Founders Abraaj Group Founded 2010 Motto inspire, connect, empower Number of locations Beirut, Amman, Dubai | Website www.wamda.com Founder The Abraaj Group Area served MENA | |
Key people Fadi Ghandour, Chairman
Habib Haddad, CEO (2011-2016) Headquarters Dubai, United Arab Emirates Profiles | ||
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Wamda (Arabic: ومضة, meaning "spark") is a platform of integrated programs that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship ecosystems throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Its core focus includes media, community development, research, as well as corporate and government advisory services. Founded in 2010 by The Abraaj Group, Wamda has grown in the past few years to become the leading community and knowledge platform for entrepreneurs and supporting stakeholders.
Contents
Wamda arif naqvi and fadi ghandour on the entrepreneurship ecosystem in menasa
History
By 2010, entrepreneurship in the Middle East had grown in quality and quantity. Startups needed media exposure, networks and advice more than ever before. There were numerous events catering to business leaders, however there was no platform connecting and supporting the emerging ecosystems throughout the year. This is why, at the Celebration of Entrepreneurship event in late 2010, Arif Naqvi (Abraaj Group) and Fadi Ghandour announced the establishment of Wamda. The organization's mission is to empower entrepreneurs throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Habib Haddad served as CEO of Wamda from 2011 to 2016, and helped develop Wamda into a platform of four functions to provide media coverage, community programs, research, and advisory services for corporations and governments.
Wamda Capital is a growth stage investment vehicle operating as a separate legal entity.
Media
The objective of Wamda Media is to inspire entrepreneurs and their supporters in the Arab world through constant media coverage offered in Arabic, English and French. Wamda Media is stage and sector agnostic, and aims to offer the community a place to voice their thoughts. WamdaTV is Wamda Media’s in-house video production, complementing the publication’s coverage of the startup ecosystem with a newly revamped visual element.
Wamda Media operates with an in-house team of English, Arabic, and French editors, supplemented by a network of contributors spanning the MENA region and ensuring balanced coverage. The Media arm holds at its core the objective of spotlighting startup activity across the region, expert advice and op-eds, sector overviews and regional trends, event coverage as well as announcements on mergers, acquisitions, and other funding activity. To date, Wamda Media has over 5,000 articles published and has been quoted by Forbes,[1] Endeavor,[2] TechCrunch,[3] and Deloitte.[4]
The Wamda Community Programs
Wamda works closely with entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurship stakeholders to create more opportunities for entrepreneurs in MENA through different offline programs. For example, in January 2011, Wamda selected Yamsafer as the Best ecommerce startup as part of the Best MENA Startups of 2011 competition.
Mix N’ Mentor is Wamda’s signature mentorship event. It is a community-centric event and has been held in more than nine cities including Dubai, Beirut, Amman and Cairo. The event brings founders, experts, mentors and investors together to discuss startup opportunities, challenges, and share targeted advice. In 2014, Wamda partnered with MIT Media Lab to conduct a yearly workshop for students in the MENA region. In 2015, Wamda launched the Marketplace edition of Mix N' Mentor, where entrepreneurs can look for partnerships with corporations. Wamda’s community program also implements several industry focused events in partnership with private sector companies, including the GE MEMakers Mentorship Program in collaboration with General Electrics.
The Wamda Research Lab (WRL)
Established in 2014, the WRL produces studies on entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and seeks to foster thought leadership in this field. Its agenda is to inform investors, policymakers and other stakeholders on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the MENA region and the potential solutions for overcoming them.
Studies so far looked into aspects of the entrepreneurship ecosystem (The next step, Enhancing access, the Mentor effect), industries (Digital arabic content) and ecosystem development (Country Insights, collaborative entrepreneurship).
WRL publications to date (January 2016):
Wamda’s research was quoted by or featured in numerous journals and news websites, including Knowledge@Wharton,[10] MIT Press Journals,[11] the Wall Street Journal,[12] the World Economic Forum,[13] the Huffington Post,[14] and al-Jazeera.[15]
Corporate and advisory services
Wamda offers advisory services to public and private institutions including international institutions and government bodies as well as corporations that wish to engage with and support the emerging startup scene.
In January 2016, Expo 2020 Dubai unveiled its partnership with Wamda on Collaborative Entrepreneurship to take corporate startup collaboration to a strategic level.[16] Other strategic partners include US-conglomerate General Electric (MEMakers platform and the MEMakers Venture Program), Jordan’s Zain (Traxn Program) and MEC. Wamda also worked with the World Bank and Kuwait’s National Fund for SME Development, launching the platform Nuwait.[17]