Regional Kelly Hoey on the power of networks to create opportunity [WamdaTV] At last week’s ArabNet Beirut conference, Wamda caught up with Kelly Hoey, the New York-based startup mentor, community-building expert, a... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 24 March, 2015 team culture arabnet beirut 2015 kelly hoey
Lebanon Lebanese startups gain access to more money and support than ever #ArabNetBeirut The Circular 331 panel. A Lebanon-based $71 million fund focusing on the Middle East and North Africa; plans for a Beirut chapter... Lucy Knight • 20 March, 2015 Kuwait National Fund iSME Leap Ventures
Lebanon Flat6Labs to launch Beirut accelerator Regional accelerator Flat6Labs will open a chapter in Beirut, cofounder Hany El-Sonbaty announced today at the Arabnet conference. The... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 18 March, 2015 beirut accelerator Flat6Labs
Regional Womena, solving the gender imbalance of the region’s angel investors “We do not want a mentality of men versus women, but rather a comprehensive mentality for knowledge sharing between the two genders i... Pamela Kesrouani • 02 April, 2015 Womena MENA Angel Investment
Maghreb Sawari Ventures tries to fill Egypt funding gap with $50 million VC fund Sawari Ventures partners: Hany Sonbaty, Ahmed Alfi, Wael Amin. Egyptian venture capital company Sawari Ventures is turning... Rachel Williamson • 16 March, 2015 Sawari Ventures morocco tunisia
Kuwait Physical gets digital for self storage with Kuwait's BoxIt For decades now, self-storage in America has been big business. Fuelled by that all-American accumulative consumerist instinct, by 2009... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 11 March, 2015 sirdab lab self-storage storage
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
Lebanon Access to funding for Lebanese startups is looking up Obviously a lot more than loose change is going to be availalbe. (Image via Lucy Knight) Things are certainly looking up for the coffer... Lucy Knight • 05 March, 2015 Berytech US Aid Lebanese Central Bank
Turkey Turkey's Modanisa Islamic fashion ecommerce announces $5.5M investment led by STC Ventures Last week, Modanisa.com, an Islamic clothing ecommerce website based in Turkey, announced the conclusion of a $5.5 million investment from... Wamda • 02 March, 2015 citrastyle modanisa ifash
Lebanon Lebanon's Blessing Foundation to scale its network of women in business to the region Last month, 85 business owners – many strangers to each other – gathered in an upscale Beirut café. Each was in a specific stage of their bu... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 02 March, 2015 networks blessing foundation blessing
Lebanon Lebanese government inks $6.4 million loan to create tech hub Lebanon’s government is moving forward with an initiative aimed at strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship in its mobile internet e... Maya Rahal • 25 February, 2015 Ministry of Telecommunications MIHub tech hub
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
U.A.E Can a UAE government app solve the address quandary of ecommerce delivery? Last March, Sheikh Mohammed promised to transform Dubai into a ‘Smart City’, and at Payfort we were eager to see how that pledge would mak... Omar Soudodi • 25 February, 2015 delivery solutions Makani payment solutions
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
Maghreb Inside Endeavor's process to finding North Africa's entrepreneurial diamonds in the rough It’s been several years now since Endeavor set foot in the Arab world, with the goal of identifying – and supporting – companies that stand... Aline Mayard • 05 February, 2015 Endeavor amine hazzaz morocco
Regional What turns an investor off? Mobily Ventures’ director answers No different from any other relationship, the one between an investor and an entrepreneur should also be built on mutual trust and... Reine Farhat • 23 February, 2015 mobily ventures anghami Venture Capital
Regional It’s not a lack of funding, it’s you [Wamda TV] To entrepreneurs, raising a first round of capital is a validation of their startup’s business model. To VCs, it’s a grace... Reine Farhat • 18 February, 2015 mix n mentor dubai Funding BECO Capital
Bahrain The startup shrink: Tenmou's Hasan Haider Back in 2009 when Netflix was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers, Hasan Haider, a... Lucy Knight • 01 February, 2015 investors Bahrain Tenmou
U.A.E 'Huge amounts' of support among Dubai's startup community, report entrepreneurs [Wamda TV] How supportive is the startup community in Dubai of young startups and fresh entrepreneurs? There are “huge amounts” of support, says Sarah ... Wamda • 17 February, 2015 wamda mix n mentor dubai mix n mentor dubai Community
Regional Arabic Q&A site Jawabkom turns down 4 VCs It took Twitter 24 months to reach one million users. Tumblr published its one-millionth blog after 27 months. Facebook’s millionth user s... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 27 January, 2015 jawabkom
U.A.E Bright future for drones industry on display at UAE contest The winning, Swiss, team. (Image via Drones for Good) Dubai Internet City was buzzing with the sounds of drones this week at the inaugural... Sushmitha Pidatala • 12 February, 2015 Unmanned aerial vehicle UAV Drones for good
Jordan 2 Jordanian startups nominated to join Endeavor's network Two Jordanian companies were nominated on Saturday to join Endeavor’s International Selection Panel, which will determine their... Tala El Issa • 12 February, 2015 luminus monojo Endeavor Jordan
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