Twenty Jordanian startups to feature in WEF

AMMAN — Twenty Jordanian startups in the fields of e-commerce, content, weather, gaming and other areas, will be featured during the  World Economic Forum  (WEF) on the Middle East and North Africa that will kick off on Friday.

The Jordanian startups, which made it to the WEF 2017, are among 100 startups that are shaping the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, according to a statement by the WEF posted on its website.

Jamalon, which is an online bookstore selling English and Arabic books in the Arab world, will take part in the WEF along with Mawdoo3.com, which started in 2010 and created more than 130,000"unique articles" to fill the gap in Arabic content online. Currently, it has more than 36 million "unique users" who visit the website monthly.

MadfooatCom, which operates "eFawateerCom", the Central Bank's national electronic bill presentment and payment service (EBPPS) enabling clients to inquire and pay securely online, 24/7, will also be featured at the forum, which will also attract Liwwa, Inc., an online marketplace lender using technology and data to improve access to capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan and the UAE.

Among the Jordanian startups taking part in the forum is Aumet, which allows medical manufacturers and distributors to increase their sales by sharing hospital inquiries, searching for products or clients, and Little Thinking Minds, which produces digital educational Arabic content for primary-age children to advance the quality of Arabic fluency, literacy and understanding of Arabic culture.

 The startups were selected in collaboration with leading experts and successful entrepreneurs operating in the region. Representatives of the selected companies will meet 1,000 leaders from business, government and civil society, according to the WEF.

A vast majority of the 100 startups are building their business model, products and services on new technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain and satellite technology — pioneering a generational transformation in the Middle East and North Africa — while at the same time serving basic needs such as transportation, communication or payment processing.

“You can see the impact and ingenuity of Arab startups everywhere in the Arab world. We see impressive momentum and — with sovereign wealth funds and traditional family businesses — the emergence of a whole new type of venture capitalist. For me, this is the biggest underreported story in the region,” said Mirek Dusek, head of Middle East and North Africa at the World Economic Forum, in a statement on its website.

The Jordanian startups also include Abjjad — an online social platform for readers, writers, and publishers to rate, review and publish eBooks — and Arabia Weather, the first and largest weather site for all Arab countries.

Tamatem, the leading mobile games publisher in the Arabic speaking market, and Jawaker, a social card gaming network — hosting the most popular Middle Eastern card games including Tarneeb, Trix, Hand, Baloot — and Estimation will be taking part in the WEF.

They also include Kharabeesh, which is a platform for Digital Creators; a media company curating and producing Arabic-language content and HelloWorldKids, a school curriculum developed to teach native programming for kids at the age of eight.

HyperPay, which is the "fastest growing payment gateway" in the MENA region, providing a range of payment processing services that help businesses sell online and offline, will also be featured at the event.

Among the Jordanian startups selected for this year's forum are Analytical Space, Inc. (ASI), which is developing the first network of small satellites that use laser communication to provide global data relay services and OpenSooq.com, which is a classified marketplace that allows users to buy and sell products and services across a wide range of categories that includes automotive, real estate, jobs, electronics, home and fashion.

CashBasha, an e-commerce technology company that enables shoppers in emerging markets to make purchases from international online shopping sites that "do not serve their geographies in a seamless and automated manner", and Akhtaboot, which is a leading HR software solutions provider that caters to the full HR value chain from the "acquire" stage to the "retire" stage. 

The Jordanian startups also include TARJAMA, which is specialised in providing a wide array of translation services and language solutions to global clients with offices across the Middle East, and Altibbi, which is a digital health platform for the Arab world. 

Altibbi has a unique mix of tools to deliver health awareness, information and advice to millions through its massive content library and telehealth service and Luminus Education that comprises several schools, colleges and institutes, offering fully accredited post-secondary training programmes, as well as customised courses for industry and commercial partners.

Entrepreneurs will be joining the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa from host country Jordan and from all economies of the region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.