Beban, an entrepreneurship-themed reality show produced by Hope Ventures, the investment arm of Hope Fund, airs the second episode of its second season today, January 11^th, 2023, at 6 PM on Bahrain TV and the region’s biggest video-on-demand platform, Shahid, as well as 9:30 PM on AlRai TV.

Beban season 2, powered by The Oil and Gas Holding Company B.S.C (closed) (“nogaholding”), was shot in Al Areen Palace and Spa and revolves around entrepreneurs pitching their businesses before a panel of regional investors for investment and strategic business opportunities. The show aims to shed light on promising entrepreneurs and provide them the opportunity to pitch to a panel of strategic investors for potential investment.

Episode two hosted five entrepreneurs from the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman: ‘By Aurora’, a cosmetics brand that produces paraben-free, halal-certified makeup founded by Razan Al-Jassim, ‘OrderJet’, an app that digitizes restaurants’ operations from dining through QR codes, pick-up orders and bring-to-car services co-founded by Ali Haji and Yusuf Almahmood, ‘Hena’, a bilingual platform that connects skilled MENA freelancers and clients together co-founded by Marwan Albalooshi and Maysam Alwahaibi, ‘Laisen’, an online booking system that connects driving instructors with trainees to manage and organize driving sessions co-founded by Mohamed Mahmood, Ahmed Yusuf, and Yasser Janahi, and ‘Esaal’, an app that tracks users’ expenses and stores each receipt while also digitizing merchants’ receipts and providing customer analysis co-founded by Reem Almusabbeh and Anas Ali.

These five businesses pitched before a panel of investors that was comprised of Ms. Mashael Fairooz, Founding Partner of JEO Capital headquartered in Bahrain, Dr. Abdulelah Algosaibi, Saudi angel investor, Mr. Basel Al Abdulkarim, Saudi angel investor & President of EO East Saudi, and was moderated by His Excellency Aymen bin Tawfiq Almoayed, Chairman of Hope Fund, who was also representing Hope Ventures’ investments.

Commenting on the occasion, Khaled Alrayyes, Manager of Projects at Hope Ventures, said: “Today’s episode of Beban season 2 features regional youth as they creatively tell the stories of their businesses with the purpose of fundraising. Beban is more than just an entrepreneurship reality show. When youth get to witness people of their own age and from the same country taking initiative and starting their businesses, it tells them that anything is possible and encourages them to pursue entrepreneurship as well, which is essentially our goal with Beban.”

Entrepreneur Razan Aljassim, Founder of By Aurora, commented on her experience of being on Beban: “Like many entrepreneurs, I started my business because I witnessed a gap in the market. In my case, the gap is in locally made clean makeup. Being on Beban was exciting, and the preparations leading up to it greatly enriched my knowledge and developed my business. I am proud to be part of such an initiative that highlights Bahraini creativity in business and encourages youth to innovate.”

Beban 2 acknowledges its sponsors; The Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding), Tamkeen Bahrain, Al Areen Palace & Spa, TRACCS, BEYON Money, Zain Bahrain, GMI, Ahli United Bank, Kuwait Finance House (Bahrain), The Benefit Company, Amakin, and Al Salam Bank for their affirmed commitment to empowering Bahraini entrepreneurs and accelerating their growth through investment, knowledge, and access to business opportunities.

Beban also thanks episode 2 partners, Local BH, Seef Mall, and City Centre, for providing business opportunities to this episode’s entrepreneurs.

A new episode of Beban will air every Wednesday of this month. You can watch the next episode airing on the 18^th of January 2023 on Bahrain TV at 6 PM, AlRai TV at 9:30 PM, or the time that works best for you on Shahid for free.

To stay up to date with all-things-Beban, make sure you follow the show’s accounts on social media @bebanme.