- Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Riyadh is major opportunity for entrepreneurs to unlock pent-up demand following pandemic
- Organizers call on governments to “unleash the potential” of entrepreneurs to tackle worldwide challenges
Giants of Silicon Valley Steve Wozniak and Marc Randolph will address thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers from 200 countries at an event aimed at helping reboot the world economy after Covid-19.
The co-founders of Apple and Netflix, both companies that have thrived during the pandemic, are headline speakers at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from March 27-30.
The event is the first time in over two years that entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and ecosystem leaders from around the world will meet in person to address the new challenges resulting from the pandemic.
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers said: “We need entrepreneurs to help solve the world’s growing problems. GEC 2022 allows entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers to come together to help launch the businesses that will transform the world.
“Whether it’s recovering from the global pandemic, tackling climate change, or cyber vulnerabilities, GEC 2022 allows us to collaborate and rethink how entrepreneurs are crucial to creating positive change.”
Global growth is projected to hit 4.9% in 2022 and entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to take advantage of latent demand while investors are looking to back growing businesses with millions of dollars of unspent capital.
GEC 2022 is taking place under the theme Reboot, Rethink, Regenerate, and will showcase the latest high-performing start up, scale up and innovation policies and programs from around the world.
Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, said: “Entrepreneurship isn't easy. You'll be told 'no' and that your ideas are impossible countless times. GEC 2022 is the place for entrepreneurs to come together and share their hard-earned lessons from the pandemic, as well as connect with investors and policy makers who are critical to their success.”
With Riyadh’s entrepreneurial ecosystem now valued at $1 billion, this year’s event will be co-hosted in the city by Monsha’at, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), which operates programs in 200 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere, to start and scale a business.
Governor of Monsha’at, Saleh Ibrahim Alrasheed said: “The only place you can see how the pandemic has transformed the world’s entrepreneurial ecosystem landscape, is at GEC 2022.
“To regenerate our economies, we need to invest to unlock innovation nationally, regionally, and globally.”
The four-day event will feature a cabinet-level ministerial meeting, The Startup Nations Ministerial, and also the Startup Nations Summit, for policy officials responsible for drafting entrepreneurship regulation, with both carrying the theme ‘A New Business Plan for the Global Economy’.
Jonathan Ortmans, President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, said: “Entrepreneurs are natural leaders made for times like this. They are the doers, makers, and risk-takers the world needs to innovate out of the pandemic.
“GEC 2022 will give delegates insights into what their peers around the world are doing to unleash the potential of entrepreneurs."
The congress is hosted in a different emerging startup economy every year. Previous host countries include the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa, and Bahrain.
Contact:
Governor of Monsha’at Saleh Ibrahim Alrasheed and President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network Jonathan Ortmans are available for interviews depending on availability.
For further detail and interview requests contact: Edelman at edelman-gec@edelman.com or GEN at kathryn@genglobal.org.
Editor’s Notes:
What is GEC 2022?
Over four days, thousands of delegates from 200 countries will come together at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Riyadh to discuss rebuilding the global economy and strengthening entrepreneurs and their ecosystems during the pandemic and beyond.
Steve Wozniak
A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for more than thirty years, Steve Wozniak has helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products, the Apple I and II. He also influenced the popular Macintosh. In 1976, Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. with Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. The following year, he introduced his Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive. The Apple II was integral in launching the personal computer industry.
Through the years, Wozniak has been involved in various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and encouraging creativity for students. Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education, he adopted the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. In 2014, he was awarded the Hoover Medal, a prestigious honor given for “outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity,” and was inducted into the IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame.
Marc Randolph
Although best known for starting Netflix, Marc’s career as an entrepreneur spans more than four decades. He’s been a founder of more than half a dozen other successful start-ups, a mentor to scores of early stage entrepreneurs, and an investor in numerous successful tech ventures (and an even larger number of unsuccessful ones).
He is the author of the internationally best-selling memoir, That Will Never Work – The Birth of Netflix and The Amazing Life of an Idea, host of the top-10 That Will Never Work podcast, and a star of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Elevator Pitch web series.
Most recently, Marc co-founded analytics software company Looker Data and currently serves as an advisor to multiple other startups, serving variously as a mentor, CEO coach, and/or board member.