Social Networking – Page 4

H2O New Media Secures First Round of Funding From Equinox International

March 3, 2009March 3, 2009 MMM

H2O New Media, the technology company focused on Enterprise Social Media applications in Dubai, has confirmed its first round of funding from Equinox International. A deal between H2O New Media and Equinox International was signed following months of negotiations as the two companies weighed inflation and market stability.

The size of the investment hasn’t been made public, but it has been described as a significant one, and H2O New Media is looking at the investment as an opportunity for growth and expansion of its operation within the MENA and APAC regions.

H2O New Media was established in 2007, as one of the leading social media software companies in the Middle East which focuses on developing niche communities within vertical industry sectors.

The company plans to further advance into key markets across the MENA region, with immediate plans to open new offices in Oman, and then an APAC office based in the Philippines.

“We have been following H2O New Media for a while and I am pleased that we have managed to come to agreeable terms and have secured a stake in the future of the company. The team has very strong background of building companies to 100M dollar plus valuations and H2O New Media has the credibility and potential to achieve this position in the market. They have been working continuously over the past 2 years to develop a number of niche portal applications that will really shake up the MEA online market whilst still providing value for businesses and consumers alike. We prefer to keep the details of our capital investment confidential but I would say it is a sizable commitment on our part and we are determined to assist H2O New Media in its positioning as a leading MENA player within the online & mobile data sectors” said Osama Qadan – Principal Partner, Equinox International.

“Although market conditions have been deteriorating and discouraging our company seems to have bucked the trend by focusing on innovation. We are fortunate to secure funding from a partner who is set to become an integral part in our expansion plans across the MENA region. Having representation in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as a significant telecommunications footprint made Equinox International our preferred investor and an ideal business partner who will work with us to rapidly scale our operations and translate our products into Arabic for the larger markets. As we deliver product and develop partnerships with the regions mobile telecommunications providers our intention is to be aggressive in the market and compete with key players such as Yahoo and Google. H2O New Media has created a significant wave in a short period of time and we are committed to maintaining a strong regional presence and market share in this sector” said Mr. Steve Vaile, CEO, H2O New Media.

3zeema, An Arab Event Organization And Invitation Service

January 19, 2009January 19, 2009 MMM 1 Comment

3zeema is a new Arab service that was recently launched in its beta version to make it easier for people to organize events and invite their friends and contacts to them, whether it’s a personal or professional event.

The service is free and pretty simple to use; after signing up you can directly start creating events by following three easy steps: choosing a place to hold the event, either by selecting from the list of venues already existent in the site’s database or by specifying a new venue and locating it on a map; the next step is to add the friends and contacts that you want to invite to the event, either by choosing from your lists of friends or friend groups, both of which are administrable from seperate interfaces, or by adding your invitees directly through a little form; finally the last step is to put in the details of the event, confirm the invitation and have it sent out.

Invitations are sent by sms, providing invitees with the details of the event. Invitees can also use their phone number and invitation number to login and view more details about the event and the venue.

As an organizer, you can also choose whether you want your event to be public, and thereby viewable by all site visitors, or whether you prefer it to be private. The same goes for the venue, as some people could be hosting the event at their homes, and don’t want to make their addresses public.

If the invitation is sent a long time in advance, it is possible to specify when you want the service to send a reminder to all invitees. It is also possible to specify if the event is a recurring one, inputting its periodicity so that the service automatically sends out reminders to invitees each time.

An events page for each user shows the events that they created as well as all the events that they were invited to.

3zeema was founded by Esam Alwagait, and its beta version was released earlier this month. The service is only available in Arabic and for events in Saudi Arabia for the time being.

# 3zeema

H2O New Media To Launch ‘Tiger Fish’ Social Media Advertising Platform

December 30, 2008December 30, 2008 MMM 9 Comments

Dubai-based H2O New Media announced plans to launch the region’s first dedicated social media advertising platform next month, allowing advertisers to target users based on their online community profile.

The platform, called Tiger Fish, is planned to offer advertising services similar in concept to those provided by Facebook and MySpace.

“The Middle East is the second-fastest growing market for social media behind Africa,” Steve Vaile, the chief executive and founder of H2O New Media, told The National. “I think the region needs its own online advertising platform, which is why we have been developing the Tiger Fish network. It will allow advertisers to target the users who want to view their ads.”

Although Tiger Fish claims to have access to more than 300,000 locally based consumers on both English and Arabic content platforms, Mr Vaile said the focus would be mostly on those who speak English. The new platform would offer businesses that previously would have taken products from the US or Europe the opportunity to have local support and consultancy. “There’s a lot that goes into an application like this.”

There isn’t much more detail out there about Tiger Fish yet, but my understanding is that it’s based around the different social media communities H2O New Media has built, leveraging the database of different user profiles in this network of online community services to offer advertisers the chance to target specific segments more precisely.

Sahritna Unveils Site Redesign And Launches New Features

December 1, 2008December 1, 2008 MMM 2 Comments

Press Release: Sahritna.com Unveils Next Evolution of Site feature and Design
Amman, Dec. 1st, 2008

Sahritna.com today released a new, cleaner and simpler new design, along with the opportunity for users to preview the next-generation features and functionality. The company is inviting people to use the new design and try out the improved features and engage with the community. The new design is available to all of Sahritna’s more than 50,000 Arabic users and the new registered users over the coming days.

“Based on our vision to create a unique interactive Arabic community and the demand of our loyal users, we have launched a simpler and cleaner design in order to highlight the most recent and relevant information that users value” said Sahritna founder and CEO Bashar Shannak. “Sahritna’s new features make it a lot easier for users to share information and engage in the community.”

The company has been developing the new design since four months. Over the past two months, more than 3,000 Sahritna users offered constructive suggestions on the layout and features, many of which were included in the final version.

Public Profiles: Sahritna allowed its users to create their personal unique pages to deliver their information in a social context. The evolution of the public profiles focuses on user’s identity, their friends, post comments, mutual friends, rating and more. The profile now surfaces more current and pertinent information, about a user and their friends’ on Sahritna.

Profile Comments: Users have complete control over the comments published on their profile. Users are able to delete unwanted comments. And they can post comments on their profile and friend’s profiles.

User Rating: Located on the right hand of the user’s profile, the users are able to rate other users profiles in simple way. This feature enables users to know the popularity of their profile and how their friends think of them.

My Mood: It’s a mean for the user to express his/her current mood and tell his friends how he feels currently. Upon user login he will be able to express his/her mood.

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

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

Mecca.com Releases More Features And New Design

November 17, 2008November 17, 2008 MMM 11 Comments

Mecca.com, the Muslim community portal, that also integrates a social networking and user generated content platform, has just rolled out a new look, unveiling a new logo and a re-design for their whole website.

The new design is more colorful and looks more hip; it also feels better organized, optimizing the use of screen real estate.

This new design, comes just a short while after Mecca.com rolling out their new Videos section, where members can upload and share their videos with friends. As with other online video sharing services, friends have the ability to comment, rate, edit, and share videos with other users.

Mecca.com had also enhanced their Photo sharing feature by improving the user interface, and adding the possibility to import photos from Facebook and Flickr.

# Mecca.com

SMELink.ae, Business Community Portal For UAE SMEs

November 7, 2008November 7, 2008 MMM

The Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders (SME) and Tejari, the leading online B2B marketplace for global emerging markets, has announced the launch of SMELink.ae, a new online portal specifically catering to small and medium businesses.

The launch of this portal marks yet another addition to the rapidly expanding portfolio of services provided to Tejari members. “This achievement is a big step for Tejari and we are convinced that e-commerce will only grow from strength to strength through our initiatives,” said Omar Hijazi, CEO of Tejari.

Members registered with the Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment For Young Business Leaders automatically become a member of this portal, gaining access to an online community of over quarter million members. In addition to this, all members of the community are eligible for an eExhibit package, whereby they can set up an online showroom to display their products and services.

“The new portal will without doubt benefit members of the establishment and will open up new windows of opportunity for existing and new small and medium size enterprises,” said Adbul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Mohammed bin Rashid Est. for Young Business Leaders (SME).

# Source: Khaleej Times

Wikeez, A New Social Entertainment Platform

November 6, 2008November 6, 2008 MMM 12 Comments

Wikeez, is a new Lebanon-based startup, focusing on user generated content around entertainment topics, which was founded by Kuv Capital with a seed investment of US$250,000.

Wikeez aims to allow people to publish and exchange on their favorite subjects centered on entertainment topics (tv shows, movies, celebrities, music and sports).

Each topic is fragmented into 3 tiers:

Top Stories: Information on the subject; latest news, Bio,…
Blog Stories: content produced by Wikeez members
Micro Stories: reactions shared by Wikeez members

Wikeez will also enable people to create their own blogs, fan clubs, get the latest news centered on their passions, as well as socialize with other fans.

The site is still in alpha, with a beta version coming pretty soon.

The company is currently looking to recruit in Lebanon; You can check out their open job vacancies on the StartUpArabia Job Board.

Update: Wikeez is offering invites to their alpha version to all StartUpArabia readers; if you’re interested, just send an email to: invite@wikeez.com.

# Wikeez