Startups Arabia

Mohammad AlRazaz is a serial entrepreneur and the Co-founder & CEO of OTO, MENA’s largest shipping integrator and aggregator platform, powering online businesses and omni-channel brands. At just 22, Mohammad launched Jeeny (formerly EasyTaxi) in Saudi Arabia with Rocket Internet, becoming the youngest Country Manager globally. An MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp alumnus, he has built multiple ventures spanning transportation, e-commerce, logistics, and technology.

A curious soul, new father, coffee addict, remote work advocate, desserts maker, and a proud MENAT region nationalist.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Mohammad’s LinkedIn account: @Mohammad AlRazaz

OTO’s Website: https://tryoto.com/

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SHOW NOTES:

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest

02:55 Mohamed's Early Career and Education

08:23 The Easy Taxi Journey

13:19 Lessons from Launder and Jak

20:42 The Birth of Oto

44:01 Cracking the Market

45:13 Launching the Marketplace

47:21 Challenges of Moving from Enterprise to SMB

50:35 Raising the Series A

55:13 Expanding into New Regions

01:20:47 The Importance of Customer Focus

01:26:35 The Importance of Fulfillment Rate and Data in Shipping

01:27:26 Privacy and Performance in Shipping Companies

01:29:41 Advising Aspiring Founders

01:30:43 The Value of Co-Founder Relationships

01:36:27 Fatherhood and Entrepreneurship

01:43:31 Reflecting on Professional and Personal Growth

01:50:14 Challenges and Opportunities for Startups in the Arab Region

01:59:56 Quick Fire Questions and Closing Thoughts

Amal Dokhan is an entrepreneurship advocate, a venture capitalist and an ecosystem builder operating for more than a decade in the MENA region. Amal is the managing partner at 500 Global managing the Sanabil 500 MENA seed accelerator fund focusing on investing in early stage tech startups. She previously worked at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, managing accelerator programs and delivering corporate innovation programs with many large organizations. Amal also has worked on several government initiatives during her time in the Small and Medium enterprise Authority.

Amal has also angel invested in many startups as well as managing Babson college’s MENA entrepreneurial programs and has held many other technology supporting roles in the region. Amal sits on the board of the Venture Capital and Private Equity Association in Saudi as well as the board of the Middle East venture capital association in UAE. She’s a Kauffman fellow and has been featured two years in a row -2023 and 2024- as one of most powerful women in the Middle East by Forbes.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Amal’s LinkedIn account: @Amal Dokhan

500 Global’s Website: https://500.co/

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SHOW NOTES:

00:00 Introduction of Amal Dokhan

03:13 Amal's Journey into Entrepreneurship

05:58 Joining King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

09:23 The growth of the MENA Startup Ecosystem

20:07 500 MENA and Investment Strategies

43:16 Personal Reflections on Resilience

49:26 Balancing Social and Alone Time

50:24 The Power of Teaching and Knowledge Sharing

52:05 From Kindergarten Teacher to Managing Partner

53:55 Navigating the Saudi Startup Ecosystem

55:43 Opportunities and Challenges in Saudi Arabia

01:03:16 Global Investors' Perspective on the Region

01:05:58 Impact of Global Trends on Regional Startups

01:11:35 The Rise of Venture Debt and New Financing Models

01:18:33 Promoting Diversity in Venture Capital

01:26:54 Future Trends and Sectors to Watch

01:31:09 The Role of VC Associations in the Region

01:34:56 Personal Reflections and Advice

01:37:49 Concluding Remarks and Quickfire Questions

Mohammed is the Managing Partner at Nama Ventures, a pre-seed / seed stage fund fueling tech

innovation in the MENA region, especially in Saudi. Previously, he was the managing director of

Tharwa Capital, a Dubai based financial investment and advisory firm focusing on the technology

equity markets.

He’s also led the Venture Capital practice at Global Investment House, a Kuwait based investment

company. Prior to that, he was the Director of Technology Investments at Dubai Silicon Oasis

Authority (DSOA). and the Founder and CEO of Sulaf Solutions, a tech solutions provider based in Silicon Valley.

Mohammed has worked and consulted for many blue chip technology companies as well as been an active Angel investor. He’s a member of Sand Hill Angels (SHA), on the Advisory Board of LinkSV, an Advisory Board member of kyube.com, and a founding board member of Techwadi.

Mohammed is a mentor to many regional technology companies and an advisor with In5 incubator in

Dubai and Oasis 500 incubator in Jordan. He holds an MBA from London Business School and has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Mohammed’s LinkedIn account: @Mohammed Alzubi

Nama Ventures’ Website: https://www.namaventures.com/

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SHOW NOTES:

00:00 Introduction of Mohammed Alzubi

03:14 The Decision to Return to the MENA Region after years in Silicon Valley

07:40 The Entrepreneurial Experience and Its Impact on Investing

17:03 The Founding and Vision of Nama Ventures

20:49 Investment Philosophy: The Importance of Team

25:22 Decision-Making Process at Nama Ventures

32:01 Brev.dev's Journey to Acquisition by NVIDIA

40:42 The Power of a Complementary Team

42:06 From Founder to Investor

44:30 Launching a New Podcast

45:22 The Story of Salla

46:29 Localizing Business Models for MENA

54:08 Navigating the Saudi Startup Ecosystem

01:01:01 Investing in Funds as an LP and the Value of Trust

01:06:56 The Importance of Effective Boards

01:13:39 Concluding Remarks and Quickfire Questions

Ameer Sherif is the founder and chairman of Basharsoft, the company behind Wuzzuf and Forasna, Egypt's leading online employment platforms for both white collar and blue collar workers, respectively. Collectively, both platforms impacted the lives of over seven million job seekers in Egypt and helped 70,000+ companies hire more than one million people over the past years.

They've had significant growth and impact on the local online employment market, and they have been one of Egypt's fastest growing local tech companies. He's raised a total of 12 million in VC funding along the way, and he's built a team of over 300 employees. And many of his investors, as we will tell the story, were investing in the region for the first time when they invested in Basharsoft. Today, he leads the company's expansion into Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and Africa. 

In 2019, he was selected as an endeavor entrepreneur and named a young global leader by the World Economic Forum. He also sits on the board of Egytrans, a publicly listed logistics company, and ITIDA, the executive arm of the Egyptian Ministry of ICT. Helping set strategies for Egypt on digitization, innovation, entrepreneurship. Ameer is also a venture partner with Khwarizmi Ventures, a 70 million dollar MENA focused VC fund based in KSA, where he spent two years as a partner and continues to advise portfolio founders. He holds a master's degree in computer engineering, and a bachelor's in electrical and communications engineering from Cairo University.

He's also completed a master's in Executive programs on public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and business leadership executive programs at MIT, Stanford, INSEAD, and HBS.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Hasan’s LinkedIn account: @Ameer Sherif

Wuzzuf’s Website: https://wuzzuf.net/jobs/egypt

Forasna’s Website: https://forasna.com/

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SHOW NOTES:

00:00 Introduction to Ameer Sherif and Basharsoft

03:26 Ameer’s Journey into Entrepreneurship

06:58 Overcoming Early Challenges

10:06 Innovative Solutions and Growth

17:56 Securing Funding and Expansion

26:32 Impact and Future Plans

42:18 Insights from the VC World

50:16 Insights on Founder Management and Success

50:59 Expanding to New Markets and Company Vision

52:53 Experience in Public Policy and Board Certification

53:50 Introduction to Khwarizmi Ventures

54:49 Investment Decision-Making Process

56:18 Promising Verticals and Team Focus

58:11 Co-Founder Relationships and Best Practices

01:01:16 Mental Health and Burnout in Founders

01:04:27 Balancing Work and Life as a Founder

01:06:31 Joining the Board of ITIDA

01:10:58 Advice to Younger Self and Definition of Success

01:15:58 Second-Time Founders and Market Maturity

01:19:07 Exit Options for Startups in the Region

01:22:08 Characteristics of Effective Board Directors

01:24:21 Choosing the Right Investors

01:25:56 Investing in the HR Space

01:29:16 Future Vision for Basharsoft

01:29:51 Concluding Remarks and Quickfire Questions

Hasan Haider has over 13 years of experience investing in MENA startups. Hasan is the Founder and Managing Partner of +VC, one of the most active early stage venture capital firms focused on the MENA region. Hasan was previously Managing Partner, MENA at 500 Startups and led the firms growth in the MENA Region, turning 500 Startups into the most active VC fund in the MENA region, raising and deploying the 500 Falcons fund, building partnerships and running programs in the region to help build the regional ecosystem. Hasan has invested in more than 250 startups in the region over the course of the last 5 years. 

Prior to 500, Hasan was the co-founder and CEO of Tenmou, the first business angel’s organization in Bahrain and one of the first in the MENA region. Hasan’s work in developing angel investment in emerging markets through Tenmou has been picked up as a case study by the World Bank and was taught to Entrepreneurship Policy makers at Babson College. Previously, Hasan’s career was in finance and investment banking at Sico where he spent a number of years.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Hasan’s LinkedIn account: @Hasan Haider

+VC’s Website: https://plus.vc/

VCpreneur, at The Intersection Of VC & Data

Ahmad Takatkah is a technical founder turned VC, with a background in computer engineering, data science (AI and ML), and product management. 

Over the past 15 years, Ahmad has helped set up and operate three VC firms. For which he created new deal sourcing, startup evaluation, and exit prediction tools. 

Ahmad utilized a new AI model he customized to summarize startup pitch decks and prepare investment memos and DD reports. He utilized a new data model he designed to collect 300+ data points on startups, and then used ML to score companies based on price, market, team, differentiation, and performance, and to predict exit timelines, valuations, and fund returns. 

He's also created internal products to automate the collection of portfolio companies’ performance data, and encourage knowledge sharing among portfolio companies’ founders and teams. 

Ahmad comes with technical, entrepreneurial, and active VC investing experience, he managed small and large teams of both business and engineering talents. He is an Engineer with an MBA, and a Kauffman Fellow since 2012.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Ahmad’s LinkedIn account: @Ahmad Takatkah (أحمد طقاطقه)

Ahmad’s Website: https://www.vcpreneur.com/

VC Evolve book: Navigating the Art, Science, and Future of Venture Capital, in an Ever-Evolving Startup Frontier

Rama Kayyali is CEO and co-founder of Little Thinking Minds, an award-winning edtech company with a mission to close Arabic language literacy gaps, creating digital learning platforms to improve targeting over 100 million children in MENA and over 100 million globally. Currently Little Thinking Minds platforms are used by half a million students in 800 schools in 10 countries in the MENA region in private and public schools as well as schools that cater to refugee communities.

Little Thinking Minds is a multiple globally recognized and award winning company:

2023 winner of the Innovation Award from the Saudi eLearning Center

2022 MIT SOLVE global competition

2021 Innovation Award of Abdel Hamid Shoman Foundation

2020 and 2021 Elite 200 (GSVCup Competition) representing the top “Pre-K to Gray” EdTech startups across the globe with a mission to ensure that children have access to a better future through education

2019 Selected as one of the top 100 start-ups shaping the fourth industrial revolution

2019 Queen Rania Award for Education in Entrepreneurship

Rama is an Eisenhower Fellow, an Endeavor Entrepreneur and winner of the Arab Women's Award.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Rama’s LinkedIn account: @Rama Kayyali

Little Thinking Minds’ Website: https://www.littlethinkingminds.com/en/

Wael is a Computer Engineer, serial entrepreneur, and YC alumnus who has co-founded various startups in the Silicon Valley and the Middle East. He was one of the early employees of Careem and held roles including VP of Product Management and VP of Platform Superapp Business Unit until Uber's acquisition for $3.1bn. Wael is a techie at heart and has built technology products used by tens of millions of users worldwide. He is currently a General Partner at Raed Ventures​, a VC firm ​investing in early stage startups in the region​,​ and is passionate about building tech capacity and fostering entrepreneurship in the MENA region.

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Wael’s LinkedIn account: @Wael Nafee

Raed Ventures’ Website: https://raed.vc/

Dr. Waleed Kadous is Chief Scientist at Anyscale, the company behind the popular open source distributed computing platform Ray. He leads the company’s LLM efforts. Prior to Anyscale, Waleed worked at Uber, where he led overall system architecture, evangelized machine learning, and led the Location and Maps teams. He previously worked at Google, where he founded the Android Location and Sensing team, responsible for the “blue dot” as well as ML algorithms underlying products like Google Fit. He also holds more than 40 patents. 

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Waleed’s LinkedIn account: @M Waleed Kadous

Anyscale’s Website: https://www.anyscale.com/

Ray: https://docs.ray.io/en/latest/

Asher Siddiqui is a tech investor with a global career spanning 25+ years, having made 100+ investments valued at $15bn+.

Asher is a General Partner at Sukna Ventures, a MENA focused early-stage VC Fund that backs exceptional teams building the software & data infrastructure layer enabling the digital transformation of industries across the MENA region.

Asher started out in the late 90’s as an entrepreneur and software engineer building J2EE B2B SaaS products (1998-2006), followed by 10 years (2006-2016) in corporate M&A, as Head of M&A and CVC at Etisalat Group (now e& Group - c.$65bn market cap) where he led $15bn of M&A and CVC (founding board member and chair of the IC at iMENA Group) deals and then switched to VC when he joined the global leadership team at 500 Startups (now 500 Global) in San Francisco (2016-2019).

Since then, Asher was involved with the development of several VC firms including Sukna Ventures in the MENA region, Lumikai Fund in India, Zayn Capital in Pakistan, Race Capital in Silicon Valley, etc..

Asher Siddiqui is also a GP coach and advisor to several VC fund managers (GP’s) and sits on the advisory board of several VC firms, including: FootPrint Coalition Ventures (led by Robert Downey Jr. - USA), Merus Capital (led by the former Head of Corp Dev at Google - USA), The Treasury (led by the cofounders of Betterment and Acorns - USA), among others. 

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The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch:

LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast

Twitter: @ArabiaStartups

Facebook: @startupsarabia

Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast

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Asher's LinkedIn account: @Asher Siddiqui

Sukna Ventures’ Website: https://suknaventures.com/