Startup news ticker: Jobzella secures a first funding round; Mooda.com celebrates UAE National Day
Welcome to Wamda's weekly startup news ticker, which will offer quick announcements and stories relevant to the region. If you have a quick news release to share about your startup, let us know at editor@wamda.com.
Thursday October 7th, 2013
Mummy ChitChats launches mobile shopping function
Mummy ChitChats, a social network application for moms, has recently announced the release of a new shopping experience via their mobile app.
The latest update, which coincides with the startup’s first anniversary, includes fixes on all platforms, as well as a new concept for mothers, creatively called Mobile Shopping. “A mother can now access the list of different offers, choose the colors, sizes, etc. and make an order easily with a push of a button and pay cash on delivery,” says founder Pakinam Elbadry. “Currently, Jumia in Egypt has joined to be part of this initiative in serving mothers better and making shopping easier through a series of offers added on Mummy ChitChats”.
Jobzella secures its first round of investment
Jobzella, an Egyptian network for job seekers, has secured its first round of investment from K.I Angel, an angel investment fund in Egypt.
The amount was not disclosed, but the Egyptian fund will be taking a 15% equity stake in the company. “I saw a great opportunity, and a seasoned, very passionate team, which is what I always look for in my investments,” said Khaled Ismail, the chairman of KI-Angel in the press release. “We see this investment as a step that will allow us to expand much faster and capture the entire Middle East market in a short time frame.”
Mooda.com introduces a clothing collection to celebrate UAE National Day
To celebrate the country’s 42th United Arab Emirates National Day, Mooda.com, an online fashion portal based in the UAE, is featuring a special clothing collection just for the occasion.
The campaign, which was also announced on a community post published on Wamda, offers a 15% discount on specific items from November through December 2nd (which is the National day). To check out the website’s collection, click here.
- RF
Wednesday October 6, 2013
Lebanese search engine Brate releases website update
Brate, a Lebanese search engine and a business review platform, this week released a new version of their website, offering several new features.
Brate allows users to search for different services on the platform, including restaurants in a specific area in Lebanon, medical centers, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers and other categories. After launching their mobile app earlier this year, the startup has revamped its web application to include a friendlier dashboard, larger pictures and a clearer category view. For more information about the recent update, check our their announcement here.
Bitcoin price reaches $270, its highest value to date
Bitcoin, the first decentralized digital currency, is now valued at $270 according to Coindesk.
Despite the shutdown of Silk Road, and after the price dipped to $110 last month, Bitcoin’s price has soared, reaching a new record of $270 at the time of print. “576,920 BTC have been traded in the past seven days, with 215,834 BTC (37%) of this being traded in the last 24 hours alone,” Coindesk reports.
- RF
Tuesday November 5, 2013
Addy releases an embedded map plugin
Addy, a location sharing website based in San Francisco, California, launched an Embedded Map Plugin today.
The website allows users to create a custom link for their address location and share it via social media. With the new plugin, website owners will be able, with a few lines of codes, to embed addresses directly from the website, which will “allow anyone to embed addies from their dashboard directly into their website,” said Khaled Naim, CEO and co-Founder, in an email. This plugin could be useful for review sites, city guides and online classifieds. For more information, check the Embedded Map Plugin here.
Arabia Weddings launches photo book tool
Wedding planning website Arabia Weddings has recently launched an online Photo Book creation tool to help pusers design their own albums online and print them.
This three-step tool consists of importing photos from Facebook, Dropbox, Instagram and other platforms, editing them using their filtering and framing tools, and placing an order once the design work is finished. A hardcover album costs $39 and softcover costs $29.
- RF
Monday November 4, 2013
Round 2 of TURN8 Seed Accelerator kicks off
Supported by DP World and i360 accelerator, TURN8, an accelerator based in Dubai, is announcing the second round of Turn8 Seed Accelerator, a program tailored to promote an entrepreneurship and innovation culture.
The startup teams selected to join the program will come to Dubai to undergo a four-month program where they will learn how to run a successful business, improve their business idea and finally launch a startup. Each team will also get US $30,000 in seed funding. Those interested in the program can apply here or attend one of their upcoming events.
Unibox launces a new technical solution for SMEs
On Wednesday November 20, 2013, Solidere, Microsoft and Procomix Technology Group will be launching Unibox, a “solution for all Small and Medium Enterprises who wish to have best-in-class applications from Exchange, Lync, Sharepoint, CRM and many other pay-as-you-go services without installing any costly IT/MIS equipment upfront or on site,” according to the announcement.
In addition to offering software-as-a-service (SAAS), Unibox will also provide platform-as-a-service (PAAS) offerings, which include: Server Virtualization, Disaster Recovery as well as Desktop Virtualization. The launching event will be held on November 20 at 6 pm, at the Jewelers Souk in Beirut Souks, Lebanon, and will include live demonstrations.
Opensooq.com launches a mobile classifieds app
Opensooq.com, an online classified ads market in Jordan, has recently launched a mobile app on iOS and Android.
Opensooq.com lets you add or search classified ads for free. Users can post about a car they want to sell, an apartment to lease, find electronic devices, furniture and other items on their smartphone.
Tawseela launches innovative bus services in Cairo
In an attempt to reduce traffic in Cairo, a new website called Tawseela, which means ‘a ride’ in Arabic, was launched in Egypt yesterday, offering an innovative bus service in the streets of Cairo.
By joining the Tawseela community, users select a route and a ticket package, pay online and book their seat on public buses. Packages come in either monthly, weekly or a 10-ticket bundle. The project seeks to encourage people to leave their cars at home and take public transportation to reduce Cairo’s notorious traffic and pollution challenges.
YouGotAGift launches offline marketing campaign
As part of its brand awareness campaign, YouGotAGift, an online gift platform in the Middle East, started an offline marketing campaign on the streets of Dubai and in local magazines, which is planned to continue for the next two months.
The campaign kicked off three days ago; check one of its billboards on YouGotAGift’s Facebook page here.
- RF
