Wamda

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...

IMF Abraaj Group private equity

Maghreb

5 MENA entrepreneurs join Endeavor

Endeavor, Moroccan style. (Images via Endeavor) Two Moroccan and three Egyptian entrepreneurs have been selected to join the global...

morocoo Endeavor

U.A.E

Dubai’s smart city goal creeps closer

Dubai wants to be a world-leader in building smart cities and it’s attracting corporate players from around the world clamouring to be i...

Dubai Design District cisco MEMakers

Iraq

Exchanges are creating Iraqi changemakers

Over the past 10 years some 3,000 young Iraqis have travelled on exchange programs funded by foreign governments, and it's some of...

cultural exchange entrepreneurship iraq

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...

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...

Choueiri Group Diwanee Y Venture Partners

Lebanon

Is Lebanon a startup trap? [Opinion]

The buzz about entrepreneurship and start-ups in Lebanon has never been louder. News of increasingly available venture capital funds, bank...

funding gap seed startups

Palestine

Palestine's top 8 incubators

There has been a lot of hype recently surrounding startups from Palestine, but they aren’t working in a vacuum. There’s a thriving eco...

gaza sky geeks west bank Gaza

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 ...

Le Wagon UK Lebanon Tech Hub Leap Ventures

Regional

Can the internet revolution break down the barriers of data secrecy in the Middle East? [Opinion]

Two trends are set to dramatically disrupt the long prevailing government and corporate data secrecy in the Middle East: data...

transparency data secrecy internet

Maghreb

Power in numbers: Moroccan web entrepreneurs come together

At the launch of Maroc Digital at Avito’s offices. (Images via Othmane Ghailane) The Moroccan web community got together recently for ...

Le Maroc Digital morocco

Regional

Africa gets its first digital health accelerator

Ampion's cofounders Fabian-Carlos Guhl and Ifeanyi Oteh launch their new health-tech accelerator. (Image via Ampion) If there’s one c...

ehealth digital health care Ampion

Maghreb

Can Casablanca ban Uber?

Should we expect a taxi drivers strike soon? (Image via Ahmed Bousserhane) In a press release sent this morning, Uber says they’d like to “...

careem Uber morocco

Maghreb

How this French-Arab initiave is backing projects tackling MENA growth challenges

Entrepreneurs, doers and thinkers discuss progress and innovation at the Bardo Museum recently. (Images via Thinkers & Doers) As the...

T&D Mentorship Accelerators

Iran

3 ways to accelerate and incubate in Iran

The Iran startup scene has gone through a quiet, yet powerful, transformation over the past year. Despite slow internet, failing...

dmond AvaTech incubators

Regional

Silicon Valley investor on MENA’s road to startup success

Bern Shen at Flat6Labs mentoring a startup team working on children education. Investor Bern Shen is optimistic about the MENA region’s a...

MENA ecosystem Bern Shen MENA

Global

Lebanese m-health entrepreneur meets President Obama

"Everybody has ideas. Most people are afraid to take first step. Go for it." @mcuban #StartTheSpark @WhiteHouse #PAGE...

Spark Global Entrepreneurship Initiative Global Entrepreneurship Summit White House

Bahrain

How entrepreneurs are shedding light on Bahrain's underground music scene

Aalaat performed at Malja Bahrain last month. (Image via Malja's Facebook page.) Tiny Bahrain has been making a lot of noise lately. The...

malja malja bahrain mideast tunes

Iran

10 digital startups debut at a demo day first in Tehran

Witnesses to the next big startups out of Tehran? [Images via AvaTech]. Since launching in 2014 the Tehran-based accelerator AvaTech...

Tehran AvaTech iran

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...

im capital Circular 331 Berytech

Regional

Hatcher announces new seed and Series A funding for MENA startups

Hatcher, the Singapore-based ‘B2B venture builder’ connecting startups in emerging markets with investors, is looking to “double down,” as ...

hatcher fund hatcher beirut

U.A.E

AstroLabs Dubai sign on 30 startups ahead of Google tech hub launch

Ahead of its official opening of the Google Tech Hub Space, AstroLabs Dubai has launched a temporary coworking space in the city with 30...

Google Tech Hub Dubai Astrolabs

U.A.E

Two years in, In5's impact on Dubai's entrepreneurship sector

“In5 is a center specialized in supporting the development of private companies and entrepreneurs and in the encouragement of creativity a...

in5 Dubai

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...

team culture arabnet beirut 2015 kelly hoey

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