Oman’s Akkasa selected among 100 most exciting start-ups of Arab World
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Akkasa, a production company shaping Oman’s cultural landscape, has been selected by The World Economic Forum and the Bahrain Economic Development Board among the 100 most exciting start-ups of the Arab World of 2019.
This initiative aims to further integrate the Arab world’s most promising start-up entrepreneurs into a national and regional dialogue on pressing challenges. Selected entrepreneurs will participate in the official programme of the upcoming World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa where they will engage with industry and government leaders to discuss the future of their industries and how to add value to society.
“The Arab world will need its private sector to address youth unemployment, the current skills gap for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the inclusion of women in the workforce. Start-ups, and the entrepreneurs building them, are key to a strategic public-private dialogue on these issues and to creating corresponding new opportunities in society,” said Mirek Dusek, Deputy Head of the Centre for Geopolitical and Regional Affairs, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum. Among the selected start-ups are: The world’s first halal investment platform (Wahed, UAE); a biotech company that uses camel milk to develop antibodies (MonoJo, Jordan a company that uses augmented reality for surgeons to contribute remotely to clinical procedures (Proximie, Lebanon); a platform to meet fellow football players and book pitches (Malaem, Bahrain); the first coding booth camps for the Arab world (Coded, Kuwait); an app for civic engagement (Clean City M3kod, Morocco); a company conducting a range of mapping including that of cultural heritage sites with autonomous drones (FalconViz, Saudi Arabia).
“Across the Middle East, entrepreneurs are devising increasingly innovative ways to tackle the evolving societal challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with novel applications of technology. These efforts need to be encouraged, recognised and supported by investors, business leaders and policy-makers. The 100 Arab startups initiative is not just a platform for recognizing promise but a way to bring great minds together to discuss the limitless possibilities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the next breakthroughs that the regional ecosystem can deliver. The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) is proud to partner with the World Economic Forum on the search for the 100 Arab start-ups shaping the future,” said Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chief Executive of the EDB.
The initiative welcomed back start-ups selected in 2017, including: Elves (Egypt), an AI concierge service; Daraty (Syria), a toolkit for children to learn electronics; and Careem (UAE), the Arab world’s first unicorn company recently sold for $3.1 billion.
With a 31 per cent increase in investments compared to 2017, a new record was reached for regional start-up funding last year, according to data from Magnitt (Iraq), a company twice selected among the 100 Arab start-ups initiative. Foreign investment remained stable in 2018 with 30 per cent from outside the Arab world, while fintech took over ecommerce as the top industry as a result of an 8 per cent increase in deals since 2017.