MENA Opportunities

There has been a proliferation of accelerators in the last couple of years, and despite the fact that they’re less than three years old and just introduced their fifth class of startups, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator demonstrated why they’re already considered one of the top accelerators in the world, and precisely what benefit they bring to the table: in just a few short months, their startups can go from complete obscurity to partnering with the likes of Netflix and Gannett. Admitted.ly. Revolutionizing college advisory for high school students, their parents, and guidance and college admissions counselors. Admitted.ly matches students to schools based on their personality profiles and test scores, and tells them which colleges are reaches, targets and/or safeties, and gives them advice on how to improve their chances of getting into the schools of their choice. Parents currently spend between $2k-$50k on providing private college counseling for their progeny, making thi...

Google Inc has overhauled its search algorithm, the foundation of the Internet's dominant search engine, to better cope with the longer, more complex queries it has been getting from Web users. Amit Singhal, senior vice president of search, told reporters on Thursday that the company launched its latest "Hummingbird" algorithm about a month ago and that it currently affects 90 percent of worldwide searches via Google. Google is trying to keep pace with the evolution of Internet usage. As search queries get more complicated, traditional "Boolean" or keyword-based systems begin deteriorating because of the need to match concepts and meanings in addition to words. "Hummingbird" is the company's effort to match the meaning of queries with that of documents on the Internet, said Singhal from the Menlo Park garage where Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin conceived their now-ubiquitous search engine.

Some say that entrepreneurship cannot be taught — that true entrepreneurs are born with the drive, determination and burning desire to start their own businesses. People with certain personality traits are more likely to be and succeed as entrepreneurs. Results from surveyed entrepreneurs suggest that their inbuilt entrepreneurial desires drove them to start businesses. Recently, blogger Mark Suster started a series of blog posts about the traits that make up an entrepreneur. So far, tenacity, street smarts, the ability to pivot, resiliency, inspiration, perspiration and the willingness to accept risk have been highlighted, with more to come. Can these traits be taught or must they be innately wired into the entrepreneur? The other side of the spectrum says that anyone has the potential to be a successful entrepreneur if they put in the effort and work hard. These believers say that there is no set “entrepreneur personality” and that, while successful entrepreneurs may share some lik...

It's an age old question and one that splits scholars: are entrepreneurs born with the personality traits which mean they succeed or is it something which can be learnt? Last month, Nielsen released research was which falls firmly on the nature rather than nurture side of the argument. It found that 80% of business owners believe that it's their personality which is behind their success and education has little to do with it.

And shrinks your balls! We'll be serious again tomorrow. For now, we're letting out some of our Incubation/Acceleration overdose steam! Entrepreneurs are born. You don't become one by buying Deepak Singh's "5 Steps To Building The Next Facebook" (100% refund if you're not loaded within 1 month). Goodnight and sweet bullshit dreams! Tomorrow is another day (thank God for that)...

Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, has announced that registration is open for the third batch of its Entrepreneurship Diploma. The third batch will commence from 26 August to September 2013 and 25 seats are available for applicants. Designed to equip entrepreneurs looking to expand their projects with the necessary knowledge and strategies, the diploma programme guides participants through the fundamental principles of business success and leadership. The first two batched have already produced 65 graduates, out of which 10 have already launched own businesses. Following the success of the first two batches Dubai SME has increased the number of training sessions in the programme to 29. Entrepreneurs enrolled in the practice-oriented programme learn how to translate their ideas into concrete action plans and involve in all aspects of business development thereby broadening their skill...

The global humanitarian organisation Mercy Corps and Oasis500 on Sunday announced plans to jointly accelerate up to six technology start-ups this fall in the Gaza Strip. The partnership will be implemented through Gaza Sky Geeks, a business accelerator created by Mercy Corps,  and Oasis500, an early stage investment company and technology start-up accelerator programme based in Amman, said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times. As of October, start-ups will be invited to participate in the Oasis500 acceleration process, spending two months each in Jordan and Gaza. Each start-up team will receive $14,000 of working capital from Oasis500, as well as advanced technical and business training and access to a global network of mentors to help them refine their business plans and investor presentations, according to the statement. Oasis500 will take a 10-15 per cent equity stake in each company, and Gaza Sky Geeks will receive a 50 per cent equity stake at the time of exit to cove...

Aramco is conducting various programs that do not only support individuals, but also help build the future of the country. The programs are in the educational sector, private sector and the country's economic development. "We are helping the young men and women to fulfill their dreams. This will not only help them, but also the development of the country's economy. Aramco's Wa'ed program is providing different services to the entrepreneurs, such as funding and giving advice," said Sami Al-Fursani, consultant at Saudi Aramco entrepreneur center."We target businesses that create a sense of responsibility among youth and the nation and create jobs, improving education. The sky is the limit for them to come forward and try to fulfill their dreams. We are also supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the energy sector. We aim to create a partnership," he explained. Abdulaziz Almalhum, head of the awareness department of Saudi Energy Effic...

To give a shot in arm to the digital services and products market and unearth talents among the digital entrepreneurs, Saudi-based Intigral has launched — Afkar.me — the Middle East and North Africa’s first comprehensive start-up incubator. The initiative gives entrepreneurs everything they require to take ideas from conception to market and turn it into a reality. “We have a fund of around $250,000 initially and will give $20,000 to each start-up for the first three months,” Dr Ismaeel Makdisi, acting CEO at Intigral, told Gulf News on the sidelines of a press conference in Dubai. Dubai Internet City had launched a similar initiative— In5 —to make UAE the newest hot spot for tech entrepreneurs and start-ups. When asked how different it is from In5, he said: “We are from the industry and we know what it takes to make it happen. We have the experts and the knowhow. For us, this is our flagship initiative but for the government it is one in a million.” According to Frost and Sullivan, ...

The Business Incubation Centre (BIC) at Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, reported success in promoting entrepreneurship having graduated over 100 projects into solid businesses during the past three years. More than half of the entrepreneurial start-ups that the BIC supported between the first half of 2010 and the same period in 2013 are spread over the commercial, professional and service sectors in the UAE. The remaining firms belong to the healthcare, food & beverages and other sectors. Dubai SME launched BIC, a first-of-its-kind initiative in the region, in 2002 as a strategic component of the entrepreneurial development ecosystem it has sought to create since inception. "The Business Incubation Centre serves as a complete hub for local entrepreneurs, helping them express and develop their business ideas, turn them into projects and navigate through the challenges of ea...

Twitter has over 3.7 million active Arab users, with more than half of them from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to the fifth Arab Social Media Report by the Dubai School of Government (DSG) published in July 2013. The report focuses on the impact of social media on education and life-long learning in the region. Analyzing demographics, the report reveals that the United Arab Emirates continues to score the highest among all Arab countries in terms of Facebook penetration at 41%, while Egypt at 25% of Arab Facebook users and Saudi Arabia with over 50% of active Arab Twitter users. Facebook registered an increase of 10 million users between June 2012 and May 2013. The number of active Twitter users in the Arab world has also grown exponentially from just over two million to 3.7 million in the past year. In March 2013, Arab Twitter users generated 336 million tweets -- almost double the number of tweets generated in March 2012. The report additionally stated that the number of L...

Syria's conflict will cost Lebanon $7.5 billion in cumulative economic losses by the end of next year, the World Bank has said in a report prepared for an aid meeting at the United Nations. A summary of the report, seen by Reuters after the World Bank briefed diplomats in Beirut, provides the most detailed assessment yet of the strain Syria's conflict has placed on its small Mediterranean neighbour. It estimates that the war and resulting wave of refugees into Lebanon will cut real GDP growth by 2.85 percent a year between 2012 to 2014, double unemployment to above 20 percent and widen the deeply indebted nation's deficit by $2.6 billion. U.S. ambassador to Lebanon David Hale said on Thursday the bank's assessment underscored just how serious a challenge Lebanon faces, and the importance of dealing with it "not only for humanitarian reasons, but for Lebanon's very stability". The Syrian war has spilled into Lebanon with car bombs in Beirut and Tripoli, s...

The future of banking in MENA is technology-led and innovations such as in-memory computing, mobile and cloud are set to play an increasingly influential role, senior banking executives and leading industry experts agreed. "Banks need innovations such as cloud computing. Lack of transaction visibility and control, a lack of agility, multiple failure points and complex infrastructures, as well as considerable maintenance and expertise costs means they simply cannot be ignored," said Ross Wainwright, Global Head of Financial Services Industries, SAP. Banks are expected to spend almost $180 billion on IT this year, according to research company Celent. But while cloud-based services currently account for a fraction of this, some estimates predict spending by financial-services firms on the public, private and hybrid cloud solutions will total $26 billion in 2015. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of financial services executives supports this notion of momentum. Seventy o...

Oil ministers in GCC countries will discuss steps that have been taken toward finalizing a study on a single price of petroleum products in GCC countries next Tuesday during the 32nd Petroleum Cooperation Committee meeting. The meeting will be held in Riyadh at the headquarters of the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Oil analyst Rashid Abanami expects the process to contribute to saving 30 percent of the total consumption of fuel in Saudi Arabia, which is smuggled to neighboring countries to be sold at higher prices. "A unified market for petroleum products could exist within the next six years," said Abanami. "Such a decision could be implemented only after services for public transportation projects in GCC countries become effective. Most residents in these countries use their own means of transport." Abanami referred to the big disparities in the prices of petrol and diesel in Gulf states."Petrol and diesel enjoy the support of both Sau...

Crowdfunding is a hot topic in the entrepreneurship space these days. Many startups are asking about it, and are trying to decide if seeking funding from the crowd is right for their company. Sensing this demand, we hosted a three-hour event on the subject a few days ago, which you can view here and here. The event began with four Kansas City-based entrepreneurs talking about their experiences with crowdfunding, with an eye toward sharing their wisdom with a group of fellow entrepreneurs. First, Jase Wilson, local entrepreneur and expert on the subject, kicked off the discussion by giving us the basics on crowdfunding. Jase has been on the front lines of the battles surrounding this new way of raising capital thought his own startup, Neighbor.ly, a crowdfunding platform for civic projects. Then, Trellie co-founders Claude Aldridge and Jason Reid talked about their experience funding their prototypes and first round of manufacturing for their product through a Kickstarter campaign. Fi...

Thriving entrepreneurial hot spots do not just pop up overnight. It takes more than a few growing startups to turn a city intro a hub of entrepreneurial activity. This thought is confirmed by a new Kauffman Foundation white paper entitled “Path-Dependent Startup Hubs – Comparing Metropolitan Performance: High-Tech and ICT Startup Density”. What researchers have found is “new startup hubs actually have been fostering a culture of entrepreneurship for some time. Many of these cities have a history of strong technology sectors or experienced strong growth among technology startups over the past two decades.” This idea is not ground-breaking. We’ve come to realize the long road it takes to create an entrepreneurial community. As Brad Feld says, “It’s a 20-year journey to build a prosperous startup community, but not just from today. It’s 20 years from tomorrow, and the next day and the next month". It’s a never-ending goal. What this paper does clarify is the idea that milestones, s...

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A new survey from the Arab Advisors Group probed the media consumption habits in the UAE. The survey provides insights into the broadcast and online media consumption habits in the country. The Arab Advisors Group concluded a new survey of the UAE population (above 18 years of age) probing media adoption and usage. The survey revealed high levels of social media adoption in the UAE. Facebook was the most popular social media platform in the country, with 80.8% of respondents who use the Internet reporting having an account on the platform. The Arab Advisors Group concluded a new major media survey in the UAE in August 2013. The survey report, UAE Media Survey 2013, provides the results of a major comprehensive survey of media consumption habits in the country. The survey covers television, radio, Internet, online gaming and specialized gaming devices usage patterns. The survey report has 57 pages and 61 exhibits. Respondents were randomly called through randomly generated numbers. Th...

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (a.k.a ADIA, one of the biggest investors in the world) has acquired Australia’s largest hotels owner, Tourism Asset Holdings, for $740 million - adding 31 properties to its real estate portfolio. The portfolio is and will continue to be operated by Accor and includes hotel brands such as Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Ibis Styles and Ibis Budget. The transaction was valued at about $740 million, the Australian newspaper and the Australian Financial Review newspapers reported.

Dear Mr. Obama, I am writing you this note because I am an Egyptian who is a dedicated observer of history and would like to have your opinion on the following subject: We all know that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865 — Lincoln was shot in the back of the head, after Booth shouted "sic semper tyrannis" (latin for "Thus always to tyrants" attributed to Brutus at Caesar's assassination). Wilkes was cornered 12 days later and killed; eight of his fellow conspirators were arrested, four of which were hanged. President Lincoln was succeeded by his vice president, Andrew Johnson. Now let us assume for argument's sake that you, Mr. President, were in Andrew Johnson's place. Would you, after your inauguration, pardon Booth's fellow conspirators ? Would you invite them to join you in the presidential stand to attend the parade of one of your most important national and military holidays (which also coincides with ...

A true American icon — New York's Empire State Building — is set to go up for sale! The owners of the famous Fifth Avenue skyscraper plan to launch a "roadshow" this week to seek buyers for the 102-story landmark. The building and 18 others owned by Malkin Holdings will be sold through one of the largest real-estate initial public offerings in history, reports The Wall Street Journal. The family hopes to raise $1 billion in what would be the second largest U.S.-based real estate investment trusts ever. Joel Beam, who buys REITs for the Forward Select Income Fund, told The Wall Street Journal the sale will get "sex appeal" for both its size and because it includes the building that has been featured in dozens of movies such as "King Kong," "An Affair to Remember," and "Sleepless in Seattle."

Roll camera, action! Not words you would normally hear at the Atlantis resort on Dubai’s iconic palm-shaped island, where guests are more likely to capture their holiday moods on handy smartphones and pocket-sized cameras. But these days the luxury resort is playing host to superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s production company as it films ‘Happy New Year’ – a big-budget movie that features him along with several other major Bollywood actors. Some significant portions of the film — including the climax — are being shot in and around the resort, its director Farah Khan said in a press statement released by Dubai Film and TV Commission, a body tasked by the government to promote the desert-state as a destination for local, regional and international productions. And its been a busy year so far for them as they facilitated the shooting of several international productions including Indian films such as Ramaiya Vastavaiya, Ladies and Gentleman and Mental, DFTC says. Dubai wooing Bollywood makes a...

Apple’s latest iPhone 5S, which the Cupertino, California-based company claims is the most “forward-thinking smartphone” in the world, will be available in a select few countries this week, though the United Arab Emirates, or any other state in the Middle East for that matter, didn’t make the first cut. Despair not, however. You can still get your hands on one in Dubai this Friday. The catch: You’ll have to pay a hefty $1000 premium for a ‘gold’ 5S. Some shopkeepers and online retailers in Dubai are offering to supply the 5S — which Apple prices online at $649 for the 16GB unlocked version in the U.S., for 6000 U.A.E. dirhams, or roughly $1635 — at the same time as it’s launched in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K. on Friday. An online retailer told The Wall Street Journal the smartphone can be collected late Friday local time. He didn’t specify the source country for these phones, but given that several count...

Saudi Arabia, the world’s energy powerhouse, moved again last week to reassure oil consumers that it would tap its vast spare capacity to make up for any supply shortfall as Libya’s production collapses, but industry sources say the kingdom is already nearing its comfortable operational production limits.The kingdom is now pumping oil near a 32-year high and says its total production capacity stands at 12.5 million barrels per day, which oil minister Ali al-Naimi repeatedly said could be brought on immediately should the market need it. Mr. Naimi has often said that it’s the kingdom’s policy to maintain spare output capacity of 1.5-2 million barrels a day at all times to cope with emergency shortfalls. “Saudi Arabia pumped already 10.19 million barrels per day last month and if we base our calculation on the oil minister’s previous statements, then it can only pump another 800,000 barrels extra if it wants to maintain its traditional spare capacity buffer,” one Gulf-based analyst sai...

Renting commercial property isn't as straightforward as renting an apartment or villa. Because the nature of businesses vary, there is no one standard for renting one. This can make it confusing for any first-time commercial property renter. For businesses that require owners to go to clients, instead of hosting clients, the dilemma of choosing an office space may be solved with a home office or through a shared working space, which are readily available in Dubai through business centers and hubs. When researching trade license options, you'll find that some freezones include office space in your licensing package. This is what co-owners Rama Alsayegh and Serene Touma encountered when they started searching for an office space for their firm Purple PR. "We opted to set up our business through Sentinel Business Centers, a serviced office facility and business set-up firm. In addition to a fully furnished private office space with nothing to set up, all PRO and business se...

With several major smartphones launches expected in the coming month, you'd think the smartphone industry was highly competitive as all you hear everyone talking about is Apple vs. Samsung vs. Blackberry vs. Nokia vs. HTC vs. Sony Mobile vs. LG vs. Huawei vs. whichever brand you can think of. The reality of the situation is that it is and will always be, to some degree, an ecosystem battle.  In order to compete in an ecosystem battle, as a smartphone manufacturer or operating system developer, you need to ensure you actually do offer a complete ecosystem.  Sounds simple but given the way a few smartphone launches had happened in the last few months, this isn't something you can always assume. Take for example Blackberry 10.  On paper, it is an excellent operating system, supported by a wonderful piece of hardware in the Blackberry Z10 (and soon to be launched Blackberry Q10) but with a woeful set of quality Apps.  The emphasis has to be on quality and not quantity ...

Inspired by the success of the music streaming industry in the United States and Europe, two musically inclined entrepreneurs saw the potential for this emerging technology to make its mark among tech-savvy consumers in the Middle East. Speaking exclusively to Zawya, Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib, founders of the Cayman Islands-registered limited liability company Anghami, which has offices in Beirut and Dubai, said the increasing volume of Arabic content coupled with a rapidly expanding population with high disposable income have made Middle East a fertile ground for a start-up music business. "Having a music background and seeing the real potential of [providing music streaming] service, we decided to launch Anghami, which caters for the [Arab-speaking community] looking for strong Arabic content," said Maroun, chief executive officer of the company, who also has a wide experience in finalizing licensing deals and content supply agreements for mobile content from top artists...

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, with more than 238 million members worldwide and over nine million in the MENA region, today released results of its third annual global recruiting trend survey. Surveying over 3,300 HR professionals around the world, the study reveals challenges that talent acquisition leaders are facing in building world class organizations as well as recruitment trends and priorities. The top five most important long term recruiting trends emerging from across the world were:

You do not have to spend much time in the Emirate of Dubai to understand how it came to be seen as the most liberal city in the Persian Gulf region. The hordes of Russian and Chinese prostitutes who lurk in its hotels, bars and back alleys, without a peep from the police, provide you with one clue. The availability of top-shelf alcohol at the airport duty-free shop provides another. The image Dubai presents to the world is that of a bustling, cosmopolitan centre of commerce and trade. The ruling Al Maktoum family, in alliance with local entrepreneurs, has carefully cultivated this image through clever public relations efforts, such as their ongoing "Dubai, City of Gold" campaign. This is in turn helping raise the profile of the United Arab Emirates -- the federation of seven small hereditary monarchies to which Dubai belongs. Dubai's commercial energy is undeniable. It is now the world's fifth largest importer of diamonds, for example -- only the United States, Ho...

Can you guess the biggest dirty little secret in business? If you’re thinking “out-sized bonuses,” “bureaucracy” or “poor strategy,” guess again. While these issues may have merit in their own right, we believe that the absence of candor is the single largest roadblock keeping companies from being effective. The concept is simple but its consequences are huge. Without of an open culture of frank, sincere and exhaustively honest talk, people feel left out of important conversations (because they are), or worse, they are brought into the loop but given inaccurate information, which they then act upon. Decisions are slowed because everybody doesn't have the same information, and what information they do have can't be trusted, so must be checked and double-checked. Ideas are debated not in open forum, but rather in cloistered quarters to which only those in the know are admitted. Costs go up as resources are wasted preparing reports to confirm what everyone in the room already kn...

When India's Economic Times asked me to compare Google with Facebook, the comparison struck me as odd. Google is exploring uncharted territory and staking its claims to the next trillion-dollar market opportunities. Facebook is mired in the past and squeezing every penny it can out of its customers to justify its inflated stock price. Unless it happens to luck out by buying the right company, it seems to me, Facebook is doomed. I expect that, within a few years, my Tesla electric car will drive by itself, using Google software. Yes, I am talking about the self-driving, autonomous vehicles that we have seen in science-fiction movies: Google is making these a reality. Its autonomous cars have already driven half a million miles on California roads — without a single accident — and will soon transform transportation in cities all over the world. (I'm not so sure about India, however; only God can tame its drivers.) Thanks to Google Fiber, my house may one day have 1000 Gigabit I...

In its efforts to stimulate an emerging VC ecosystem around the MENA region, the MENA Private Equity and  Venture Capital Association has partnered with Mr. Victor W. Hwang, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, to draw on lessons from Silicon Valley?s past on how to grow successful and innovative Venture Capital ecosystems. This month, Victor shares with us the first of the 5 rules. Money knows no boundaries, the saying goes. Apparently, no one bothered to tell venture capital. Despite the fact that money can theoretically travel almost anywhere in the world, venture capital (VC) to fuel growing companies is still strongly correlated to geography. And most regions have little or none. Why should that be so? Why are free markets not so free? What are the lessons for new regions trying to create their own venture capital? Governments around the US and the world have invested billions of dollars in attempts to foster their own vibrant, sustainable VC industries...

Maybe because stories about dwarf-tossing at his desert encampments became public, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the 58-year-old Saudi Arabian financial, media, and real-estate mogul, no longer invites journalists to visit his $130 million, 460,000-square-foot Riyadh complex with 371 rooms, an 80-foot-high entrance hall, 500 televisions, and a staff of 100. The prince has traditionally been proud to show off his immense wealth, but he has also worked hard to become the Western face of Saudi finance, and slinging dwarves around like so much hash would not go down too well with a First Worldaudience. One of the largest shareholders in Citigroup, the second-largest voting shareholder in News Corporation after the Murdoch family, and with major stakes in dozens of other Western companies, he travels the globe often wearing bespoke suits instead of the traditional Saudi thawb. Based in a country where women can’t drive or vote, he champions women’s rights and discourages his female employe...