The Award is held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister. The Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship celebrates the achievements of Bahrain’s entrepreneurs and their socio-economic role in spurring a private sector driven economy.
The categories are: Micro-Enterprise of the Year (micro enterprises, productive families), Startup of the Year, SME of the Year, Enterprise of the Year with International Footprint, Sustainability in Business Award, Female Entrepreneur of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award. More detailed descriptions of each Award category can be found in Award Categories.
The nominated Businesses MUST:
Reside in Bahrain.
Have a Commercial Registration (except micro-enterprise category).
Have at least one Bahraini as key member of the founder and/or management team (e.g., CEO, CTO, owner of intellectual property, etc).
Possess audited financial records for each year of operation (excl. Micro-enterprise, Start-Ups).
The nominated business MUST NOT:
Be a franchisee (however franchisors are eligible), co-operative company or non-profit society or non-governmental organization.
Be a listed company – with the exception of the Sustainable Business Award category.
Be owned by the government in part or whole.
Have a criminal offense record or currently be under investigation.
Be a supplier or a sponsor of The Award.
Micro-Enterprises
Up to 10 employees and up to BD 100,000 annual turnover
Small Enterprises
All sectors: Up to 50 employees and up to BD 0.5 million annual turnover
Construction: Up to 100 employees and up to BD 0.5 million annual turnover
Medium Enterprises
All sectors: Up to 250 employees and BD 0.5 – 5 million annual turnover
Construction: Up to 400 employees and BD 0.5 – 5 million annual turnover
Large Enterprises
All sectors: More than 250 employees and more than BD 5 million annual turnover
Franchisee
A franchisee has been granted a license to access the proprietary knowledge, processes and trademarks of another business, the franchisor, allowing the franchisee to sell a product or provide a service under the franchisor’s name.
Nomination Form and Application Forms are available on The Awards website BahrainAE.com and can be filled out online. Shortlisted applicants may be required to submit additional information.
Nominations can be made on behalf of a third-party provide the eligibility criteria are met. Please see useful Definitions under the Application Process in the website.
All information provided by the applicants shall remain strictly confidential and will not be shared with any third-parties outside of the Award Technical Committee, Award Organising Committee and the Judging panel (for semi-finalists).
This Award is not by application. It is intended to honour long-standing Bahraini entrepreneurs, business women and men who have been pioneers in their industry and have made significant contributions to Bahrain’s economy and community.
Applications must be made before October 5th 2019.
Short-listed applicants will be contacted in October 2019 to meet with the Technical Committee and to provide additional information. The full details of The Award Timeline is available on the website.
Applicants will be evaluated on qualitative criteria: (1) Entrepreneurial spirit, (2) Strategy, (3) Innovation leadership, (4) Business responsibility and on quantitative criteria: (A) Financials,(B) impact, (C) innovation and (D) talent.
Applicants should note that the evaluation criteria are intended to set a high aspirational benchmark. Therefore, potential applicants should not be discouraged if they do not excel in every area and are encouraged to apply.
The main Award is the prestigious trophy handed to winners at the Award Ceremony. In addition, winners will receive cash prizes from Tamkeen and support from partners to develop the applicants plans as presented during the awards as well as further category specific prizes.
Award winners will be announced at The Award Ceremony, due to take place in December 2019.