"Smart Image" the 16th Team to Qualify for This Year's MIT Semi-Finalist Round

Egyptian “Smart Image” has been selected as one of the semi-finalist teams for this year’s MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab Region Start-Up Competition for the Idea’s Track

Eslam Azmy, Magdi Atia and Sanaa Hassan all shared a common passion for photography, the three decided to turn their passion into a business where they developed a patented technology that transforms a freehand sketch into a professional 3D design within minutes.

Idea Inspiration

“We have always loved talking pictures for everything that came across our cameras, however we noticed that in most of the pictures were taking there was a remarkable difference between what we were seeing in real life and what we had as pictures on our computer screen. This got us thinking and we asked ourselves; why not add some intelligence to the pictures to make them look better and this is where the idea for Smart Image was born.” Says Eslam Azmy.

Reduced Design Time

Smart Image is a software application that enhances pictures and adds details to them making them appear like real live objects. The team developed a patented technology that enables taking a picture of a freehand sketch of a design concept on a piece of paper using a camera such as an IPad or IPhone camera and transform it into a professional automated design within minutes. Smart Image can be used for freehand sketches for building design, mechanical design, furniture design, and any other design sketches. By using such a software application architects and engineers can drastically reduce their design time and produce various versions of their work with the same amount of time they used to spend on just one version. This allows for greater flexibility and better efficiency and highly improves the quality of work for both architects and engineers who are considered as the main target market.

Advice for Entrepreneurs

“Our advice for all entrepreneurs is to believe in their dreams and never to give up. Dreams need a lot of hard work and entrepreneurs should be up for the challenge.”

Smart Image will attend a two day workshop Qatar in April 25 along with 49 other teams, where they will receive coaching, training and network with other entrepreneurs from the Arab region and meet the region’s major players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Semi-finalist ideas or startups in ICT, digital media, and mobile will automatically qualify for the Oasis 500 training and acceleration program http://www.oasis500.com/ , which is a six-day training program that covers all business aspects, including business modeling, financials, pitching, facilitation and marketing

“We applied to the competition because we want to transform our idea into a real business and we are confident that the competition can support us in achieving this goal. We are looking forward to the learning experience, the training and the networking opportunities the competition has to offer.” Concludes Eslam.