Wamda

Narise Kamber, founder of Bahrain's Saffron Cafe, on scaling, funding, and passion [Wamda TV]

Saffron Café is one of Bahrain's fledgling success stories, having grown from one to four cafes over the course of just one year. The ...

wamdatv saffron cafe

Kuwaiti startup Fishfishme secures $200K from angel investors to expand globally

Fishfishme, the online platform to book fishing charter boats, has announced a seed funding round of US $200,000 from several angel...

FishFishMe

Startup news ticker: Integreight reaches its goal on Kickstarter in 6 hours; Kamel Al-Asmar in Forbes’ 30 Under 30

Welcome to Wamda's weekly startup news ticker, which will offer quick announcements and stories relevant to the region. If you have a quick...

Egypt Crowdfunding Social Entrepreneurship

Mashroo3i business plan competition teams meet their mentors

Several aspiring young Bahraini entrepreneurs met their mentors at the kick-off of the 2nd Mashroo3i business plan competition. Mashroo3i,...

mashroo3i competition Bahrain

Friendshippr regulates informal P2P international shipping; secures $670,000 USD Series A round

Asking friends to ship or bring back an item from overseas is a practice as popular as it is tricky. Especially in this region, with its...

crowdshipping Business Angels collaborative economy

Does Madfoo3at’s deal with the Central Bank of Jordan signal a new startup-friendly era of government?

The relationship between startups and the government in Jordan is complex. On the one hand, it’s one of the most w...

El Mashrou3, Egypt's first competitive reality show for entrepreneurs

It seems that entrepreneurship has not only impacted the Middle East economically, but in pop culture as well. Egypt recently celebrated...

Egypt

By women, for women: How two sisters are bootstrapping an online marketplace in Dubai

When we last chatted with the Kanaan sisters, the founders of Ananasa.com, they were struggling with a classic problem that many...

Women E-commerce Handicrafts

Startups at Palestine's first accelerator bet on P2P lending, travel, and therapy

“Five years ago there were no startups,” Yousef Ghandour, a tech entrepreneur with 14 years of experience in the field, says of the eco...

Fast Forward Peer-to-peer

'Arab Inspire' hopes to make entrepreneurship a way of life for youth and artists

Artists and youngsters have one thing in common: they could use some help from professionals to take the leap, start a company, and make...

tunisia Artist Entrepreneurs Mentorship

Rocket Internet and MTN to boost digital startups in the Middle East with 300 million euro fund

While the past two years have seen e-commerce companies in the Middle East secure the majority of funding invested in startups, primarily...

Rocket Internet

7 things that entrepreneurs need to succeed, from the World Entrepreneurship Forum

Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME At the World Entrepreneurship Forum last week in Dubai, leading figures came together to discuss...

world entrepreneurship forum wef uae

TEDxCarthageWomen celebrates Tunisian women's past, present, and potential

Fresh off the success of its September installment, TEDxCarthage held its latest edition, TEDxCarthageWomen on December 8th, 2013 at...

Spark TEDx Women

Jordanian custom photo album service eyes Gulf Facebook users, B2B expansion

There’s got to be a story behind a company by the name of Cheezu. “I was watching a Japanese movie,” says Tala Haddadin, Cheezu’s Jordani...

cheezu b2c b2b

Can AskNative save Egypt's tourism industry?

AskNative, a tourism service that works like a social network, is up against serious odds in Egypt, where both tourism and e-commerce are...

AskNative Tourism Egypt

Enigma thinks big data can change the world

"Dad, the president retweeted my database!" "Well, it’s great that your boss appreciates your work." "No Dad, I’m talking about the Pre...

open data big data Diaspora

UrbanBuz announces Series A round of investment for its customized loyalty program

Most of the time, when customers become loyal to a business, it’s not because they’ve been offered benefits via a loyalty card or shown up...

Series A Loyalty Programs

Personal skills are the focus of Mowgli's new entrepreneur mentorship program

Entrepreneurs are often advised to choose their partners carefully, as they may end up spending even more time with them than they do with...

uk g8 Forsa

Gaza's startups offered outside acceleration and funding for the first time

For the first time ever, startups from Gaza have been accepted to receive mentorship and seed investment from regional accelerators. After...

Gaza palestine Funding

Global Entrepreneurship Week Benghazi goes ahead despite unstable situation

For the first time, the Libyan city of Benghazi participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Week between November 18th and 24th, despite...

GEW

Looly's takes home Startup Cup Maroc

It’s official: the Moroccan startup of the year is Looly’s! At least, it’s the startup that won the first edition of Maroc Start...

events Competitions

littleBits, led by a Lebanese founder, releases Synth Kit, secures $11.1M investment

Global

Thought Leadership