Challenge 22 win provides platform to showcase Arab innovation: entrepreneur

Entrepreneur Mohamed al-Kilany says winning Challenge 22 has provided a platform to showcase Arab innovation to the world – and it’s an opportunity he’s determined to capitalise on.

Al-Kilany, a Palestinian-Jordanian, is the chief executive officer and founder of SnapGoal. He was speaking at the end of a week-long Challenge 22 winners’ visit to Doha.He and his team had won the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s (SC) flagship innovation award with SnapGoal, an innovative social media platform, in 2017. It has been a busy time for the entrepreneur. SnapGoal was recently selected among 10 other startups for the Techween acceleration programme in Oman, while they were also voted as one the most exciting 22 SportsTech startups worldwide by SportsTech Qatar, sc.qa reported.Al-Kilany said winning Challenge 22 brought a great degree of opportunity, but also responsibility.“After winning Challenge 22, the dream became bigger and I felt our responsibility also became bigger,” he said. “This feeling has been reinforced after meeting with the secretary-general, who said we need our young talented people from the region to be the engine for the World Cup.“I firmly agree with him. We need to match these talents with opportunities. It is a wonderful thing that organisations like the SC are there to help open the door and provide a unique chance to really take our ideas to the next level. I appreciate these opportunities more than words can express. That’s why I work day and night to make this dream come true.”Inspired by Snapchat, SnapGoal is a social media platform for football fans, allowing them to view and post photographs and videos up to 15 seconds long. Ittarget="_blank"'>