Saudi Tech Entrepreneur Named 2026 Global Champion of EO’s Global Student Entrepreneur Awards

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Alexandria, VA, USA / Cape Town, South Africa (5 October 2026) – Yousef Alsayed, a 24-year-old student entrepreneur from Saudi Arabia, has been named the 2026 Global Champion of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA). The annual competition, hosted by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) since 2006, recognizes currently enrolled university students who have successfully launched and managed businesses while pursuing their studies. Yousef earned a US$50,000 prize, funded by EO.

Yousef was revealed as the winner on 1 October, during the fifth-season finale of “Start It Up,” EO’s six-episode YouTube series showcasing student entrepreneurs’ journeys as they compete in GSEA. He was one of 22 student entrepreneurs who traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to compete in the competition’s final round and vie for the top prize. More than 2 million viewers tuned in to watch the student entrepreneurs pitch their companies across the season.

Yousef earned the US$50,000 top prize. 

Yousef, who has a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, founded AI-powered learning platform AILA in 2023. The company uses artificial intelligence to understand students’ individual learning needs and create personalized, adaptive learning journeys. Its platform also provides schools and educators with data-driven insights intended to improve student outcomes and support continuous curriculum development.

“My mission is simple: to give every student a personal teacher, so no one is left alone,” Yousef says. His inspiration for AILA came from watching a university classmate struggle within a system that presented students with the same materials and instruction despite their different learning needs. That experience convinced Yousef that education could be more responsive to each student.

In 2024, Yousef and his team contacted more than 2,000 investors as they sought the funding needed to continue building the company. He said that persistence ultimately helped AILA secure a vital investment round and continue expanding its reach. “The journey was not easy,” Yousef says. “In 2024, we ran out of cash, but we refused to quit.”

GSEA 20-Year Snapshot

• 19,000+ students have competed
• 750+ global finalists
• 20 global champions
• US$1.5 million+ in total prize money
• 20,000,000+ views of “Start It Up” on YouTube

AILA has since achieved significant early growth. The company has raised US$1.25 million in investment, generated US$577,000 in revenue and been named among the Top 50 EdTech companies in the Middle East and North Africa by HolonIQ. AILA currently employs 21 full-time team members and two part-time employees.

“What stood out to me about Yousef was not simply what he has built, but the entrepreneur he has become while building it. When AILA ran out of cash, he kept going—reaching out to more than 2,000 investors until he found a way forward,” Khuram Saleem, EO Global Board Director, GSEA Global Finals judge, and member of EO Lahore since 2011. “That resilience, combined with his willingness to learn and his ambition to solve a real problem in education, is what entrepreneurship is about. This year’s finalists were exceptional, and they reminded me that when young entrepreneurs are trusted, challenged and given the opportunity to think big, they can accomplish extraordinary things.”

A Global Contest

This year’s Global Student Entrepreneur Awards competition, the 20^th such competition that EO has hosted since taking stewardship of the program in 2006, attracted 1,487 student applicants representing 49 countries. In total, 97 EO chapters participated. More than 1,100 EO entrepreneurs supported local and national competitions, while dozens of additional EO leaders served as mentors and judges throughout the final rounds.

Local winners advanced to the next stage, held across six EO regions and super-regions. The top 22 student entrepreneurs from that stage then progressed to the “Start It Up Bootcamp” in Cape Town, South Africa, where finalists received guidance from EO member mentors and pitched to a panel of six EO member judges. Competitors participated in three rounds: an elevator pitch, one-on-one interviews, and a final five-minute presentation, with eliminations occurring after each stage.

“Supporting these students is invigorating because the learning goes both ways: We can offer perspective from our own experiences as entrepreneurs, but we also come away inspired by the students’ imagination and willingness to challenge conventional thinking,” says Kim Liddell, GSEA Global Finals judge, president of the Pacific Diamond Bridge Chapter, and EO member through its Sydney chapter since 2012. “Beyond what we can offer the students, mentorship gives us all a chance to learn from the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

When evaluating pitches, GSEA judges place emphasis on the entrepreneur behind the company: 70 percent of each student’s score is based on the entrepreneur’s vision, grit, and values, while 30 percent is based on the strength of the business concept. This approach is designed to identify young founders with the adaptability, focus, and entrepreneurial qualities needed to build for the future.

The program provides student entrepreneurs with mentorship, recognition, and access to connections that can help strengthen both their businesses and their personal resilience. Since taking leadership of GSEA in 2006, EO has used the competition to elevate emerging founders and introduce them to its global community of experienced entrepreneurs.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2026-2027 competition. More information can be found on the GSEA website.

GSEA 2026 by the Numbers 

• Total number of student applicants: 1,487
• Number of countries represented: 49
• Number of EO chapters involved: 97
• Number of finalists featured in “Start It Up”: 22 
• Number of EO member mentors and judges: 1,123

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Notes to editors:

About GSEA: The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards is the premier global competition for university students. GSEA is designed to inspire students to stretch themselves as the future’s leading entrepreneurs and bring their businesses greater global visibility. GSEA was founded at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University in 1998. Since that time, GSEA strives to honor those students who achieve so much as both students simultaneously attending university full-time and running their own businesses. To maximize student experiences and give them access to a global network of mentors, resources and business connections, EO took on leadership of the GSEA in 2006. For more information visit: https://www.gsea.org/

About Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) - Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a global, not-for-profit membership community of 20,000 leading business founders and owners, representing more than 100 countries and 220+ chapters worldwide. Founded in 1987, EO helps entrepreneurs move the world forward by unlocking their full potential through the power of trusted connections, leadership development, and premier learning opportunities that support the whole person. For more information or to get involved, follow us on LinkedIn., Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook, and visit our website: www.eonetwork.org