Pamir Gelenbe, a partner at Hummingbird Ventures, discusses the challenges facing new startups in MENA and gives his take on the differences between Arab and Turkish ecosystems.

Gelenbe explains why Hummingbird is an exception, rather than the start of a new trend of Turkish companies looking to expand in to MENA. He discusses why he feels that Turkish investors will not be flooding into the Arab world any time soon; they have a strong focus on domestic markets which are still growing.

Instead, Gelenbe explains, “That’s why there’s a great opportunity for Arab entrepreneurs. I think their market is wide open.” He states that in MENA Hummingbird is still finding “very attractive” opportunities and he is excited by the new energy and confidence in the startup space in at ArabNet this year.