Palestine Keeping Arabic alive with greeting cards Maysa's sister Assel inspects their products. (Images via Loz) When you talk about what inspired Maysa Alshaer to create Loz, a... Christina Ganim • 25 November, 2015 Women on the Frontline Arabic language Loz
U.A.E May the funds be with you Tom Cruise famously scaling the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (Image via Paramount Pictures) It is nearly four years since the release of... Rachel McArthur • 21 October, 2015 AlKatraz Production Abu Dhabi Film Commission SANAD
Regional Private equity investors in MENA seek a place in the sun This is a crosspost with Knowledge@Wharton. The backbone of future economic development in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could hinge... Knowledge @Wharton • 19 October, 2015 IMF Abraaj Group private equity
Egypt What Egypt's local investors want Egypt has made headlines lately for attracting a series of high-level venture investments from foreign players, but local investors are... Sara Aggour • 29 September, 2015 KI angels Tennra ideavelopers
Saudi Arabia How this Saudi app developer is nurturing talent [Update]: Ibtikar released a new trivia game called HEXA, with tens of thousands of questions in more than 15 different fields... Ahmed Gabr • 13 October, 2015
Lebanon What we learned: Mix N’ Mentor Beirut Even the most amazing of ideas need a little help. (Images via Wamda with Sam Fakhoury) During our Mix N’ Mentor Beirut we gained s... Lucy Knight • 10 September, 2015 Choueiri Group Diwanee Y Venture Partners
Lebanon What I know about Circular 331: Marianne Hoayek Marianne Hoayek at BDL Accelerate in November 2014. (Image via BDL) Lebanon’s Central Bank first announced that it would be taking special ... Lucy Knight • 23 August, 2015 Le Wagon UK Lebanon Tech Hub Leap Ventures
Palestine Tiny package, quick power: Palestinian startup crowdfunding phone battery solution A nifty charger that won't weigh you down. (Images via BOLD Gadget) As technology still lags behind the growing demand for longer... Rachel Williamson • 26 May, 2015 portable battery Knot BOLD Gadget
Lebanon Lebanese game developers Wixel Studios targets cancer with new project Still from the Aurora game. (Image via Wixel Studios) Despite a growing tech-healthcare sector - which by now has hundreds of... Maysaa Ajjan • 12 May, 2015 Cancer Aurora Wixel Studios
Regional Vea starts fundraising campaign to expand its tire rubber tubes upcycling operations Vea, an environmental fashion store in Beirut’s downtown Souks mall, has launched a $10,000 campaign on MENA crowdfunding platform Zo... Raed Khalil • 22 April, 2015 Marwan Ammoun Layal Jebran Patrick El Zoghbi
Jordan liwwa announces seed round led by DASH Ventures, hints at new product launch liwwa, the Amman-based peer-to-peer Sharia-compliant lending site, has closed a seed round led by DASH Ventures, with participation from... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 31 March, 2015 crowd economy liwwa DASH Ventures
Maghreb Why crowdfunding isn't easy in North Africa Following the success of Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo.com, crowdfunding platforms around the world have taken off. There is big... Eric Reidy • 26 March, 2015 Smala & Co Jumpstart Africa zoomaal
Regional What global investors want from entrepreneurs, an expert advises There are some questions that continuously occur in the minds of entrepreneurs - if I want to get seed financing, or that second round of... Eman Mostafa • 19 April, 2015 Omnicom Laconia Capital Group instagram
Palestine PIVOT turns to Kickstarter to fund its journey through Palestinian - and world - history You might remember the story of Palestinian Asma Jaber and her fiancé Sami Jitan who launched PIVOT, an interactive app that stores ... Pamela Kesrouani • 15 March, 2015 Pivot kickstarter palestine
Regional Crowdfunding platforms see education as key to growth A recent panel at the MENA ICT Forum included liwwa's Ahmed Moor, second from left; crowdfunding strategist Ronald Kleverlan, third... Hayden Pirkle • 11 February, 2015 eureeca zoomaal liwwa
Regional The evolution of crowd funding in the Arab world This is a crosspost from Firnas.org Sometimes, a lack of funding forces entrepreneurs to abandon their projects. On other... Reine Farhat • 22 February, 2015 Aflamnah Shekra Yomken
Egypt New crowdfunding platform takes aim at Egypt's entrepreneurs Egypt’s latest crowdfunding platform Tennra for entrepreneurs launched this week with a proposition to make giving away money... Rachel Williamson • 02 February, 2015 Tennra zoomal Egypt
Regional Building the Arab region’s biggest B2B market place is not without its challenges Two years ago Syrian entrepreneur Salim Akil was poised to make his SearchinMena.com, a Yellow Pageseque search engine, the region’s l... Pamela Kesrouani • 17 February, 2015
Maghreb VC, angels, or pre-sells: What’s the best funding option for Maghrebi startups? [WamdaTV] (Click on cc to view subtitles in English) Aline Mayard • 18 January, 2015 Réseau Entreprendre Yunus Social Business Microsoft Innovation Center
Palestine Startups have a role to play in rebuilding Gaza Despite Israel’s destroying several billion dollars worth of property, businesses, and homes, displacing 500,000 people, and killing 2,200 ... Wamda • 09 December, 2014 gaza sky geeks Gaza palestine
Palestine Gaza's accelerator turns to crowdfunding to keep its doors open Update: Mercy Corps has extended its crowd funding campaign for Gaza Sky Geeks by an extra 30 days and it will now run until January 8 ... Lucy Knight • 05 November, 2014 gaza sky geeks Gaza accelerator
Regional The Middle Eastern startup blind spot: an obsession with money This article was co-authored by Melltoo founders Sharene Lee and Morad Irsane “How do you make money?” is a question everyone asks about Mel... Sharene Lee • 29 September, 2014 monetizing Funding
Jordan Touch screen is out and voice commands are in for new Jordanian mobile game Victory might be cause for some people to take a break and rest on their laurels for a while, but not the team at Jordan’s Bee... Tala El Issa • 30 September, 2014 Jordan
Egypt Will Sharquity succeed in reproducing the Eureeca model in Egypt? According to many entrepreneurs, the main problem currently facing business development is funding. As a solution, many... Eman Mostafa • 17 September, 2014 Sharquity eureeca Egypt