Tag: financing

Berytech Fund Invests In Panoramic Imaging Startup Dermandar

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Berytech Fund, the Beirut-based seed capital fund, just announced a new investment in Dermandar, a Lebanon based technology startup focused on online digital image processing; acquiring a 35% stake of the company through the deal.

Dermandar (Arabic for all around), is a company that has developed online software that automatically creates panoramic pictures in a fast and simple way.

It enables users to take photos with any normal camera, create a panorama out of them using their online tool really quickly and then share it with the world. Basically what the tool does is it takes the photos the user took, looks at the edges of the photos for matching parts and then uses those to stitch the photos together into a bigger panoramic image.

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D1G Announces Closing Of Its First Round Of Financing

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D1GD1G just announced its closing of a first round of financing; that will go towards funding the site, its expansion and its infrastructure on the Internet.

According to the press release issued by the company, this first round has attracted a number of regional businessmen and international experts in the internet industry to join the site’s management.

Commenting on this round, Abdul-Majid Qasem, D1G Executive Director, said that the first round of investment was able to attract the necessary funding for the next phase, and that the amount raised would help the company improve its products and services to achieve the board of directors’ vision and aspirations.

He also noted that the next round of strategic investment negotiations with some of the leading capital and private equity firms in the region is currently ongoing.

D1G was founded in May 2006, and according to the numbers released by the company have been able to build a community of more than 3 million people per month over the past years, generating more than 20 million impressions and over 15 million online monthly videos. They also claim to have grown 100% in number of users during the first half of 2009 alone.

D1G’s growth has been both organic and through acquisitions, and it seems they’ll be sticking to the same approach for growth in the future.

Just a couple of months ago, D1G announced that Usama Fayyad, Ex- Chief Data Officer and Executive Vice President at Yahoo!, had been appointed Executive Chairman of D1G to help develop the company and take it into its next stage of growth. He was already on their board of directors since September 2008.

D1G also announced that prominent Jordanian business man and investor Karim Kawar will become an Active Advisor on the company’s board of directors. Karim Kawar, who had previously served as Jordan’s Ambassador to the US, is currently advising a number of regional capital and technology companies.

How much money do you need for your startup? [Poll]

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A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the first sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.

This poll is mainly aimed at Arab entrepreneurs who have already launched their startups and are looking for financing, or those who have yet to launch their projects and will be needing some funding.

The question is: How much money do you need for your startup?

The poll gives a number of ranges that are based on some of the feedback I’ve gotten from entrepreneurs I’ve met and talked with around the Arab world.

Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.

Microsoft & ABAN Partnership To Promote Entrepreneurship In MENA Region

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Microsoft
ABAN

Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with Arab Business Angels Network (ABAN) covering the Middle East and North Africa region.

The partnership aims to increase the success rate of new entrepreneurial ventures in the region, by encouraging innovative business ideas and providing seed funding. Under the agreement, ABAN will work with Microsoft to identify and foster innovative technology ventures in the region.

During the launch event, ABAN and Microsoft gathered four budding entrepreneurs who presented their business ideas to over 70 potential investors. These business projects were:

  • Dia Diwan, an online portal that offers the latest news on lifestyle and entertainment in the region, including an ecommerce shopping facility for fashion items.
  • WeNear, a mobile platform for location-based services and applications.
  • Cash Trash, an innovation aimed at recycling to reduce pollution problems.
  • PolluMap, an automatic pollution mapping system to track city pollution levels.

This initiative like others before it aims to address the problem early stage startups and businesses face in the Arab world when it comes to financing.

Arab Business Angels Network (ABAN) was launched by the Young Arab Leaders and Dubai Holding, with Dubai International Capital as its founder and lead institutional investor, back in 2005. It invests through its Angels’ network and manages two funds: a US$ 10 Million seed capital fund and US$ 5 Million fund for women-led ventures.

ABAN recently announced its first three investments in the Middle East, and has been leveraging its global partnerships and high-profile connections to optimize its investments and reach out to more promising entrepreneurs.

From Microsoft’s side, this partnership follows their Unlimited Potential and Local Software Economies initiatives that aim to create social and economic opportunity through programs and products that transform education, foster local innovation and enable jobs and opportunities worldwide.

# Press release: Zawya