Regional Wamda Capital announces the launch of its $75M regional growth stage venture fund Wamda Capital announced today the launch of its regional growth stage $75 million investment fund, Wamda MENA Ventures I. The Fund,... Wamda • 17 June, 2015 Mena Venture Investments Wamda Capital aramex
Palestine Ramallah travel portal Batuta announces $2.5M Series A round So many places to visit, so much to see. (Image via Batuta) Batuta, a Ramallah-based Arabic travel research website has secured a $2.5... Antoine Abou-Diwan • 08 June, 2015 Siraj Palestine Fund I Batuta yamsafer
Jordan ZINC and DSOA partnership creates new opportunities for Jordanian startups Exploring new marketing opportunities has always been an objective for many Jordanian entrepreneurs. In an attempt to help those wanting to... Elsy Melkonian • 07 June, 2015 zinc incubator DSOA Zain Jordan
Egypt Egyptian financial services app takes steady path towards growth Lack of funding is one of many obstacles that startups face. Many try to develop their goods and services as economically as possible... Eman Mostafa • 30 June, 2015 mohamed hamada financial services
Jordan Achievement unlocked: Tamatem announces new games, new investment and 10 million downloads Screenshot of Tamatem's Share'h El Mawt game. (Images via Tamatem) We’ve had many discussions on Wamda on what makes a... Reine Farhat • 02 June, 2015 Arzan VC tamatem games games
Regional Don't be afraid to scale This is a crosspost with LinkedIn. The MENA entrepreneurship landscape has come a long way since the days when I was at... Amir Farha • 26 April, 2015 VC investment Amir farha startups
Regional MEVP announces first round of $30M MEVF II fund Yesterday, Middle East Venture Partners announced the first round of investments as part of its $30 million Middle East Venture Fund II.... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 20 April, 2015 yougotagift The Luxury Closet AlTibbi
Lebanon USAID launches MENA-II in Lebanon amidst growing landscape of support Last week, representatives of USAID, the Berytech Foundation (a Lebanese incubator and VC fund), and the United States... Stephanie d'Arc Taylor • 08 April, 2015 im capital Circular 331 Berytech
U.A.E Dubai’s The Luxury Closet secures $2.2m in VC funds Dubai’s The Luxury Closet, an online platform buys and sells pre-owned luxury goods on consignment, has secured $2.2 million USD of its S... Antoine Abou-Diwan • 03 April, 2015 Kunal Kapoor The Luxury Closet investement
Global Fadi Bishara on what will attract the VC from Silicon Valley [Wamda TV] Catching up with Fadi Bishara at the recent ArabNet conference in Beirut Wamda got a chance to chat with him about his thoughts on the VC... Lucy Knight • 29 March, 2015 Fadi Bishara blackbox silicon valley
Regional Global VCs investing in MENA are like pink diamonds: rare but existent Though it might seem quiet, some VCs are on the prowl. Towards the end of 2014 Wamda published an interview with Lebanese VC Khaled Nasr.... Lucy Knight • 10 March, 2015 MarkVIP Jereen Utrack.tv
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 What have 8 of Morocco’s support organizations for tech entrepreneurship achieved? Many startups are now getting support in Morocco either at the seed or growth stage, but support programs and organizations are too few,... Mehdi Reghai • 29 December, 2014 Support OCP Maroc Numeric Fund
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