Yahoo! prides itself on fostering innovation and entrepreneurial approaches and nowhere was this most obvious than last week at the Social Innovations Awards event in Cairo, where Rich Riley and Ahmed Nassef presented the winners with their awards.  Following an eight-month on-line campaign to support young Arab entrepreneurs, Yahoo! Maktoob announced the winners of the ‘Social Innovation Starts With YOU’ entrepreneurship project organised in partnership with Egypt-based non-governmental organisation Nahdet El Mahrousa.

This initiative has inspired young Egyptians to think about social entrepreneurship and socially-responsible business ideas that can have a positive and sustainable impact on every day society. The collaborative project recognises the internet’s ability to positively transform lives, societies and economies in the Arab world. The young entrepreneurs were asked to develop new ideas in fields such as education, health, and the environment.  With internet usage in the Middle East having increased by 228 percent from just 16.5 million in 2004 to 56 million today and showing little sign of slowing, the web is increasingly the first choice for people wanting to set up their own businesses, with a lower cost of entry and the potential to reach an international market.

The Middle East is a culture that encourages entrepreneurs: the Arab culture, the “Cradle of Civilization” and dating back thousands of years, was built on a foundation of entrepreneurship with a rich history in innovation across mathematics, science and engineering.

Rich Riley commented: “Both Yahoo! and Maktoob were originally founded on a simple idea formed by two young entrepreneurs, much like today’s competition winners. Having met these young people today, I too am reminded of my own career path and the thrill of devising and creating something new that will benefit others.  There’s no better feeling!”

Ahmed Nassef added: “Within the region, Yahoo! Maktoob aims to strengthen and support Arabic content on the internet whilst introducing more innovative and locally-relevant content to consumers”.

Throughout the ‘Social Innovation Starts With YOU’ campaign, successful Egyptian social entrepreneurs were featured on the project’s website (http://eg.socialinnovation.yahoo.com), sharing their compelling stories and providing advice to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.  Visitors to the website were able to vote for the entrepreneur they thought had made the biggest impact in their community. The highest-rated individuals, featured on the front page of the website, were invited to be judges for the Social Innovation Competition.

The ‘Social Innovation Starts With YOU’ website will continue to serve as an entry point for aspiring entrepreneurs by providing an on-line toolkit of inspirational stories, advice, resources, and Web services to get them started.

All the winners have received monetary grants as well as technical and management support to help bring their ideas to life.  In addition to grants totalling approximately $250,000 from Yahoo! Maktoob, they will receive training and mentoring support for three years, managed through Nahdet El Mahrousa, to help ensure their success.

Yahoo! Maktoob’s social entrepreneurship campaign follows the company’s global commitment to helping communities. Yahoo! connects individuals to a global on-line community so they can change the world together.  That’s How Good Grows on Yahoo!