Amman, Febrary 2012 – Oasis500, the MENA region’s premier early stage and seed investment company, concluded on 25th February, 2012, the 10th wave of its 6-day Start-Up Boot Camp. The participating start-ups covered a wide variety of fields including e-commerce, online services, mobile applications and other digital content.
The 10th Boot Camp, which was organized in partnership with the British Embassy in Amman, was conducted as part of Oasis500’s investment cycle and provided entrepreneurs and established start-ups with top level training in a variety of fields. Training topics included marketing and investment techniques, pitching techniques, business model creation and marketing through creative campaigns, market segmentation, attracting investments and how to approach investors.
The training workshops, headed by Dr. Usama Fayyad, Chairman of Oasis500 and former Executive VP and Chief Data Officer of Yahoo! Inc., were delivered by a team of specialized Oasis500 experts and staff. Trainers included the Company’s Marketing Manager Omar Al-Sharif, Investment Manager Salwa Katkhuda, Networks Manager Serene Shalan, VP of Finance and Chief Coach Monther Jubran and former Training Manager Lubna Taimeh.
The Boot Camp also hosted prominent guest speakers from Jordan and the region, who shared their experiences and expertise with the participants and offered advice, guidance and insight on entering and succeeding in the business scene. Guest speakers included: Mr. Peter Millett, Her Majesty’s Ambassador; Mr. Bashar Dahabra, Founder and CEO of Info2cell; Mr. Zaid Ayoub, Program Director at jTronix; Mr. Ahmed AlKhatib, Founder and CEO of MarkaVIP; Mr. Zafer Younis, Co-Founder of both Modern Media Ltd. and The Online Project; and Mr. Emile Cubeisy, Managing Director of IV Holdings, among others.
“Our Training Boot Camps are a key element in the acceleration of projects into viable fast growth businesses. Out of the 350 applications we received, 65 entrepreneurs were selected to take part in the 10th wave Boot Camp, 15 of those being from outside Jordan. These promising numbers are solid proof of entrepreneurs’ continuous need for training and investment and we firmly believe that their economic impact on the regional business landscape will be profound. Oasis500 is excited about what the future holds for these start-ups and we are proud to play an essential role in facilitating their journeys,” commented Dr. Fayyad.
“I would like to thank the British Embassy for sponsoring Oasis500’s Start-Up Boot Camps for the second consecutive run. The support of like-minded local public and private organizations has been imperative to Oasis500’s success over the past fourteen months,” Dr. Fayyad added.
Oasis500 is the first development and investment company of its kind in the MENA region. It aims to support entrepreneurs by providing them with funding and training in an effort to accelerate the transformation of business ideas into start-up companies in the ICT, digital media, and mobile technologies and content sectors. Oasis500 aims at accelerating the launch of 500 start-up companies within the next five years, which will create an incentive for aspiring entrepreneurs and generate job opportunities within the world’s fastest growing sectors.