At the closing ceremony, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Samira Al-Zoubi, honored the four winning teams, whose projects were distinguished by innovation and economic viability. They received a package of prizes to support the growth of their projects, including credits on the Replit platform, incubation opportunities at the King Hussein Business Park, practical training opportunities, mentorship sessions, and smart tablets provided by Orange Jordan.
In this context, Dr. Mohammad Al-Khawaja, Co-Founder of Fikr Ventures, said: "Artificial intelligence has changed the rules of the game. Today, building a product is no longer exclusive to programmers; it has become accessible to anyone who has an idea and understands a real problem. Our goal at Fikr is to move Jordanian and Arab youth from being users of technology to creators of it. What we saw over two days in Amman confirms that the talent is there, and what it needs is the right tools, opportunity, and funding, which is exactly what we are working on with our partners at Replit and all the entities that stood with us. We extend our thanks to His Excellency Minister Sami Smeirat for his patronage and continuous support for entrepreneurship."
The hackathon kicked off with an introductory session by Replit, followed by intensive building and mentoring sessions supervised by specialized mentors, then qualifying presentations that resulted in 10 teams advancing to the finals. The qualifying teams presented their projects before a jury that included national and regional experts, including Dr. Farah Sarraj, representing the Al-Futtaim Education Foundation in the United Arab Emirates.
The ceremony, attended by partners and media, also featured a panel discussion titled "Building in the Age of AI: What Has Changed and What’s Next," with the participation of the President of Al-Hussein Technical University, Dr. Ismail Al-Hinti, and the CEO of Orange Jordan, Mr. Philippe Mansour.
For his part, Shaker Al-Amayreh, Head of Partnerships for the Middle East at Replit, said: "At Replit, we believe that the next generation of makers will come from everywhere, not just from traditional technology hubs. What we witnessed in Amman is inspiring; participants from different backgrounds built real, working products in a matter of hours. Our partnership with Fikr Ventures combines building tools with an investment path, and that is what makes this series different. We look forward to seeing what these makers will build in the next phase."
The Amman Hackathon is the second stop in the series of regional AI hackathons led by Fikr Ventures in partnership with Replit, following its first launch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The upcoming stops will head to Dubai in cooperation with the Al-Futtaim Education Foundation, then to Riyadh, with the aim of building a regional community of makers and entrepreneurs and enhancing the region's attractiveness for investment in advanced technology.
The success of the hackathon was the result of a partnership between Fikr Ventures as the organizer, and Replit as the technical partner that provided participants with an integrated AI-powered building environment, in addition to the official sponsorship of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship. The event also received support and contributions from the King Hussein Business Park as the host and incubator for the winning team, Al-Hussein Technical University as an academic partner, and Orange Jordan, in addition to sponsors and partners: Madfooatcom, MENA Devs, Ula Ventures, and the Al-Futtaim Education Foundation, which will host the next stop in Dubai.
