Hope Ventures, the investment arm of Hope Fund, signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Economy and The Entrepreneurial Nation to collaborate on the expansion of Hope’s entrepreneurial-themed reality show ‘Beban’ to accelerate the growth of entrepreneurs and SMEs across the region.

Beban aims to shed light on success stories and facilitate the co-investment of high-potential businesses alongside the private sector. Its first season featured 12 Bahraini entrepreneurs across 4 episodes and resulted in a commitment of 5 deals worth over USD 1,000,000 in total and USD 120,000 worth of advance orders.

Season 2 is planned to be bigger and more exciting, as it will include 10 episodes featuring 50 promising entrepreneurs as they pitch for equity investment and strategic business development opportunities before a diversified panel of regional investors.

Through the MoU, Beban is expanding to include up to 15 shortlisted entrepreneurs from the UAE, along with investors, and strategic partners. This will benefit entrepreneurs from the ease of access to diversified UAE investors and strategic partners who contribute to the acceleration of their regional and international expansions.

The show’s expansion will further support shortlisted businesses by providing added exposure for entrepreneurs around the GCC and the region through the show’s distribution and airing on major regional networks, as well as cross-country expertise and knowledge sharing.

Hope Ventures thanks His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Affairs and Youth Affairs, for His guidance and unwavering support that led to this monumental milestone.

To stay up to date with all-things-Beban, make sure you follow the show’s accounts on social media @bebantvshow. You can also contact the Hope Ventures team via e-mail at (hello@hopefund.bh) for further support and guidance.