Wateer Wins Into New Worlds Award at LEAP 2024 Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Competition
Wateer, a digital receiptasaservice company working to reduce paper waste, has been named winner of the Into New Worlds Award at…
Wateer, a digital receipt-as-a-service (RaaS) company working to reduce paper waste, has been named winner of the Into New Worlds Award at the Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Competition, held during LEAP 2024 in Riyadh. The award recognised the most impressive startup across the Metaverse and Web3 space.
A competition with a one million dollar prize pool
The Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Competition is powered by the National Technology Development Programme (NTDP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Misk Foundation. This edition drew 90 startups from around the world, a field that was narrowed down to 12 finalists who pitched on stage.
Prizes were distributed across six categories with a total prize pool of US$1 million. The headline LEAP Award carried US$250,000, while the winners of the five other categories, including the Into New Worlds Award secured by Wateer, each received US$150,000.
The finalists presented to a judging panel that combined international investment and broadcast profiles with regional venture expertise. The panel featured James Caan and Steven Bartlett, both known from Dragons' Den, alongside Baroness Karren Brady CBE and Amal Dokhan, General Partner at 500 Global.
Recognition for reducing paper waste
Wateer's award places a digital receipts platform among the standout companies identified at one of the region's largest technology gatherings. In the official release announcing the results, the company was described as a digital receipt-as-a-service provider that aims to reduce paper waste, positioning the digitisation of everyday transaction records as both an operational upgrade for merchants and an environmental one.
The Into New Worlds Award category takes its name from the conference theme, and the recognition of a receipts platform under a Metaverse and Web3 heading reflects the breadth of technologies competing for attention at the event.
LEAP 2024 sets new records
The third edition of LEAP was held at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Malham from March 4 to 7, 2024, under the theme "Into New Worlds". The conference broke its own attendance record, rising 25 percent to 215,000 visitors, while onsite investment announcements reached US$13.45 billion.
That combination of scale and capital commitments has made the event a focal point for startups seeking visibility and funding in the Kingdom and across the wider region. For the 12 finalists in the Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Competition, the stage offered direct exposure to investors and decision makers gathered in Riyadh over four days.
For Wateer, the award marks recognition of its work on digital receipts at a national platform backed by the NTDP, MCIT and the Misk Foundation, alongside eleven other finalists selected from an initial pool of 90 global applicants.
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