Egyptian Bot Building Startup WideBot Wins USD 10 K In GITEX Challenge
WideBot; an Egyptian startup that is making significant strides as an AI-based bot building platform, has bagged a USD 10 K cash prize for emerging Best Artificial Intelligence Startup in this year’s GITEX Future Stars Supernova Challenge.
WideBot prides itself as one of the first Arabic-focused bot builder platforms that enables users who possess very little or rudimentary knowledge of code to build bots for such apps as Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Slack, Kik, and Skype.
The startup was established in 2016 by Mohammed Nabil. And in spite of its relatively short existence, it already boasts wins in a number of other competitions including Seedstars Egypt 2017 and ArabNet Startup Battle Cairo 2017. WideBot has also previously emerged runner-up at ArabNet Startup Contest, Orange Startup Cup, the Cairo edition of DEMO Africa, as well as this year’s MITEF Arab Startup Competition’s Startup Track.
The Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) is an annual computer and electronics trade show, exhibition, and conference that can be considered one of the largest of its kind in the MENA region. GITEX Future Stars; the startup competition which forms part of the broader GITEX offering, was held in Dubai last week as part of this year’s exhibition. The Dubai World Trade Center played host as some startups from the MENA region and beyond were afforded the opportunity to showcase their products in a competition tagged the “Supernova Challenge.”
At the grand finale of the GITEX Future Stars Supernova Challenge, 24 selected startups were given a shot at going home with cash rewards as they pitched in front of a jury that comprised both local and international experts. Following the conclusion of the pitching competition, nine startups were rewarded with various cash prizes. The winning startups consisted of one champion (who bagged a USD 100 K grand prize ) and eight category winners (rewarded with USD 10 K each).
For their efforts, Egypt’s WideBot took home the prize money in the Best Artificial Intelligence Startup category, and this latest success could be a testament to the significant headway being made by the startup in putting together veritable bot building solutions for pros and amateurs alike. The startup is believed to currently boast a clientele that includes the likes of Americana and Centra.
Image via GitexFutureStars
