Scale7 Successfully Hosts Qatar’s First Fashion & Design Hackathon
Scale7, the first fashion and design business incubator in Qatar – founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in partnership with M7, the creative and cultural hub operating under Qatar Museums, has successfully completed Qatar’s first fashion and technology virtual Hackathon, which was held between 12-14 March, 2021.
Opening the doors of infinite opportunities for Qatari entrepreneurs and those in the emerging fields of fashion and technology innovation, the three-day even witnessed participation from individuals and teams working together and brainstorming to create solutions for the most pressing challenges in the fashion industry today.
The Scale7 Hackathon offered the ideal platform for entrepreneurs to compete, build and develop exciting concepts. Winners will be entitled to several benefits aimed at providing a wide range of support to fashion and design entrepreneurs who are interested in fashion technology and to grow and tap into the opportunities within Qatar as well as global markets.
The Hackathon featured 4 main speakers, 7 mentors and an international jury consisting of 9 industry experts, providing a platform for participating teams to co-develop pioneering ideas that are viable enough to be transformed into real-world solutions.
The challenges posed by the pandemic has led to the acceleration and development of current trends in the fashion industry. To address these challenges, the areas of discussions during the Hackathon revolved around two pillars.
The first pillar was innovation in customer experience by creating new methods of communication, researching the nature of future stores, in addition to creating new innovative retail formats. The second pillar harped on the sustainability aspect by focusing on the search for innovative products, the mechanism of supply chains, in addition to circular economy business models.
Over 50 applications were received for the Hackathon. With 18 final active participants, 1 hour mentorship was offered to each team. Three industry experts delivered inspiring speeches to motivate entrepreneurs and shared their success stories. Four final presentations including two on sustainability and two on customer experience fought for the top slot.
The two winning teams will receive four hours of mentorship to support the development of their application for Scale7 Incubation program and access to Scale7 Co-working space for two months. Furthermore, each active participant will receive a certificate of participation.
Hackathons are a new global trend in innovation, whereby companies and individuals create unique ideas in a collective framework. They have been praised by experts as high-impact, high-energy drivers of meaningful technology innovation.
