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D-TECHATHON 2024 Waitlist

Fountech Labs is now accepting applications from startups for the D-TECHATHON 2024 WAITLIST.
We will be releasing dates in early 2024. Applying to our WAITLIST ensures you will notified of D-TECHATHON dates and relevant technology or market themes, where applicable. All D-TECHATHONS will be a blend of virtual and in-person in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia or London, United Kingdom.

ABOUT APPLYING TO D-TECHATHON
We encourage you to submit your application to the D-TECHATHON 2024 WAITLIST as soon as you’re ready to apply.  We review applications as they are submitted and on a rolling basis throughout the year. Confirmation of places are based on a first-come, first served basis. Interviews are held via video and all applicants receive detailed feedback, regardless of our decision.

Places on D-TECHATHON are allocated based on the application date and the type of technology and / or type of market segment. Full details and regular updates are shared with successful applicants

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D-techathon 2024
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I SAUDI ARABIA

Together, we create tomorrow

We are venture builders of deep tech ideas.

Together, we
create tomorrow

Fountech Labs - Logo
Delivering Innovation-as-a-Service.

Together,

we create tomorrow

Together,
we create tomorrow

Fountech Labs - Logo
Delivering Innovation-as-a-Service.
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It’s hard, so it’s worth doing

We help our clients create and launch deep tech innovation at scale

Bringing together decades of commercial and technical expertise, our international team of entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists will provide the bridge between your idea and launching into one of the world’s fastest growing regions.

We work with our clients to identify the innovators of tomorrow, co-creating foundational technologies and launching them to market.

Our unique model is built upon years of experience as technologists and entrepreneurs, experience gained from real-world exposure as founders, operators and inventors. Beyond our core team, we work closely with our international ecosystem of academics and corporate partners, each providing domain expertise and invaluable insights.

This leads to technology companies that have successfully minimised risks and established competitive barriers, positioning them as catalysts for change in their industries.

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D-TECHATHON
2024 Waitlist

D-TECHATHON is our 2-day lab-to-pitch competitive event, open to all ideation-stage deep tech startups. Dates and locations will be announced in Q1 2024.

Join the 2024 waitlist.

Apply here

How we work

Bringing together decades of commercial and technical expertise, our international team of entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists will provide the bridge between your idea and launching into one of the world’s fastest growing regions.

We are a Saudi and UK-based innovation lab. We work with founders, corporates, research institutes and government agencies to unlock and scale deep tech ideas.

Our operating model is a series of interconnected services that include IP commercialisation, deal sourcing, venture building, accelerator programmes and corporate innovation engagements.

Our vision is a self-energising deep tech ecosystem and our mission is to enable, drive and realise ideas for a better tomorrow.

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D-TECHIDEA

IP Commercialisation

IP portfolio commercialisation. Analysis, scoring and selection of corporate IP.

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D-TECHATHON

Innovation Sourcing

In-house or external deal flow. Deep tech competition for sourcing, screening and selection of startups or corporate innovation ideas.

> Discover more...
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D-TECHLAUNCH

Venture Building

12-week Labs-to-Pilot Programme.

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D-TECHSCALE

Accelerating

20-week Pilot-to-MVP Programme.

> Discover more...
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D-TECHCORP

Co-Venturing

Corporate co-venturing of in-house innovation ideas.

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Design icon

D-TECHIDEA

IP Commercialisation

IP portfolio commercialisation. Analysis, scoring and selection of corporate IP.

> More...

+

Brainstorming icon

D-TECHATHON

Innovation Sourcing

In-house or external deal flow. Deep tech competition for sourcing, screening and selection of start-ups or corporate innovation ideas.

> More...

+

Testing icon

D-TECHLAUNCH

Venture Building

12-week Labs-to-Pilot Programme.

> More...
Funding icon

D-TECHCORPORATE

Co-Venturing

Corporate co-venturing of in-house innovation ideas.

> More...

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MVP icon

D-TECHSCALE

Accelerating

24-week Pilot-to-MVP Programme.

> More...
Testing icon

Testing

Obtaining feedback from potential users of the invention.

MVP icon

MVP

Releasing the first market-ready version of the solution.

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Funding

Assisting with capital-raising activities: angels and grants.

Have a great idea you want to share with us?

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Alumni companies

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Engineers & Scientists.

Founders

Salvatore Minetti

Founder

Lifelong entrepreneur, board advisor and non-executive director with international experience across numerous industries including deep tech, automotive, property, manufacturing and retail.

Current roles include Founder at Fountech Ventures, CEO at AutoM8, Board Director at Soffos and Board Director at SPRYT.

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Lifelong entrepreneur, board advisor and non-executive director with international experience across numerous industries including deep tech, automotive, property, manufacturing and retail.

Current roles include Founder at Fountech Ventures, CEO at AutoM8, Board Director at Soffos and Board Director at SPRYT.

Salvatore Minetti

Founder
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Nikolas Kairinos

Founder

Nikolas brings 4 decades of hands-on experience in the field of artificial intelligence innovation, as an entrepreneur, investor, developer, writer, and advisor. He bridges the divide that usually exists between entrepreneurs and scientists; this leads to the creation of novel, practical and impactful AI-centric solutions.

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Nikolas brings 4 decades of hands-on experience in the field of artificial intelligence innovation, as an entrepreneur, investor, developer, writer, and advisor. He bridges the divide that usually exists between entrepreneurs and scientists; this leads to the creation of novel, practical and impactful AI-centric solutions.

Nikolas Kairinos

Founder
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Dr. Abdullah Alaraj

Founder

Abdullah Alaraj is an academic turned active angel investor turned fund manager. He holds B.S.c, M.S.c and PhD in Computer Science. He has more than 20 years of experience in academia, angel investing, fund management and technology ecosystem building.

Alaraj is an active angel investor in technology startups in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, USA and UK. As an angel, he invested in more than 30 startups in different industries including Fintech, Blockchain, LegalTech, EdTech, AI/ML, Food/Beverages, Logistics, SaaS and Cybersecurity.

Alaraj is the Co-Founder and the Chairman of the Board of Riyadh Angel Investors (RAI), a Saudi based angel network. The network comprises of more than 70 members who are actively involved in the local ecosystem.

Alaraj is an advisor, mentor and speaker. He advised many companies on their digital transformation strategies.

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Abdullah Alaraj is an academic turned active angel investor turned fund manager. He holds B.S.c, M.S.c and PhD in Computer Science. He has more than 20 years of experience in academia, angel investing, fund management and technology ecosystem building.

Alaraj is an active angel investor in technology startups in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, USA and UK. As an angel, he invested in more than 30 startups in different industries including Fintech, Blockchain, LegalTech, EdTech, AI/ML, Food/Beverages, Logistics, SaaS and Cybersecurity.

Alaraj is the Co-Founder and the Chairman of the Board of Riyadh Angel Investors (RAI), a Saudi based angel network. The network comprises of more than 70 members who are actively involved in the local ecosystem.

Alaraj is an advisor, mentor and speaker. He advised many companies on their digital transformation strategies.

Dr. Abdullah Alaraj

Founder
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Khizzer Hayat

Founder

Khizzer is an energetic innovator and commercially astute business founder.

He is known for his relentless pursuit of self-betterment, self-development, and empowerment of those around him throughout his 20+ year career of building and investing in businesses with a strong mission and even stronger ethical standards.

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Khizzer is an energetic innovator and commercially astute business founder.

He is known for his relentless pursuit of self-betterment, self-development, and empowerment of those around him throughout his 20+ year career of building and investing in businesses with a strong mission and even stronger ethical standards.

Khizzer Hayat

Founder
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A selection of our 100+ Advisors

Chris has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Michigan and has enjoyed a diverse technical and academic career, starting at Microsoft and working most recently as a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Middlesex.

Chris has published over 100 papers in his time at Middlesex, with most of his work concentrating on spiking neural models as reasonable models of the biological neuron in neuropsychological models and agents built from artificial neurons, whilst his work in vision processing has been based on models of the primary and secondary visual cortex.

Chris has also led work on hybrid and electric vehicle programs in conjunction with leading automobile manufacturers and the US Department of Energy.

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Prof. Chris Huyck

Computer Scientist
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Rhonda Parouty

Entrepreneur
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As The Entrepreneur's Doctor, Dr Behbod helps Entrepreneurs create a healthier, happier world through their ventures. As a Harvard & Oxford trained public health physician, author of Startup Therapy, and host of The Entrepreneur's Doctor podcast, he serves as Chief Medical Officer, mentor, and board advisor to startups and scaleups.

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Dr. Behrooz Behbod

Clinician
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Eric Stange

Financial Services
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TBC

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Dr Advaith Bongu

Clinician
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Joseph H. McCall has a lifetime of investment experience. A President's Scholar merit recipient at Texas A&M University, he occasionally enjoyed an early career as an oil-field insurance surveyor during the boom of the latter 70's. He found his calling as a Financial Advisor for Merrill Lynch and Prudential Securities for over 20 years. He acted as a conduit between the firm's analysts and investment bankers and the Austin tech community. During that time he helped found and was Program Chair for the two longest lived technology networking organizations in Austin, TX - Austin Technology Council and Technology Advisors Group. He held a position as Executive Director for the Texas Nanotechnology Initiative, a statewide trade group for the industry. He is an investor in a boutique investment bank in NYC. He is also an investor in International Accelerator in Austin, has been judge and MC at IA pitch events, as well as participating in the investment committee to select candidates to join IA.

He still mows his own lawn and doesn't forget the milk when his wife sends him to the grocery store.

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Joseph H. McCall

Partner
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Akmal Saleem

Entrepreneur
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Dr Daniel Harris

Computer Scientist / Linguist
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Aliki has been in the field of education for over 20 years as a teacher, leader and teacher trainer, complemented by a Doctorate in Educational Leadership focused on the impact of training in online cooperative learning techniques on self-efficacy.Aliki is consistently fascinated by what enhances learner engagement and how the dynamics of such engagement incessantly metamorphoses with the changing times and technologies to which we are exposed. Learning more about how to engage learners in order to enhance their learning experience are her major priorities as an educator.

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Aliki Constantinou,

Educationalist
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Prof. David Windridge

Computer Scientist
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Dr. Sabbir Rangwala

Engineer
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Hunter has launched ML / AI products in the IOT / Smart City space for 8 years, where he led development and new business units for multiple venture backed startups. Everything from HVAC to garbage.

Studying physics and product development in college, Hunter worked in the Office of Technology and Commercialization and helped launch over 20 companies based upon deep tech research, coming out of the University of Minnesota. He currently leads AI and computer vision for Flash, a parking and mobility hub technology company based in Austin, TX. Outside of work, Hunter can be found spending time with his wife and three kids, building in his shop, or kiteboarding.

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Hunter Dunbar

Electrical / Mechanical Engineer
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Dr. Mirza Omer Beg

Computer Scientist
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Hakima (Linda) has a PhD in Molecular Astrophysics from the University of Paris, where she graduated summa cum laude. She has since enjoyed an impressive variety of technical and academic roles.

Linda is an ambassador for Women in AI, and the designer/developer of a deep-learning algorithm used for eye tracking and gaze prediction. Her interest in deep-learning stems from looking at how solid-state materials play a role in star and planet formation. Linda is a regular member of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and a respected research scientist, working on various AI-centric projects involving the monitoring and understanding of facial movement.

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Dr. Hakima Mokrane

Astro Physicist
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Prof Giuseppe Primiero

Computer Scientist
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Celine has over 25 years of international experience in major corporations and start-ups alike, and is a true expert in brand and digital marketing, e-commerce, strategic foresight and digital transformation. She has ran large teams and worked with US Fortune 500 companies in complex technical and cultural environments. She is experienced in delivering go-to-market strategy and leading cross-platform, cross-channel customer acquisition and retention,

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Celine Bannino

Entrepreneur
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Ian Clarke is a Computer Scientist and Entrepreneur, with a track record of both technical and business innovation, and an outspoken thinker and activist on issues relating to freedom of speech, intellectual property law, and technology.

Ian is best known as the founder and coordinator of the Freenet Project; designed to allow true freedom of communication, Freenet was the first decentralized anonymous peer-to-peer network, and a precursor of the “distributed hashtable” data structure. Ian has also founded a number of innovative and diverse commercial ventures, including Revver, the first online video website to share revenue with video creators, Thoof, a collaboratively generated personalized news website, and SenseArray, a powerful machine learning engine.

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Dr. Ian Clarke

Computer Scientist
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Ryan is an experienced senior operator across restaurants, bars, QSRs and start-ups, having ran both large restaurant groups and small independent concepts

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Ryan Jacovides

Entrepreneur
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Prof. Petri Ahokangas

Futurist
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Dr Trudie Chalder

Psychotherapist
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Patrick Fagan

Entrepreneur
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Michael Scrudato

Entrepreneur
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Dr Elias Iosif

Computer Scientist
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Hugo mixes business strategy, technology and design thinking to drive true transformation both internally and externally from challenger to multinational organisations, enabling them to leapfrog their competitors.

Consistently brought into both startup and global businesses to create new products and revenue streams he is particularly interested in accelerating transformation with the application of Data, Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies. He has 20+ years experience working across agencies, brands and consultancies, and is deeply involved with the startup and VC world. Keynote speaker and lecturer, specialising in virtual learning in the digital and data disciplines.

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Hugo Pinto

Entrepreneur
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Faq

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What is deep tech?

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