The first-ever Business Innovation Week, held in Fuvahmulah in September 2019, was an awesome event. Participants learned directly from entrepreneurs and worked in teams to prepare investor pitches. Eight groups of 19 participants convinced investors to provide seed finance for their startups. Ismail Rafeeq, Founder of iBay and a key BIW partner, shared his vision for Fuvahmulah City — and BIW contributor Nattu Adnan went on to secure investment from Microsoft Ventures, a proud moment for Fuvahmulah and the Maldives.
Held
Sep 2019
Fuvahmulah
Time
September 2019 · multi-day
Investment
Seed-finance pitch programme
A curated line-up of leaders, practitioners, and thinkers sharing the room.
Ismail Rafeeq
Maldives
Key Partner — Business Innovation Week
Founder of iBay and a key partner of Business Innovation Week. At BIW 2019 he shared his vision for Fuvahmulah City — a future built on local enterprise, technology, and youth opportunity.
Nattu Adnan
Maldives
Startups, Technology & Investor Pitching
A driving contributor to BIW 2019 — coaching participants on how to pitch to investors and speaking on the technology to look for when starting a business. His team later secured investment from Microsoft Ventures — a proud moment for Fuvahmulah and the Maldives, and an inspiration to the country’s youth.
Microsoft
Ventures investment secured by his team
Pitch Coach
Trained BIW participants to pitch investors
Abdulla Mohamed
Maldives
Speaker — Business Innovation Week
Of Crowe Maldives — speaking at BIW 2019 on the financial and advisory foundations entrepreneurs need to build durable businesses.
Ahmed Mohamed Didi
Maldives
Human Resources for Entrepreneurs
Shared knowledge on Human Resources for Entrepreneurs at BIW 2019 — how early-stage founders build, motivate, and retain their first teams.
Entrepreneurs, founders, and youth of Fuvahmulah and the Maldives — learning, pitching, and securing real investment.
Ismail Rafeeq, Founder of iBay and key BIW partner, shared his vision for Fuvahmulah City and the role of local enterprise in building it.
Nattu Adnan coached participants on how to pitch to investors — and spoke on the technology to look for when starting up a business.
Abdulla Mohamed from Crowe Maldives spoke on the financial foundations entrepreneurs need to build durable businesses.
Ahmed Mohamed Didi shared knowledge on Human Resources for Entrepreneurs — building and retaining early teams.
Talks from Aminath Ali, Shamoon Ameen, Aishath Adnan, Abdulla Jameel, Ahmed Asif, Hassan Mohamed, Hassan Saeed and more.
8 groups of 19 participants pitched and convinced investors to provide seed finance for their startups.
Fuvahmulah · Fuvahmulah
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
26 photos from Business Innovation Week 2019 — Fuvahmulah
Empowering Maldivian MSMEs through Knowledge
Media partner amplifying BIW across the Maldives business community.
Creative and print partner for BIW Fuvahmulah.
Hospitality partner hosting BIW participants in Fuvahmulah.
Education partner supporting the BIW learning programme.
Local partner supporting BIW logistics and participants.
Technology and connectivity partner for BIW.
The first BIW proved what Fuvahmulah’s entrepreneurs can do. Explore the next Business Innovation Week.