Startup Minute

Online dating giant Match Group acquires Egyptian startup Harmonica, marriage matchmaking app and the first major exit for Flat6Labs;

Chinese phone brand Oppo pushes iPhones into fourth place in global sales charts for handsets, Samsung remains in first place and Huawei comes in second;

Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) invests $2M in Bykea, a Pakistan-Based on-demand transport, logistics, and payments startup;

Verizon is selling its blogging website Tumblr to the owner of popular online-publishing tool WordPress for less than $3 million, according to Axios, a stunning drop in value from the $1.1 billion Yahoo paid for it in 2013;

Huawei’s new operating system is called HarmonyOS;

Game of Thrones creators sign $200 million Netflix deal to make exclusive shows and films;

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Real talk, in Real time, with Real experiences. Welcome to The Real!

Episode #1: College.

This episode introduces The Real and the idea behind its creation, the show host, and a controversial and long spoken of topic, college.

It seeks to challenge the norm and the societally structured misconceptions of what college truly represents, and what it does not.

In short, its definitely not what mama and papa may have told you about college.

Share your thoughts with us and continue the debate.

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Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, a leading UAE banking group, partners with Silicon Valley's Plug and Play, a global innovation platform, to enable new ways of adapting digital transformation;

Batelco, a Bahrain Telecommunication Company, launches Summer Entrepreneurship Program for university students and young professionals in collaboration with BRINC Batelco IoT Hub;

Bahrain’s Rain closes $2.5 million seed round and becomes the first licensed cryptocurrency exchange in the Middle East;

Egyptian fintech MoneyFellows raises over $1m investment from 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, and Phoenician Funds;

French inventor successfully crosses the English Channel on a hoverboard;

The Matrix is returning to theaters to celebrate its 20th anniversary;

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Installed on over 380 million devices in over 200 countries around the world, it helps you scan, store, sync and collaborate on various contents across smartphones, iPads, tablets and computers.

Watch #AppsofourLives episode 8 to see how this app turns your smartphone into a portable scanner.

Featured App: CamScanner

CamScanner is an intelligent document management solution for individuals, small businesses, organizations, governments and schools. It is the perfect fit for those who want to digitize, sync, share and manage various contents on all devices.

Simply snap a photo of paper documents, receipts, notes, whiteboards and business cards. It will automatically crop and enhance the image, making text easily readable. You can then save the document as a PDF or export it directly into your Evernote account.

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Watch the full episodes and join the conversation at startupminute.co. 

Egyptian digital payment firm Fawry sets IPO price at $0.3906;

Saudi based e-commerce enablement startup Zid, raises $2M pre-series A investment led by Elm VC;

Muzmatch, a dating app for Muslims raises $7 million Series A, led by Luxor Capital, a multi-billion dollar US hedge fund and Y Combinator, to help them find a life partner;

Dubai-based property management startup HiGuests closes a $1.1 million investment led by a leading Spanish real estate player Forcadell, announces expansion to Spain;

Disney is breaking records with the best box office year in history;

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the latest Marvel movie to hit $1 billion at the box office;

Watch the full episodes and join the conversation at startupminute.co.

On our second episode of "Beyond The Point", we discuss the top five MENA venture capital deals that took place in the second quarter of this year and amounted to $99.1 million, with Egypt’s Swvl accounting for almost half of the total, the highest amount ever raised by an Egyptian startup.‍

Featured Startups:

Swvl, the premium alternative to public transportation in Egypt. Through the app, you can book fixed rate affordable rides on their existing routes.

Awok, the no.1 online shopping in Dubai UAE selling items such as fashion accessories, kitchenware, home appliances, mobiles, cameras, as well as health and beauty products.

Mawdoo3, a digital platform that provides users with credible Arabic content from trustworthy sources.

Noon Academy, the social learning platform of 2m+ students. Start a study group with your friends and access the best teachers on demand!

Sprii, the Middle East's leading shopping destination for Mums & Kids - whether they want to discover the latest products to help them bloom during their pregnancy, stock up on baby essentials, kit themselves out for pre-natal Yoga, or create fun family moments together in the kitchen.

Watch the full episodes and join the conversation at startupminute.co.

More than 1 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family, anytime and anywhere. And yes, the name WhatsApp is a pun on the phrase What's Up.

Watch "Apps of our Lives" episode 7 to learn how to use WhatsApp Business app to conduct your business with 1.5 billion WhatsApp users.‍

Featured App: WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is a free to download app, and was built with the small business owner in mind. With the app, businesses can interact with customers easily by using tools to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages. WhatsApp can help you provide customer support and deliver important notifications to your customers.

If you have separate business and personal phone numbers, you can have both WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Messenger installed on the same phone, and register them with different numbers.

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Watch the full episodes and join the conversation at startupminute.co. 

Coding education company CODED raises $1.3 million Pre-series A funding to teach the Arab world coding led by KISP Ventures with participation from 500 Startups, Sirdab Labs, Sharq Capital, Sijam Ventures, and Abdullah Al-Zabin;

Careem’s food delivery service “Careem NOW” launches its delivery services in the holy city of Mecca;

Noon.com partners with Chinese technology company Neolix to bring driverless delivery vehicles to Dubai;

Clara, a London-headquartered legal tech startup that was born in Dubai, raises $2 million seed funding from Techstars, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, VentureSouq, Delta Partners, Shorooq Investment, and Dubai Angel Investors, to digitize legal assistance for startups across the world;

Uber is testing an all-in-one monthly subscription for rides, eats, bikes, and scooters for $24.99 per month;

Avengers: Endgame finally passes Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time;

Natalie Portman will take up Thor’s hammer in Thor: Love and Thunder.

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Listen to Fabio Sugar, an up and coming Novelist, Entrepreneur, Director of an Essay Writing Service, and Business Plan Developer.

Watch the full episodes and join the conversation at startupminute.co/ThePodcast.

Listen to Adnan Ammache, the CoFounder & CEO of Presentail, an online gifting platform for curated items from local sellers in Lebanon who have small and medium businesses.

Presentail.com serves as a platform for connecting expats with their beloved homeland, and bringing them closer to their family and friends. Four weeks after its launch, the e-commerce has proven to be a success among Lebanese living in the UAE, Africa, America, and Canada.

Watch the full episodes and join the conversation at startupminute.co/ThePodcast.