Entrepreneur aims to reach out to football fans with his app
Entrepreneur Mohamed al-Kilany believes Challenge 22, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s (SC) regional innovation programme, will help Snapgoal become a must-have app for football fans.
Snapgoal is one of eight finalists in the sustainability field of the Challenge 22 finals, which take place in Doha from today until November 20.
Should the app be named a winner, al-Kilany and his partners, Hasan Odeh and Mohamed Barhoush, will receive $15,000 along with the opportunity to receive a $100,000 grant to develop the app to the proof of concept stage, a report on sc.qa says.
For Snapgoal CEO al-Kilany, money is not the main
motivation, however.
“Snapgoal is the only smartphone application in the Mena region delivering regional football fans with real-time clips from goals scored by their favourite teams,” said al-Kilany, 35, from Palestine. “For us, nothing is bigger than winning an award instituted by the local organisers of the first World Cup in the Arab world.”
Al-Kilany’s earlier ventures included Sabbar, a video-based storytelling platform targeting the underprivileged, and Souktel, a mobile app for job seekers in the Mena region.
However, it is evident Snapgoal, which he started in January 2016, is the dream project of this
self-avowed football fan.
“During my initial research, I discovered that 76% of regional fans found it difficult to stay up-to-date with news of their favourite teams,” said al-Kilany. “Hence, we explored creative solutions to plug this gap and the result was Snapgoal.”
Within 24 hours of launching, Snapgoal had almost 1,500 users. Currently available on the iOS App and Google Play stores, the product has more than 50,000 users and al-Kilany is planning to add the Qatar Stars League to the other two Mena football leagues that its users can currently choose from.
Snapgoal also provides real-time goal clips from the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga. The product covers five clubs from each of the four leagues, which gives Mena fans a range of choices when it comes to their favourite European sides.
The app is also linked to all the popular social media applications to offer its users the chance to share and comment on the videos.
“Currently, ours is a cloud-sourced content strategy relying heavily on platforms such as YouTube and Dailymotion,” explained al-Kilany. “We notify Snapgoal users who have signed up for a particular side within 10 seconds of a goal being scored, and the clip of the goal is pushed out almost immediately. Our dream is to work with official rights owners, helping them reach out to fans in the region on a personal level through their handheld devices.”
Al-Kilany believes his previous experience as a social entrepreneur, along with Challenge 22 backing, could transform Snapgoal into a unique platform and support media rights holders in the Mena region.
“I am confident we will get noticed during the Challenge 22 final, and five years from now Snapgoal could well be working with FIFA’s official partner for the Mena region to take a historic World Cup to the fingertips of fans inhabiting the Arab world,” he added.