By Rehan Khan
OSAKA, June 03 (APP): The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia unveiled its ambitious global entrepreneurship initiative, ‘Exponeur’ at the Saudi Pavilion during Expo 2025 Osaka. Designed to connect entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors across borders, the initiative aims to harness the international Expo platform to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems worldwide.
Launched as a five-year program stretching from Expo 2025 Osaka to Expo 2030 Riyadh, Exponeur seeks to transform global challenges into opportunities for innovation. The initiative will offer capacity-building programs, showcase pioneering projects, and deliver measurable impact at each Expo edition, culminating in a major presentation at Expo Riyadh 2030.
Exponeur aspires to become the first Expo pavilion in history entirely dedicated to entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment. It reflects Saudi Arabia’s growing role in fostering a limitless entrepreneurial landscape and its strong commitment to promoting global collaboration and supporting emerging talent.
Among the flagship programs under the initiative is the Exponeur Academy, a six-month international training course designed to equip 150 entrepreneurs annually from over 20 countries. The academy offers mentorship, investor-readiness training, and opportunities to pitch business ideas to venture capital firms.
The initiative also features the Exponeur Competitions and Challenges, a series of innovation contests aligned with the themes of each Expo edition. These competitions will unfold through regional and global phases, with the top projects being showcased at the Exponeur pavilion during Expo 2030 in Riyadh.
In addition, the Annual Exponeur Event will be hosted in Riyadh and will serve as a hub for panel discussions, project presentations, networking sessions, and partnership-building opportunities. Complementing this, the initiative will establish an Entrepreneurship Development Fund aimed at supporting startups and addressing funding gaps, particularly in developing nations.
Exponeur is being implemented in collaboration with the Vision Leadership Association, the Ministry of Investment, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), with sponsorship from SBI Holdings Japan, which has backed the initiative’s inaugural training and programming efforts at Expo 2025 Osaka.
Prince Fahad bin Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Vision Leadership Association and Head of the Saudi Startups Group at the G20 (Startup20), said the initiative reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting both national and global economic development. “Exponeur is about building bridges between nations to foster a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment in the face of global challenges,” he stated.
Mansour Al-Sa’nouni, founder of the Exponeur initiative, noted that the idea first emerged during Saudi Arabia’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. “It was rooted in the belief that entrepreneurs have the power to deliver real solutions to global problems,” he said. “Now, it has evolved into a global platform to empower change-makers, beginning in Osaka and continuing through to Riyadh.”