Meet Ariika’s New Undergraduate Startup CEO
By: Roba Mazroua
Graduating senior business student Raneem Kassab has become the chief executive officer (CEO) of a new start-up line named ‘Patch It Up’ at Ariika, Egypt’s pioneering bean bag manufacturer, after winning an entrepreneurial skills competition held on October 21.
The competition was organized by the Entrepreneur’s Society (ES), in collaboration with Ariika, with the goal of shedding light on undergraduate entrepreneurial skills.
“We were trying to find new talent to join our team, not as a normal employee but as a partner that will transfer this leakage into an innovative business opportunity and money generator [prospect]”, Ariika CEO and AUC alumnus Shahir Arslan told The Caravan.
The event had 17 contestants from different universities in Cairo competing to solve one of the issues the company is currently facing.
Ariika disposes of waste materials, such as fabrics and leather, that amount to 100,000 EGP annually in loss.
For the competition, the company asked the contestants to submit a business plan to recycle and reuse the waste material.
This waste material would then be used to establish a new product line that will be sold on the market.
The winner of the competition would become CEO of their initiated line, and will be be granted a portion of the company’s minority share that does not exceed 10 percent, a fixed salary and an additional 2500 EGP for first place.
“By next April we will launch this bag line [with a] separate brand name under our company’s’ administration. We will grant it strong market positioning and color it with the needed competitive edge to excel in the market,” added Arslan.
Kassab’s winning project was a customized bags line that offered a wide range of products that could be ordered through their website.
“The competition was intensely challenging due to the condensed time-frame of two days, in which contestants had to submit nine deliverables of the marketing plan in such a short period,” said Kassab.
Her plan included strong marketing campaign with a specific focus on the target market, market share evaluations, financial analysis and a business model canvas.
“Since Ariika’s owners have been successfully positioning themselves in the market for six years, I am confident that we will do great work together,” Kassab added.
ES CEO Jenny El-Boushy said the club provided contestants with presentations and workshops that would help them in the pitching process and give them insights into developing their entrepreneurial vision.
“We want to make this type of competitions annually. Ariika wants to do it next year too.”
