Amman, December 2011 – Oasis500, the MENA region’s premier technology-based, early stage and seed investment company, held its 3rd Angel Investment Network Event on Sunday 18th December, 2011, in Amman. The event was attended by a group of local, regional and international investors, Oasis500 partners and mentors, in addition to online and offline media representatives.
The event, which is the leading platform for start-ups to share their projects and pitch for investment opportunities, showcased the presentations of five new and promising Oasis500-accelerated start-ups from across the MENA region. The start-ups were singled out as fast-growth and investment-ready entrepreneurial projects within the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), digital media and mobile technologies and content sectors.
The start-ups included The start-ups included Arabia Weddings, a comprehensive bilingual e-commerce website that caters to the Arab World’s lucrative wedding industry; Aqar Estate, an online real estate platform for buyers and sellers to find, evaluate and select real estate; Al Nassah, a comprehensive, flexible and multi-purpose School Management System that follows-up on all educational staff’s day-to-day tasks and activities; Progressive Generation, a production company specialized in producing creative new-age 2D and 3D animation catering to the Arab World; and Ebshir, an online search engine and directory for purchasing vehicles, bridging e-commerce to a traditionally brick-and-mortar channel.
“Promising startups are the true engine for job creation and economic development. However, entrepreneurs in the MENA region face tremendous hurdles in securing capital for their ventures, and this is why we regularly hold our Angel investment Network Events,” said Dr. Usama Fayyad, Chairman of Oasis500 and former Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer of Yahoo! Inc. “Our previous Angel Investor Network events witnessed an unprecedented success rate with 80% of start-ups securing funding ranging from USD 150,000 to USD 3 million. We are delighted at the range and caliber of investors who showed up from across the region to fund the innovative and promising investment deals.”
Oasis500’s 2nd Angel Investment Network Event, held in September 2011, highlighted six start-ups that included: Zaytouneh, TendersGate, Darebni TV, Ishra7, Jamalon and Menwayn, whilst the Company’s 1st Angel Investment Network Event brought forth: Wheels Express, Masmou3, Curlstone Studios, 01 Tracks, Fustuq and MarkaVIP.
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, training, acceleration and follow-on funding, in an effort to boost the transformation of business ideas into fast-growth technology 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, creating opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs and transforming the MENA region’s economy, starting with Jordan, and generating job opportunities within the world’s fastest growing sectors. Oasis500 is a private investment company with capital from private sector investors and an anchor investment from the King Abdullah II Fund for Development.
Since commencing its operations in September 2010, Oasis500 secured investments for 43 technology companies, in addition to a number of investments that were unmatched by any investment fund in the region. At the conclusion of its first year of operations, Oasis500 exceeded its initial goal and trained more than double the target number of companies through its training boot camps to reach 225 start-ups. It also surpassed its investment goals by more than three times its initial plan. The Company’s first USD 200,000 of investments attracted over USD 3 million in follow-on funding from across the region. Oasis500 start-ups benefiting from the acceleration program grew in valuation by 3 to 10 times in approximately four months. This indicates not only the investment appetite in the region, but also the quality of Oasis500 investments and its unique training and acceleration program.