Startups, Scaleups flock to MENA Angel Investors Summit
Manama : Bahrain could soon emerge as the regional hub for scaleups and startups that are looking to expand in the MENA region.
These were the thoughts of the top officials from EDB and Tenmou who seemed visibily encouraged by the vibrant ideas pitched at the Angel Investors Summit being held at The Ritz-Carlton, Manama.
Some of them were budding entrepreneurs, while others were seasoned investors. They were from all over the MENA region, from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and beyond. But what made them look alike, while standing together on the floor of the investors summit, were their sheer enthusiasm and determination to grow and flourish.
While speaking to DT News, EDB Managing Director Simon Galpin also shared the same enthusiasm about the MENA Angel Investors Summit 2016 organised by Tenmou.
The focus
The summit, according to Tenmou, seeks to bring together the most active angel investment groups, individual angel investors, venture capitalists and the most promising early stage startups from around the MENA region and various accelerators. The goals will be to enhance cooperation between the regional angel groups, introduce high quality deal-flow to attendees, and develop relationships and exchange best practices between angel investors.
Agenda
- 09:00 AM onwards – one on one meetings as requested by investors with startups
- 09:00 AM – An insight into doing business in Bahrain – led by the Bahrain Economic Development Board
‘Bahrain can help’
"We are very happy to see a good selection of products from all around the region. We are also pleased about the participation from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, UAE, Jordan etc. Tomorrow we will be doing a bit of a tour with the delegates to show them how Bahrain can help them. Since we are bringing together both investors as well as startups from the region, we are hoping that deals will happen here. This way Bahrain will become an attractive place for startups to come and look for funding. While for investors, a platform to come and look for startups. We encourage the companies to use Bahrain as a hub for the region.”
Hasan Haider, Tenmou Chief Executive Officer
‘Big opportunity’
"There are some great start ups here. Some from Bahrain and many from across the region. An event like this is a great opportunity for us to showcase Bahrain and to persuade some of these startups and scaleups to actually have a base in Bahrain and use Bahrain as a launch pad. We will be talking to all the startups that are here today to make sure that they understand the support we can provide and to understand their business objectives to try to match the two.”
Simon Galpin, EDB Managing Director
Ideas that change lives
From Ali Alnusf’s ‘Manshoor.com’ to Zaina AlBader’s ‘Bookr’, the event is proving to be a paradise for Angel Investors who are looking forward to bless innovative ideas.
The ideas generated by entrepreneurs also span a wide variety of sectors including smartphone app based services, health care products, computer software and online services.
The ‘Manshoor.com’ of Ali Alnusf is a platform for Arabic content, which focuses on issues concerning the young Arab generation.
While presenting his creation, Ali Alnusf said, “Through translation, creation and curation we aspire to give a voice to new generation and celebrate its unique identity and its manifestation in society, culture, psychology and more.”
The ‘Bookr’ by Zaina AlBader is simple and impressive. ‘Bookr’ is an app for salon goers. The app help users to spot a nearby salon, book it and pay for the services they want.
“‘Bookr’ comes with a fully localised admin control panel. This helps salons to manage all their bookings, finances, with ease,” she explained.
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