spot today.
- Step 2: Check out the challenges and start thinking of a startup idea around your favourite one.
- Step 3: At ADYC, you will get to sit down with a few founders for an informal interview.
- Step 4: If you have been chosen to be an intern, you will be informed after the weekend.
- Step 5: The founder will set up a call with you to discuss your role, responsibilities, hours etc. and you'll kick off your journey by the end of February, collaborating with the founder and their team to bring an innovative proof of concept project to life in Abu Dhabi.
Schedule
If you’ve ever been to a Techstars Startup Weekend, you know that it can be a thrilling experience. You will experience the highs, lows, fun and pressures that make up life at a startup.
February 2, 2024 (Friday)
Pitching and Team Formation
- 15:00 Registration and Networking
- 15:15 Welcome Remarks
- 16:00 Workshop: Early Childhood Development
- 16:30 Pitches
- 17:30 Team Formation
- 18:00 Team Work
- 18:30 Dinner
February 3, 2024 (Saturday)
Teamwork and Mentorship
- 7:30 Team Check-In
- 8:30 Breakfast
- 9:00 Workshop: Business Modeling, Customer Discovery, Prototyping and Pitching
- 10:00 Team Work
- 11:00 Internship Opportunity Announcement
- 12:15 Mentorship Group 01
- 12:30 Lunch
- 14:30 Mentorship Group 02
- 18:00 Dinner: Chow and Tell (Informal Internship Interviews)
- 19:00 Pitch Practice 1
February 4, 2024 (Sunday)
Presentations and Judging
- 08:30 Team Check-In
- 09:30 Breakfast
- 10:30 Pitch Practice 2
- 12:30 Mentorship Group 03
- 13:00 Lunch
- 15:30 Presentation Pre and Tech Check
- 17:00 Final Presentations
- 18:30 External Speaker
- 19:00 Judging and Awards
- 19:30 Dinner and Celebrations
The People
Ghassan Haddad
General Counsel at CAFU and Founder of The Legal Rooms
Paria Al Awadhi
Associate Director & Business Development Lead at Ernst & Young (EY)
Baz Nijjar
Principal Advisor - Education Technology at GEMS Education
Jingru Ma
Coverage Banker at Mizuho Bank & Founder of Tang City Walk
Cazzie Jude
Head of Early Childhood at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls
Mirna Bdeir
Educational Consultant and Trainer at Kids First Group
Minahil Alvi
Head of Product and Commercialization at NGENI LABs
Yuseph Hawatt
Chief Operations & Growth Officer at Legal Circle
Dr. Bochra Kaddoura
Early Childhood Education Advisor at Sharjah Private Education Authority
Nyla Khan
Forbes 30 under 30
Early Childhood Education Advisor at Federal Authority of Early Education UAE
Seungah S. Lee
Senior Lecturer of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi
Tara Nehme
Innovation Expert at Early Childhood Authority
Prizes
Up to AED 30,000 grant
The top three teams will be receiving prizes to continue working on their startups!
1st place team will receive AED
15,000. 2nd place team will get AED 10,000 and the 3rd place team will be awarded AED 5,000.
Google Cloud Platforms
$300 free credit per participant on Google Cloud Platform helps startups build web/mobile apps. Teams can use Google Trends + Market Finder to test if there is a growing demand for their product and in which markets.
GoDaddy
Registry
Each participant can register a free domain name with GoDaddy Registry using your country-specific code. Redemption codes will be given to participants by the organizing team.
Internship Opportunity
Each participant is eligible for an exclusive part time internship opportunity with the startups at the Anjal Z Techstars Founder Catalyst Program!
Certificates of Attendance
All participants will be receiving a certificate of appreciation after completing ADYC Techstars Startup Weekend.
Google Cloud
$300 free credit per participant on Google Cloud Platform helps startups build web/mobile apps. Teams can use Google Trends + Market Finder to test if there is a growing demand for their product and in which markets.
GoDaddy Registry
Each participant can register a free domain name with GoDaddy Registry using your country-specific code. Redemption codes will be given to participants by the organizing team.
Internship Opportunity
Each participant is eligible for an exclusive part time internship opportunity with the startups at the Anjal Z Techstars Founder Catalyst Program!
Partners
Global Partners
FAQs
Am I eligible to join the competition?
The age criteria to enter this competition is 18-26 years old and living in the United Arab Emirates.
Can I pitch my existing business?
Yes, all ideas that fit the challenges are welcome! .
What if someone steals my idea?
The event is intended to be a collaborative forum for sharing, learning, building and having fun. As such, by registering as a participant, you acknowledge that any ideas shared by you or anyone else over the course of the event are contributions to the overall experience and community. If you as a participant are worried about someone stealing your ideas, you can limit your pitch to the rough outline of the idea without giving away key information.
The longer answer is that this is not something worth worrying about. Unless you are confident your idea is a ‘key-in-hand’, easy-to-implement innovation that hasn’t been thought of yet, the advantages gained from getting broad-based feedback and a strong team motivated by collective ownership far outweigh the remote risks of someone stealing and executing on your idea.
The truth is that over 90% of ideas pitched at any given Techstars Startup Weekend have already been pitched – probably many times – in the past. This doesn’t imply that the idea isn’t a good one, but rather that what truly matters is how well you and your team execute the idea. “One can steal ideas, but no one can steal execution or passion”.
Can I join with my team?
Yes but each member must register individually.
Do I have to participate all three days?
Apart from Organizers, selected Coaches, Speakers, and press, everyone who attends the event is expected to participate all three days. This is important not only to preserve the ‘vibe’ of the weekend (“no talk, all action”) but also to minimize distractions/disruptions for working teams.
However, at most Techstars Startup Weekends a “Sunday Presentations Only” registration option is available for those wishing to only view the teams’ final presentations.
How do I prepare?
Do some research. Market research and background information will give you a better understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve.
What if my idea doesn’t get selected?
If your idea isn’t selected but you’ve formed a team around the idea, you’re welcome to work on it over the weekend. If you decide to do so, however, please tell the event Organizer, as this may be an issue regarding your teams’ eligibility for prizes.
How do teams address the issue of Intellectual Property/ownership?
As with any startup, the team decides. Techstars Startup Weekend doesn’t support or take part in the signing of any legal documents at the events themselves, and while Mentors with legal backgrounds are often present and able to give general advice, they are not permitted to give specific legal counsel.
While it doesn’t hurt to be clear about your individual expectations from the start, we’ve found that teams who don’t spend time addressing this issue until it actually matters (i.e., there is a tangible product to have ownership of) are much more productive and successful than those who do.
What are the judging criteria?
The judges will use the following criteria to review all pitches:
• Problem and Impact
- Is the solution they are proposing relevant in the context of early childhood development?
- What is the value proposition to customers?
- Did the team talk to potential customers?
• Execution and Design
- Have they established a “minimal viable product” for the weekend? *Note: An MVP is the minimum set of features to be able to start collecting data.
- Is the MVP designed well?
- Is the proposed product technically viable?
• Originality
- The project needs to create new solutions or apply existing solutions in a new, innovative way.
• Feasibility
- The project must be realistic in terms of the legal, technological and scientific aspects of the solution. It should be possible to realise the project within a few months (exceptions can be made for particularly impactful solutions with a long-term perspective).
• Business Model
- Does the project have the potential to become a real business?
- Does the solution solve a core need?
- Have they demonstrated a go to market strategy?
Is there transportation for the event?
Yes, there will be a morning shuttle and an evening shuttle (to and from the event) on all three days.
Who are the companies that we will be interning for?
– Storybutton created the challenge: Beyond the Screen: Reimagining Children’s Content for a Multisensory World
– Kindello created the challenge: Daycare Oasis: Early Childhood Care for the Modern World
– Cappella created the challenge: Empowering First-Time Parents with Tech & Community
– Storybook created the challenge: Reimagining Early Childhood Education for a Digital Age
– Zenimals created the challenge: Holistic Wellbeing for Every Child
– Everybaby created the challenge: Preterm Power Up: Hacking for the Tiniest Titans