Bahrain team enters final round of UN app contest

Manama : A Bahrain-based start-up, offering a combination of environmental and fintech solutions, has reached the final rounds of a United Nations (UN) competition for designing a planet-friendly application called ‘Paperless’.

The competition called #Connect2effect was simultaneously held at nine different locations to raise awareness for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and offer youngsters the opportunity to showcase their ideas and solutions for achieving the SDGs.  

The SDGs are a set of 17 goals agreed upon by the 193 member states of the UN, including Bahrain, as priorities for the world to tackle by 2030.

The Bahraini team-of-three is the only participant from the GCC to compete with eight other international winners in the competition. The Paperless team consists of two IT consultants and a business developer - Hamad Ameer, Samy Massoud and Helen Kaldre respectively, who developed ‘Paperless’ – a smart solution to reducing paper receipts, collecting data and saving the environment.

The app is an innovative technical solution, eradicating paper receipts in retail stores.  Alternatively, it uses an app on customer smart phones for receiving receipts.  The app is known to have multiple benefits, including tackling waste management, impacting the environment positively and providing smart financials insights for retailers.

“I am excited for this wonderful opportunity and so proud of the team! We are three innovative people with a mission to save the planet. Samy is an IT superstar, Hamad is also an IT mastermind and student who effectively manages his time and I am an active financial consultant with the planet on my mind. Our app is earth-friendly, customer-friendly and retailer-friendly too. It really is a win-win for everyone,” said co-founder Helen Kaldre. 

The winning participants beat seven other teams to get through to the next round, where they will be competing with teams from over eight other global regions and if the team manages to win this round, they will be representing the Kingdom of Bahrain at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

“We are thrilled about getting through to the next stage in this international competition. This is not just a big moment for us as a team but it is a matter of pride for Bahrain to be represented on such a prestigious platform. It is important that the nation continues to support its innovative and creative talents as we believe that our paperless receipt solution and other such sustainable ideas show that we in Bahrain are innovative, environmentally-friendly and focused on the future of the Kingdom,” said co-founder Samy Massoud. 

One of the criteria for the team to win the next stage is to gain both social media and crowdfunding support from their home countries in order to showcase an acceptance for sustainable development goals within the nation. To show your support, follow Bahrain’s Paperless team on Instagram: @getpaperlessapp and visit the crowdfunding page on www.crowdfunding.connect2effect.com/p/paperless .