November 2008 – StartUpArabia

Accelarabia, Online Lending Portal For The Middle East

November 30, 2008November 30, 2008 MMM

Accelarabia is an online portal with the goal to enable mortgage and loan seekers to compare the different options available out there, select the best product for their individual needs, pre-qualify and apply for it directly from the portal in real-time.

Users can also use the site to submit the documents required in order to complete their loan applications, and to follow all progress updates throughout the life of their application, getting instantly notified of any developments.

On the other hand, the portal helps providers of these products reach out to mortgage and loan seekers to obtain pre-qualified customers in a direct and efficient manner.

Earlier this year, Accelarabia launched its Mortgage Automation Platform (MAP); providing banks, mortgage companies, and real estate developers an end-to-end fully automated loan origination solution. MAP encompasses all aspects of mortgage origination from capturing customer’s data, pre-qualifying customers on the fly, obtaining instant credit agency reports to contract generation through an intuitive workflow and document management system enabling mortgage originators to track loan application progress through dashboards, reports, and other management tools.

Accelarabia is based in Dubai, was founded in 2006, secured a first round of funding, and officially launched in early 2007, serving the UAE real estate market with over 10 lenders and 35 real estate partners as part of its network.

Their goal is to provide solutions and services to end-users, financial institutions and real estate companies in the Middle East enabling them to fully automate their origination and fulfillment processes.

# Accelarabia

StartUpArabia Launches Arab World Tech Events Calendar

November 28, 2008November 28, 2008 MMM 4 Comments

In an attempt to provide Arab entrepreneurs and technology fans with information about the various events taking place all around the Arab world; that are related to technology, internet, entrepreneurship, investment and more; and that might be of interest to them; StartUpArabia has gone ahead and launched its Events calendar.

The events calendar can be accessed through the ‘Events‘ link in the menu above, where a monthly calendar displays events all over the Arab world for each month.

On the site’s sidebar, you’ll also be able to quickly find the next five upcoming events around the region.

By clicking on the events in either the calendar page or the upcoming events list, you will be redirected either to the event’s official website or to a local page providing more information on the event.

Another option is to add the event calendar’s iCal feed to your calendar software (iCal, Google Calendar, Lightning …etc), and have all events pulled automatically from StartUpArabia into your own calendars.

And finally, if you have an event that is related to Arab startups, entrepreneurship, investment, or technology; that isn’t already included in the StartUpArabia Events Calendar, you can submit it by following this link: Submit Event.

Hozpitality.com, Hospitality Career and Networking Portal

November 27, 2008November 27, 2008 MMM

In the backdrop of the continuing growth trail and potential of the regional hospitality industry, a new hospitality networking and human resources portal, Hozpitality.com, was launched yesterday by Dubai-based VR Online Group.

Promoters of the new portal said the sector’s rate of growth in job opportunities in the Middle East, North Africa and Levant is estimated to be at 24 per cent between 2008-2011 while in GCC it would be some 20 per cent in the next four years.

“The Middle East, North Africa and Levant is now the fastest growing region for global hospitality industry with approximately 300 new committed hotel projects coming up between 2008-2011, cumulatively adding up approximately 85,900 rooms. Once the projects come on stream they will face an enormous need for manpower, which we estimate will be to the tune of 111,650 staff. In this context, we believe Hozpitality.com could play a salient role, be it global sourcing of manpower, hotel supplies or in offering an exclusive networking platform for industry professionals,” said Mr. Raj Bhatt, Director, Hozpitality.com.

He said that the aim of Hozpitality.com was to grow beyond the confines of a conventional portal and to add more value-innovations to its offer portfolio in tandem with the growth and sophistication of the regional hospitality industry.

“Hozpitality.com is much more than an ordinary job portal. We are trying to build a dedicated hospitality company where everyone wins. Normally job boards have job postings and candidates applying and that’s it. We would have much more than this,” Mr. Bhatt said.

While recruitment will be the core activity on the website, the portal will be a platform where the entire hospitality community can network while posting jobs or applying for live jobs. Regular networking events for the hospitality community would also form one of the core activities.

Employers or Job seekers would have free access to focused hospitality supplier listing; registered employers can post any movements, promotions, transfers or post any announcements on the website. The portal would also extend services of professional CV designing to the candidates.

This move comes just a few months after the launch of Travel Yolk (previously reviewed here), that caters to the recruitment needs of the Travel industry, which signals a shift towards more specialized portals in such areas of service.

# Hozpitality.com

Minixr, A New Microblogging And Lifestreaming Platform

November 25, 2008November 25, 2008 MMM 3 Comments

Minixr is a new Microblogging and lifestreaming platform launched from Algeria.

The service enables users to post and share their status updates, links, different types of files (videos, photos, audio) and events with their friends through the website.

Basic social networking features, enabling users to find and follow their friends, building their own personal network on the service are of course integrated.

On the other hand Minixr also offers the ability to automatically pull user activity on a number of other websites (Digg, Last.fm, Delicious, Flickr, YouTube, …etc) and centralize them on the user’s timeline for all followers to see.

If compared to international services, Minixr looks pretty much like a mix of Pownce and FriendFeed.

Minixr also offers users the possibility to send status updates through their mobile phones, or through IM (Google Talk, Jabber, AIM).

The service mainly targets young adults, between the ages of 20-35, from Francophone countries and the Middle East. The revenue model is planned to be solely advertising based.

The service is currently in Beta, with the official launch slated for sometime in January 2009.

The interface is pretty simple and uses pretty much the same format as other microblogging services out there. It is available in French only at the time being, but other languages will be added soon.

# Minixr

MIT Arab Business Plan Competition 2008

November 24, 2008November 24, 2008 MMM 4 Comments

The MIT Arab Business Plan Competition is a competition designed to encourage all entrepreneurs in the Arab world to start their own company and, ultimately, create a nest of leading firms in the Arab world. It also brings to the Arab world all the MIT expertise in entrepreneurship and in running such competitions.

The equivalent of the MIT Arab Business Plan Competition in Boston is called the MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition and has created a number of leading firms and thousands of jobs.

Teams interested in joining the competition must register through the competition’s website. Registrations opened on November 10th, 2008. Users are required to fill the online application form consisting of 16 questions that summarize their business idea and the means of implementing it.
The deadline for submitting the applications is Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 23:59, Beirut time.

The competition is open to all Arab nationals with a business idea, with the only requirement being to be part of a team, with each team comprising of minimum 3 individuals, of which at least 2 should be citizens of the Arab world. The business concept put forward by the team should also be implemented in a country within the Arab world.

The winner of the competition will receive prize money of USD 50,000. The check will be issued in the name of the company. The members of the winning team will also be given the opportunity to attend the MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW).

The first and second runner-ups will receive a check of USD 10,000 and USD 5000 respectively.

Besides the financial reward, the winning teams will be provided with coaching/mentoring from the members and network of the MIT Enterprise Forum who will also help the winners get their businesses up and explore further funding opportunities by introducing them to business development centers, financing institutions, and similar organizations.

All entrepreneurs interested can go to the competition’s website and Apply Now.

# MIT Arab Business Plan Competition

3alaRasi, A Portal For Comedy Entertainment Content

November 23, 2008November 23, 2008 MMM 3 Comments

3alaRasi is a Jordanian entertainment portal that features a mix of funny cartoons, caricatures, articles, videos, photos and audio.

The portal’s content comes both from in-house productions, as well as content generated and submitted by the site’s users.

The site integrates all the regular sharing and social networking features that allow users to create their profiles, connect with their friends, and share all supported kinds of content with them.

In addition to all the kinds of content mentioned above, users can also upload and share games in Flash and Shockwave format.

The cartoons and animations currently produced by the 3alaRasi team are currently inspired by the Jordanian (Awad Abu Shifa, Jaber Kawanes, 7awa) and Palestinian (Falla7) society and culture, but there are plans to expand and add Egyptian and Gulf inspired characters and content soon.

The site’s interface is currently in English only, although an Arabic version should be expected soon.

3alaRasi also distribute their content through a number of mobile channels in Jordan and the GCC, and are looking to expand to other countries in the region.

Other distribution channels have been through Jordanian radio station Mazaj FM airing Audio clips from 3alaRasi, as well as Nourmina TV which aired 3alaRasi cartoon episodes in Ramadan. A new deal with Jordanian daily Addustour, will also see a daily cartoon from 3alaRasi cartoonist Omar Abdallat published in the newspaper.

3alaRasi was launched by ERUM Creative Productions L.L.C, which was founded by Amer M. AbuLaila, Omar Abdallat, Rajai Qawas, and Fahd Oweidat.

# 3alaRasi

The Man Who Thinks He Can

November 22, 2008November 22, 2008 MMM 4 Comments

I came across a little poem called “Thinking”, also known as “The Man Who Thinks He Can”, by Walter D. Wintle, that I thought I’d share, and that I think embodies the spirit an entrepreneur needs to have to succeed.

If you think you’re beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,

It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost;

For out in the world we find

Success being with a fellow’s will;

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are;

You’ve got to think high to rise.

You’ve got to be sure of yourself

Before you can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But soon or late, the one who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

— Walter D. Wintle

Abu Dhabi Media Company Launches Goalarabia.com

November 21, 2008November 21, 2008 MMM

Abu Dhabi Media Company, one of the largest media companies in the region, has launched goalarabia.com, the UAE’s first international standard fantasy football game which is playable both online and on mobile devices in Arabic and English.

Based on the English Premier League, players can compete in a virtual league to win the top prize of a Chevrolet Avalanche.

‘The beautiful game just got prettier,’ says Ricky Ghai, Executive Director of Digital Media at Abu Dhabi Media Company. ‘Goalarabia will be the biggest and best fantasy league in the region. We aim to tap into the popularity of sport across the Arab world and provide people with an easy to use platform to compete for great prizes and network with thousands of football fans online. For regional football fans, this is a digital revolution that is premier league in every sense.’

Explaining how the game works, Steve Battams, Web Editor of goalarabia said: ‘Players register at our website to claim a £100m fantasy budget to build their own Premiership football team. Using a virtual team selector, fantasy managers apply their tactical skills, football know-how and gut instinct to improve their chances of creating the best performing team, which is linked to how real-life football stars perform.’

‘Players can read, Al Ittihad, The National and Super Magazine for updates on the most successful fantasy teams, as well as checking results on-the-go over their mobile phones. Social networking is a major feature of goalarabia.com, as players will be able to use message boards and create mini-leagues to add to the competitive excitement. There’s a good incentive too, as the top performing manager will receive the keys to a new Chevrolet Avalanche at the end of the season and probably become a virtual football hero at the same time.

# goalarabia.com

StartUpArabia Launches New Mobile Version

November 20, 2008November 20, 2008 MMM 16 Comments

StartUpArabia, your one stop shop for news and information about and related to Arab internet and technology startups and entrepreneurship, has just launched a new mobile version.

This new version, optimized for mobile devices, aims to enable you to quickly and easily access the latest news, articles and reviews while on the go.

Reader comments left on the different articles can be read as well, with the possibility to leave comments of your own.

This mobile version is accessible at the following address: http://m.startuparabia.com

Readers visiting the site at its current address using their mobile devices will automatically be redirected to the mobile version from now on.