Startup news ticker: Russian news website launches regionally; MAKE Ignition announces the winning startup
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.
Wednesday November 13th, 2013
Announcing the winning startup at MAKE Ignition Dubai
Yesterday, MAKE Business Hub relaunched MAKE Ignition in Dubai, an initiative that brings together young-future entrepreneurs from the region to pitch their ideas, receive expert feedback and potentially get funded.
The startups that pitched their ideas at the event were Advantag, GameGuise, InjoyGiving, Fab-Up and Chargify. The winning startup was Chargify, a new UK device that enables wireless charging for smartphones and tablets.
Russian news website launches in the Middle East
Online Russian news source Buro 24/7 was launched in 2011 to provide news about fashion, culture, entertainment and lifestyle.
The news website, which sees around 40,000 visitors per day, according to the press release, has expanded its platform and launched in Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Croatia and now, the Middle East.
Buro 24/7 Middle East is available in English and will soon launch in Arabic. “Selective tourists from Europe, America, Asia and worldwide visiting the Middle East … will now, for the first time, be able to visit – www.buro247.com/me - to discover all of the best restaurants, hotels, events and things to do at their holiday destination,” accoridng to the press release. “Residents living in the Middle East will be able to check [it] to read breaking news from the cities they live in, events and happenings, as well as international news and events.”
- RF
Tuesday October 12th, 2013
Online wedding directory Yebab set to launch on iOS
Online wedding directory Yebab will be launching a beta version for their upcoming iOS App to “socialize women retail”, as they noted in an e-mail exchange.
On Yebab, brides in the UAE can find detailed information about venues, businesses, shops and services that will help them plan their wedding. The new app will be a photo-sharing app for the region, aimed at socializing the wedding experience for women.
“Users will be able to follow each other, save pictures to their albums and most importantly have discussions and conversations around pictures that would help them with their buying decisions,” as the e-mail states.
The app will be launched in the coming weeks on the App Store.
New skills marketplace Wepul.com launches
Wepul.com is a skills marketplace platform in the Middle East and North Africa designed to allow people to help each other out by trading time and skillsets.
Users sign up and enter their skills and the things they need help with, and they will be matched with other users who can help them out. “A web developer in Jordan that has a cool idea for a new blogging platform but no marketing skills can trade his time with a marketeer in Dubai that wants to start his own agency but has no development skills,” wrote Mark James from Wepul.com in an email.
On the platform, users are rated and each one of them provides the number of hours they are willing to give in exchange for another service.
- RF
