Queen visits technology startup Wajeez

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania visited the offices of technology startup Wajeez on Monday, where she met with the Jordanian team behind a mobile application offering Arabic speakers written and audio summaries of non-fiction books from around the world.

Her Majesty was welcomed to the startup’s offices in Amman by its co-founders, Mohammad Zatara and Rami Abu Jbara, who provided the Queen with a brief history of the Wajeez application, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.

After initially launching an online bookstore in 2014 known as Faylasoof, last year, the team changed directions and launched Wajeez, a book-summarising service, which enables users to read or listen to convenient 15-minute summaries of global and local textbooks and non-fiction bestsellers.

According to Zatara, the application has registered more than 1.2 million downloads to date, with a user base of more than 800,000 people across the Middle East and North Africa.

Abu Jbara, who is also Wajeez’s Chief Content Officer, explained that paid subscribers have access to more than 3,000 audio and text-based summaries of non-fiction titles through the Wajeez library. The application also features a new book summary each day, available to users for free. It has recently expanded its offerings to include summaries of more than 50 popular podcasts, which are also accessible for free through the app.

Her Majesty toured Wajeez’s offices, greeting the startup’s staff. The company currently employs 40 Jordanian full-time employees, as well as a network of approximately 500 freelancers.