Egypt Egypt fintech startups prepare for lift off In a country where only 14 percent of people have bank accounts, fintech startups servicing Egyptians’ unmet needs are playing on a... Radwa Rashad • 17 August, 2016 Fintech Egypt Dopay
Regional Why digital access is essential to economic development Digital. It's a byword for modern life and how we move our homes and cities forward. Back in May, Dubai hosted the 22nd GCC Smart... Archana Menon • 17 August, 2016 smart government Smart Cities
Tunisia Surviving the Ben Ali regime: a Tunisian entrepreneur success story Badreddine Ouali is a model for the new generation of Tunisian entrepreneurs, but he never planned his career. Today, after blazing a... Jazem Halioui • 16 August, 2016 Corruption Europe Vermeg
Regional Making the best of a child’s addiction In the 90s, parents hid Gameboys from their children on high shelves and under heavy mattresses. This year, with face-to-screen time at... Dana Ballout • 16 August, 2016 Play My Way children Education
Regional What I know about investing in content: Turi Munthe A little over two years ago, the MENA region witnessed the first big acquisition of a media company. Diwanee, a Dubai-based digital... Maya Rahal • 15 August, 2016 digital content demotix WIK
Regional 5 medical solutions startups from MENA Research suggests that the global medical device market will grow by 14 percent between 2016 and 2020. However, VC investment in medical... Lucy Knight • 15 August, 2016 Healthcare medical solutions Slighter
Saudi Arabia Foodics: the Saudis taking on Gulf restaurant giants In Saudi, the food and beverage (F&B) sector is one of the largest in the Gulf. Probably no surprise there, as in MENA food and... Ahmed Gabr • 14 August, 2016 Foodics ksa Alwans
Morocco New Work Class trains Morocco's aspiring entrepreneurs Each ecosystem has its quirks and setbacks. One of Morocco’s was that it lacked a training program for entrepreneurs outside of... Aline Mayard • 14 August, 2016 New Work Lab NWL Training
Egypt The startups mapping Cairo's in between spaces Informality is the rule in Cairo, be it the sprawling extra-legal settlements that form a moat around the city center, forgotten alleys... Rachel Williamson • 14 August, 2016 Cluster Egypt CUIP
Maghreb An IoT craze in Algeria? For the few Algerian startups commercializing Internet of Things (IoT) products, starting out was hard. Just two years ago, the mere... Aline Mayard • 14 August, 2016 makerspaces IoT algeria
Regional Be the CEO not the COO: finding space for vision-making [Opinion] A whopping 70.6 percent of entrepreneurs in MENA say it’s difficult to balance daily operational work and fire-fighting with strategy... Abdelrahman Wahba • 11 August, 2016 Opinion Iqraaly strategy
U.A.E Wamda Capital leads a $5M investment round in Kharabeesh Wamda Capital announced leading a $5 million investment round in Kharabeesh, alongside Endeavor Catalyst Fund and Dash... Maya Rahal • 11 August, 2016 Kharabeesh Wamda Capital Investment
Regional Startup Watch: IKEA domination, young blood, and death by space travel The world of entrepreneurship news is a complex one, with people ever ready to give their two cents on how you should be running your... Rachel Williamson • 11 August, 2016 Startup Watch
U.A.E Revealing the tracks of the MIT Media Lab Dubai workshop #MLDubai Community Jameel and Wamda are hosting an MIT Media Lab multi-day workshop, bringing together different cultures, skills and expertise all... Wamda • 10 August, 2016 Workshop community jameel Redefining Cities
Regional 5 [NOT Netflix] video streaming platforms available in MENA 2016 was a year of celebration for young MENA users hungry for video on demand (VOD) and online streaming services. Netflix entered our... Dana Ballout • 10 August, 2016 Video Streaming Video On Demand netflix
Jordan Decorating Jordan’s homes with its trash It all started in one of the oldest bookstands in downtown Amman when unemployed Alaa Ziadeh decided to build things... using his... Tala El Issa • 10 August, 2016 Jordan Environment Green entrepreneurs
Morocco How Morocco's Highness beat tall poppy syndrome What to do when your team is too qualified, and too expensive, for your own country? Highness, a Moroccan user experience agency,... Aline Mayard • 09 August, 2016 Highness morocco User Experience
U.A.E Abu Dhabi, MENA’s fintech oasis? Fintech has been the subject of significant interest from entrepreneurs and investors alike in the past few years, and this interest shows... Tarek Faycal • 09 August, 2016 abu dhabi global market fintech factory 1864 accelerator
U.A.E Turn8 announces new $60M VC fund UAE-based accelerator and investor Turn8 launched a $60 million venture capital fund on Sunday for technology innovation. This new fund... Maya Rahal • 08 August, 2016 turn8-accelerator-fund-announcement
Kuwait Kuwait's ecosystem - from an investor’s point of view This is an edited crosspost with two Nuwait articles. You can see the original versions here and here. Mussaad Al-Razouki is one busy... Ana Tadic • 08 August, 2016 Nuwait Mussaad Al-Razouki AbiDoc
Syria Wikilogia: The Syrian NGO that brought open source learning to Damascus As the nearly six year war raged on in Syria, hundreds of entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts were quietly thriving in Damascus. They are... Maysaa Ajjan • 08 August, 2016 syria Wikilogia Education
Regional Tamatem: Gaming for 18 million users As global gaming publishers overlook the Arab region’s hunger for localized mobile games, regional publishers are... Tala El Issa • 07 August, 2016 tamatem Gaming localization
Palestine 5 steps to ecommerce success in Gaza It took five years for a small team of professional coders in Gaza to launch their own ecommerce solution Loqta, after noticing how much... Rafat Abushaban • 07 August, 2016 Loqta Gaza ecommerce
Lebanon AUB’s Innovation Center: a haven for ambitious minds In the heart of Lebanon’s leading university overlooking the Mediterranean Sea is a center harnessing a future vision for the... Dana Ballout • 07 August, 2016 lebanon Telecommunication aub