Regional Can this Dubai startup improve Arabic content design? ShortPoint, a Dubai-based web and content-design startup that launched earlier this year, hopes to save content creators hours of coding by... Pamela Kesrouani • 18 June, 2015 Content Design CMS ShortPoint
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
U.A.E Dubai’s IoTx summit drives MENA tech forward The equation is simple: operational technology + information technology = the Internet of Things, the fusion of everyday ‘things’ with tec... Pamela Kesrouani • 17 June, 2015 mena commerce The Internet of Things IoT
Jordan Solar PiezoClean and the dust problem in MENA A rendering of nanocomposite piezoelectric material. (Image via Greenoptimistic.com) The word piezo (pee-ay-zo), derived from the... Willam Altman • 16 June, 2015 Solar PiezoClean deserts industrial internet
Lebanon PayPal cofounder pays young Lebanese student $100K to drop out and build a startup During TedxBeirut last year. (Images via YouTube) It’s a busy time for Jihad Kawas. The 18-year-old Lebanese is wrapping up his final year ... Maya Rahal • 15 June, 2015 Thiel Fellowship Saily JihadKawas
Regional MENA innovators blow up a tech storm [Infographic] In February a powerful sandstorm swept up from the Sahara, engulfing Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan in a haze of dust. Wind speeds of up 60... Rachel Williamson • 15 June, 2015 wind turbines renewable energy
Egypt Egyptian startup aims to offer entrepreneurs a change of pace An innovative idea coupled with a business plan, a profit model, solid execution, all followed by a growth phase - these are the... Eman Mostafa • 15 June, 2015
Global How this NASA-certified mat can help Muslims reduce knee injuries Innovation often comes from a personal inspiration or a simple observation. In Nader Sabry’s case, it was both. “I saw... Reine Farhat • 14 June, 2015 MEMakers Timez5 Healthcare
Regional Dubai's BitOasis seeks to introduce BitCoin as a solution for MENA financial services BitOasis hopes to address a number of regional financial and e-commerce issues with BitCoin (Images via BitOasis) Ola Doudin, a cofounder... Samuel Wendel • 14 June, 2015 E-commerce Bitcoin
Saudi Arabia Saudi startup Rwaq steps on giants' shoulders to succeed “Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility”, or CER, are the new buzzwords entering Saudi Arabia’s lexicon, and one startup is making the m... Safar Ayad • 14 June, 2015 online education Silatech Traxn
U.A.E $11M Series A round from the US for Dubai-based delivery service Fetchr Dubai-based delivery service Fetchr has successfully closed a Series A funding round worth $11 million. The not-insignificant sum was... Lucy Knight • 12 June, 2015 Mena360 Dhabi Holdings New Enterprise Associates
Global Nature versus nurture, can you breed an entrepreneur? Once mixed, there's no turning back. (Image via Raail.com) A new wave of entrepreneurship research encompassing the classical psychology... Teeb Assaf • 11 June, 2015 Personality traits Nature versus nurture entrepreneurs
Global How this tech device may help Muslims with their prayers Sensor technologies have evolved in almost every aspect of our lives to provide us with a better experience and make some tasks more... Reine Farhat • 11 June, 2015 Salatcard prayer Wearable devices
Maghreb Tunisian pride and funky designs create growing business Sofiène Ben Châabane in his boutique/café Lyoum in La Marsa.(Images via Christine Petré) There’s an irony to it. Tunisia is the s... Christine Petré • 11 June, 2015 Lyoum textile Tunis
Regional Where are the gaps in the digital Arabic content sector? [Infographic] In the past several years, the MENA region has witnessed a rapid growth of internet and smartphone penetration - and these trends are... Lucy Knight • 10 June, 2015 Taghreedat DAC Digital Arabic Content
Egypt Data-driven medicine in MENA: a startup’s long wait In 2010, four men began preparing for what they thought would be the exciting, and imminent, future of genetic analysis in the Middle... Rachel Williamson • 10 June, 2015 Mohamed Aboueldhoda Illumina Genomics
Regional Two startups in Palestinian refugee camp picking up where NGOs left off For years, the mention of “refugees” has drawn pitying donors and sympathetic volunteers, but rarely did it bring stern bosses... Tala El Issa • 09 June, 2015 Gaza Refugee Camp SEP Sitti Soap Company
Egypt Zee3 Mawhbtak: Egypt’s new way to scout talent During the recording one of the first episodes of Zee3 Mawhbtak An Egyptian online talent show is plucking undiscovered entertainers from... Eman Mostafa • 09 June, 2015 online media new media Citizen Journalism
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
U.A.E Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi debuts freshman class Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi's first graduates (Images via Pamela Kesrouani) Seven startups from all corners of the globe flaunted their wares over... Pamela Kesrouani • 08 June, 2015 flat6labs abu dhabi Demo Day Incubator
Jordan Jordanian students work with NASA to discover if there is life on Jupiter’s moon The students: Sanad Haddad, Zaid Kawar, Chad (their mentor at NASA), Mohammad Alzorgan, Firas Mistarihi. (Images via Kawar) In Jordan... Tala El Issa • 08 June, 2015 Space research Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau
Egypt Egypt’s Banana Kingdom to ripen in California Egyptian social startup Banana Kingdom could be leaving its sleepy Nile-side home for a faster pace of life in Silicon Valley, after... Eman Mostafa • 08 June, 2015 Tahrir Academy IrlenEgypt Banana Kingdom
Saudi Arabia Has saying 'I do' in KSA just become a whole lot easier? Image via Selsal, a wedding planning platform in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia No one said getting married was easy and by that we mean... Reine Farhat • 07 June, 2015 Saudi Arabia Flat6Labs Wedding Industry
Egypt Meet the Egyptian startup working to green the Middle East's oil industry Fifteen years ago fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, irrevocably changed the global oil and gas sector. Today, technology developed in the... Rachel Williamson • 07 June, 2015 oil & gas Tanmia Petroleum Company Green Energy