Nine firms take off to attend key NY tech industry events and meet with the city’s leading tech firms and venture capital players in a capacity building program starting on June 20th.  The program is sponsored by leading Jordanian VCs Accelerator Technology Holdings, IV Holdings, and MENA Venture Investments.

Amman, June 20, 2011:

Founders of leading Jordanian tech firms Jeeran, ShooFeeTV, The Online Project, Wizards Productions, MediaScope, Dakwak, Kharabeesh, Fustuq, and Oasis 500 converged in New York City with focus on highlighting fast growing opportunities in the online and interactive space in the Arab World.

“New York ‘s tech industry is becoming increasingly more relevant to us as a platform where we can leverage some of their experiences, capability, and industry insights”, said Omar Koudsi, co-Founder of Jeeran, an Arab engagement platform between consumers and businesses based on a places/user generated reviews model.  “In parallel, we feel we have story to share that will excite NY entrepreneurs and investors on the potential of one of the fastest growing regions of the world”.

Focused on establishing direct partnerships with the more globally focused NY tech community, the companies will attend the NY Forum, entitled “Committed to Growth, which will look at the role of entrepreneurship in driving economic change and the perspective that a new generation of leaders are bringing to business.

Richard Attias, Founder and Chairman of the New York Forum, said: “Jobs must be the number one priority of every government and business at this time – it is a global issue. But we must not wait for governments to act. Instead, we should encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators, and provide them with support structures and financing frameworks to succeed.

"We have a number of leading entrepreneurs and visionaries speaking at the New York Forum and are delighted to welcome the Jordanian tech entrepreneurs to join the audience and share ideas and strategies with colleagues from around the world."

The companies will also attend “Silicon Badia meets Silicon Alley”, a Middle East Technology Pioneers Exchange (METPE) event sponsored by Accelerator Technology Holdings alongside Chadbourne and Parke LLP and other regional and NY based VCs, that has brought together 12 MENA high-impact entrepreneurs in the online services, mobile, and digital media space to the US to help them better prepare for the growth of their ventures.

The emphasis of this week in New York has been on engaging Jordanian entrepreneurs with a proven track record of success and having shown strong adoption, helping them navigate their growth through exposure and interaction with global leaders.

“Social media has been inspiring a lot of change in our region, making us more visible globally, and expanding understanding on the relevance and potential of our region.  This is a perfect time to engage with US based companies to see where we can go from here, what value we can build together”, added Zafer Younis, CEO of The Online Project, the region’s leading social marketing firm.

“We are kick-starting an entrepreneur led knowledge exchange, tailor-made through the selection of synergistic participants from both sides of the Atlantic, to tackle common interests and market opportunities”, said Walid Faza, an associate at MENA Venture Investments.

“This follows a similar effort in November 2010 where we took 10 regional entrepreneurs to engage with the tech community around San Francisco.  Many of the companies came back with significant business opportunities, proving to us that tangible value exists for both Jordanian-based and US-based ventures”, said Emile Cubeisy, Managing Director of IV Holdings.  “This is a very big first step for what has the potential to be a very rewarding partnership between two tech clusters; New York and Amman”.

The entrepreneurs will interact with over 30 entrepreneurs and VCs, including Openview Ventures, Oak Capital, Lux Capital, First Round Capital and RHO Ventures, Legion Enterprises, Groupon, and Mohiva.