Monsha'at edtech and assessment hackathon in Riyadh ends with dozens of AI projects

Saudi Arabia's Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, known as Monsha'at, concluded an education technology and assessment hackathon at its SME support center in Riyadh, according to reports published on July 7, 2026. The program brought together 197 participants, including school and university students, educators, education specialists, entrepreneurs and existing edtech businesses, to develop artificial intelligence tools for the Saudi education sector.

Monsha'at ran the hackathon with three education bodies: the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, the National eLearning Center and Tatweer Education Holding Company. Mubasher reported that participants worked on 25 projects, while MENA Startup Digest, citing Entarabi, put the number of new edtech startup projects at 35. Teams competed in tracks covering assessment and analysis tools, school management platforms, digital teachers and teaching assistants and, according to MENA Startup Digest, accessibility technology for learners with disabilities.

The stated goals were to help participants turn ideas into AI-powered minimum viable products and to promote investment in the sector. Projects highlighted by MENA Startup Digest included a platform combining AI and robotics to help visually impaired students learn more independently, a tool that lets teachers build curriculum-aligned educational games, a service offering more than 12,000 interactive lessons tied to the Saudi national curriculum, an AI system for grading exams that turns results into guidance for teachers, and an Arabic learning management system designed for visually impaired students and others with special educational needs. Neither report listed prizes, funding amounts or the names of individual teams.

Monsha'at said the hackathon formed part of its broader support for small and medium enterprises working in education and evaluation, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 economic plan. Mubasher said the program also aimed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in edtech and to attract investment into the sector. MENA Startup Digest said Monsha'at presented the event as part of its wider effort to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses working in technology.