October 17, 2024 - One hundred up-and-coming companies representing 52 countries and territories will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to compete in the Entrepreneurship World Cup Global Finals November 5-9, organizers announced today.  

The competition, co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, Monsha’at, is one of the largest and most diverse pitch competitions and support programs of its kind. Every year, tens of thousands of entrepreneurs from 200 countries and territories compete for US$1 million in cash prizes and millions more worth of investment, support and publicity through national pitch competitions, bootcamps and a global finals event attended by leading investors. 

After months of competition in national and regional qualifiers, global pool selections and a bootcamp for the top 250 companies, the top 100 will face-off at the Global Finals during Biban 24. The companies, known collectively as the “Entrepreneurship World Cup 100 (EWC 100)”, are based in: Africa (12), Asia (22), the Caribbean (2), Europe (23), the Middle East (9), North America (15), Oceania (2), and South America (15).  

In addition to competing for cash prizes for idea-stage (10 companies), early-stage (62 companies) and growth-stage (28 companies), founders will also contend in specialized categories including health and wellness, economies of the future, energy and industrial leadership, and sustainable environment and supply of essential needs. 

“These companies are headed by bold founders and brilliant teams with the ambition to lead meaningful change through innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. “With support from GEN, Monsha’at and our partners, the Entrepreneurship World Cup experience will get them closer to their goals.” 

While in Riyadh, the EWC 100 will also experience Saudi Arabia’s emerging startup scene and explore opportunities to tap into a new market. In recent years, the ecosystem has seen transformational growth with record highs in venture capital investments. 

Since launching in 2019, the competition has attracted more than 430,000 registrations from 200 countries and connected founders with over US$4M in cash prizes and another US$266M worth of free support and services. The competition is supported by more than 100 partners world-wide. 

Meet the EWC 100 Companies