Bayt – StartUpArabia

GoNabit, An Online Group-Buying Platform For The Region

June 9, 2010June 9, 2010 MMM 4 Comments

GoNabit is a new online group-buying platform, that was recently launched for the region from Dubai, and that helps people come together to save and discover locally with some really interesting deals.

Each day GoNabit features one huge deal per city; People sign-up online to receive the deals, and if they wish to participate in the deal they do so using their credit card. Once the minimum number of buyers is reached the deal tips, the credit card gets charged, and GoNabit sends the buyer their voucher. Buyers then print their voucher and redeem it with the local merchant.

Each deal is only available for a limited time, and if the minimum number of buys is not reached before the deal closes, no one is charged, but no one gets the deal either.

Bayt.com Launches New Mobile Version Of Their Job Search

September 8, 2009September 8, 2009 MMM

Bayt.com, the Middle East’s leading job site have launched a new mobile version of their portal, which will enable job seekers to access the Bayt.com website quickly and easily on their mobile devices, while on the move.

Job seekers can simply enter m.bayt.com into the web browser of their mobile device, then instantly search all of the jobs that are currently available on the main Bayt.com site.

As part of Bayt.com mobile, job seekers will be able to apply from their device to any of the listed jobs that are of interest to them on the site, simply by using their stored CVs, and adding a cover note if required.

Bayt.com also plans to add a number of additional services to make the search for jobs even more efficient for job seekers on the move.

Job seekers will have the option to refresh their stored CV from their device, as if they were using their PC. When job seekers have found positions from their device but want to save them for applying at a later stage, they will have the option of emailing their found jobs to their Bayt.com account, or to their personal email.

Furthermore, the mobile site will be developed to allow jobs seekers to search for positions by sector and industry, as per the existing website. It will then offer the option to view how many times their CV has been viewed by employers, in addition to other CV statistics – right on their mobile device.

The service adds more value to employers by making their postings automatically available on the mobile version of the site, thereby giving their job offers more exposure.

Interview with Dan Stuart, Managing Partner At Intilaq

April 27, 2009April 27, 2009 MMM 2 Comments

Dan Stuart One of the most interesting developments that have taken place recently in the internet entrepreneurship and venture capital space in the Arab world has been the launch of Bayt’s venture capital arm “Intilaq”.

To get even more details about this exciting bit of news, I got to ask Dan Stuart, who is Head of strategic initiatives at Bayt and a Managing Partner at Intilaq, a few questions about it all; why they’re doing it, why now, where they’re going and more.

I’d like to thank him very much for taking some of his time to answer these questions and provide us all with more insight into this new venture.

What made Bayt decide to move into the venture capital space?
The vision and mission of Bayt.com don’t say anything about being strictly a job site, per se. From the outset, the founders were focused on creating a Middle Eastern institution that empowers people in the region to build better lives. Jobs were the primary focus because of their direct impact on lifestyle – and we have maintained a firm leadership positioning in that domain as measured by any parameter – but from the outset we recognized that there are many other opportunities to better people’s lives in the Middle East. Combine this affinity to the people of the region with a first-hand understanding of the unique needs of the region as well as the challenges in starting a business in the region, and add to that a strong desire to expand our scope and invest the capital reserves that we have built over time, and we decided that an investment arm was the logical next step.

Why did you choose to do it now?
There has never been a better time to start an online business in the Middle East. Internet penetration is skyrocketing, there is a huge bubble in regional demographics at the youth level, successful online business models are prevalent globally, but still relatively nascent regionally, and agile and open source technologies are making it easier to put vision into reality. Inefficient processes are ripe for disruption, and with funding and mentorship, we think that there is great potential for not only local/regional Internet successes to emerge, but truly global leaders. There is no reason that a Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Facebook, Baidu, Salesforce, or other online tech leader cannot – and should not – emerge from the MENA region.

Bayt Launches Intilaq, Gets Into Early Stage Funding For Internet Startups In The Arab World

April 16, 2009April 16, 2009 MMM 9 Comments

Bayt.com, the leading job portal in the Arab world, is launching a new and very interesting initiative called Intilaq, that aims to fund, mentor and support aspiring entrepreneurs with early-stage technology startups.

Intilaq is interested in funding and supporting startups based in the Arab world, or who are interested in relocating to the region, that drive regional internet adoption, usage and functionality.

Intilaq is not an incubation program, nor a competition, what they’ll be doing is evaluating ideas and people on an on-going basis, looking for the right fit, and funding chosen projects in exchange for equity in the company. Depending on how much progress the entrepreneurs have made, the funding could be at a seed round or at a follow-up round.
There is also no defined amount with which they are seeding the fund, choosing to remain flexible and acting on a case by case basis.

Intilaq is interested in hearing from both technology geeks, who have technical talent and a great innovative idea looking to start a company, as well as business people, who have great business aptitude (e.g., operations, sales, marketing, business development, finance) and who want to work with technical people to build a great company.

By doing this, Bayt is looking to invest some of the experience and money it has gained over the years, building their own success, into new startups in return for equity, or the benefit of a strategic acquisition, or even to just help grow regional Internet usage and winning by growing the online employment market for Bayt.com.

Besides funding, experience and mentorship; Bayt also offers to help with invaluable industry contacts from around the region, and even workspace in some cases whether at their offices in Dubai Internet City or one of their other offices around the Arab world.

The Intilaq team is made up of Rabea Ataya, the CEO of Bayt.com, and Dan Stuart, the Head of Strategic Initiatives at Bayt.com; both as managing partners, with Dan running the day-to-day operations.

# Intilaq

Bayt Launches Contest To Crowdsource Explanatory Videos

January 8, 2009January 8, 2009 MMM

After asking people to help them redesign their website in a previous initiative covered here; Bayt, the leading Middle Eastern job site, has now launched a new video contest soliciting help from creative people in creating a visual style for a series of multimedia videos that can clearly explain what Bayt.com does and how their users can get the most out of the website.

Dan Stuart, Head of Strategic Initiatives at Bayt, created two scripts for the videos, and launched a microsite where he asks people to submit one video that shows their use of an original visual concept to one of his scripts.

The winning video concept will receive the contract to create more than three trilingual videos for Bayt.com. Also, both the winning designer and design will be promoted on Bayt.com, in all contest-related PR, and promoted on the contest Microsite.

The deadline for submissions is March 6th, 2009.

For more information, to submit videos and for the legal details, you can check the contest microsite that can be found here: icandraw.bayt.com

Bayt.com To Host First Virtual Job Fair In Kuwait

January 3, 2009January 3, 2009 MMM 5 Comments

Bayt.com the leading job site in the Middle East just announced that they’ll be holding another one of their virtual job fairs; this time in Kuwait.

This is the fourth such event in the region, with previous ones held in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

The event will be hosted on the virutal job fair section of Bayt’s website and will run from the 18th to the 22nd of January.

The aim of these events that Bayt is holding is to offer employers and job seekers alike a chance to conveniently and effectively connect and interact online; thereby providing qualified job seeking candidates with interesting career opportunities; and giving local, regional and international employers access to professionals from around the region; pushing the online recruitment concept even further.

The virtual job fair will feature 3D booths of exhibiting companies, where they will be able to display company information and job vacancies. Visitors to the online fair will be able to leave CVs at the stands and apply for specific jobs. Companies can then connect to candidates through either video or online chat.

# Bayt.com Virtual Job Fair

Leading Arab Job Site Bayt.com Crowdsource New Design Online

June 27, 2008June 27, 2008 MMM 9 Comments

Bayt.com, the leading job site in the Arab world, are looking to give their website a facelift, and instead of fully doing it in-house or going to some design company to work on it for them, they’ve decided to try and crowdsource the design online.

From their side, they’ve done a lot of thinking and benchmarking internally, and their staff came up with a preliminary design, that they’re now opening up to different people online to get a fresh perspective on it all, and how everything can be laid out and designed.

They’re doing this through 99designs, where they’ve posted a contest asking people to submit their designs and the way they see the website.

The initial mock-up files featuring Bayt’s own ideas and the elements they want included are provided, with a number of guidelines, what they’re looking for and need in the design, and the no-nos that designers should avoid.

The winning design gets a $500 prize.

It’ll be really interesting to see how this experience works out, and what comes out of it in the end. Really nice move from Bayt.com to try and explore different ideas and artistic directions.

The contest details, how to take part in it, as well as the already submitted designs can be found here: Bayt.com Homepage Facelift.

Bayt.com To Host First Virtual Job Fair In The Middle East

May 13, 2008May 13, 2008 MMM 2 Comments

Bayt.com the leading job site in the Middle East just announced that they’ll be holding the region’s first virtual job fair. The event will be hosted on a new section of Bayt’s website and will run for five days between 15th and 19th June 2008.

The aim of the event is to offer employers and job seekers alike a chance to conveniently and effectively connect and interact online; thereby providing qualified job seeking candidates with interesting career opportunities; and giving local, regional and international employers access to professionals from around the region; pushing the online recruitment concept even further.

This is the first event of it’s type in the region and it will be sponsored by the Emirates Group.

# Bayt.com Virtual Job Fair