Workshop highlights opportunities for World Bank Group and governments

Manama: Hasan Haider, the Chief Executive of Tenmou and Venture Partner of 500 Startups, was recently invited by World Bank Group to speak at the “Angel Investing and Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets: The Role of Development Agencies and the Public Sector” workshop in Washington DC. 

The aim of this high-profile workshop was to highlight potential opportunities for World Bank Group, governments and other entities in the emerging markets to support angel investing and early-stage entrepreneurship to build a successful start-up ecosystem. 

Speaking at the event, Haider said: “There is a vast potential for the World Bank Group and government entities to bolster angel investing and support startups in the different emerging countries and particularly in the Kingdom of Bahrain with Tenmou providing a positive framework for such organisations to adapt.” 

“Furthermore, prestigious entrepreneurship educational institutions such as Babson College and Harvard University have recognised our efforts and included Tenmou as a classic case study in their curriculum. This is a great honour for us and we are proud of our proven track record of successful startups and look forward to being of assistance to several international organisations that approach us for advice.” 

This high-profile workshop was attended by more than 50 participants from 20 countries and was held at the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington DC. Nelson Gray, head of Scottish Angel Co-Investment Fund and Klaus Tilmes, Director, Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank Group were among the other speakers who conducted some of the sessions during the workshop. 

Topics discussed during the workshop included: the potential for angel investing in emerging markets, and how it is different from developed environments. Also discussed were policies and market interventions that can be considered to make a developing local angel community sustainable.