Streams Of Progress

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Yousef Wadi, CEO of Nestrom. Yousef is a Computer Engineer with a significant track record in building online products and technologies to empower businesses. His experience encompasses global organizations (Microsoft and Yahoo!) and startups, mainly focused on building scalable products, niche technologies and setting up winning teams that deliver high-end results. He began building his expertise with online products as a contractor for Microsoft, selling online rich media products to global players such as Yahoo through his first venture. Yousef was approached by Yahoo to join as Senior Product Manager, where he spearheaded the MENA focused video-on-demand system, geo-location and geo-service products. Later joining 7awi as Product Executive, part

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with the startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Kareem Kaddoura, Regional Manager for Ottogee.Ottogee provides IoT wearables for Industrial applications in Construction, Oil & Gas, Security and Manufacturing. Ottogee advanced data analytics enable workers and stakeholders to have real-time insights that optimize Safety and Productivity and reduce Cost to unprecedented levels.Kareem previously worked at Lunch:On another upcoming startup in the UAE ecosystem. At Ottogee, Kareem works closely with Omar Ghazzaoui, co-founder and CEO, who is an industry expert in construction and Oil & Gas project management and a thought leader on digitizing labor intensive industries. Omar, originally from Lebanon, started his career with the Consolidated Contractors Company CCC building the iconic Dubai Mall

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Cedrick Tandong, CEO of Three Wheels United.  Before starting Three Wheels United, Cedrick worked with a French company which transformed ideas from university research labs into successful businesses or patents. Cedrick also founded a previous company in Cameroon in the e-commerce space. He exited but the company is still active and profitable. Born and raised in Sub-Saharan Africa, he is particularly interested in ideas that will improve livelihoods for people trapped in informal economies. That’s why after his graduate studies in systems and information management from a French business school, he moved to India. Cedrick is TWU’s mastermind when it comes to operationalize the impossible as he loves organizing, coordinating and executing unde

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with the startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Parker Wells, CEO of Element 16. Element 16 improves energy efficiency at industrial processing facilities with heat storage technology; they cut fossil fuels in the largest emitting industries by capturing waste heat and storing energy for on demand use. Parker founded Element 16 during his graduate research at UCLA in Mechanical Engineering. He previously co-founded and led Overhead.fm as CEO from 2012-2015. He also holds an Sc.B from Brown University in Mechanical Engineering. Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guests from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Sebastian Vaduva, CEO of Veeplay. He was never keen on running the hamster wheel. A software engineer by degree and a hustler by design Sebastian started his first technology company at the age of 18. Since then he has been building and selling software products to Fortune 500 companies across Europe and the United States. Sebastian’s latest venture, Veeplay, aims to help the broadcasting industry embrace the business models of the future by helping them deliver and monetize video content for over 100M users monthly.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guests from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest of this episode is Miray Tayfun, CEO of Vivoo. She is a serial entrepreneur, who co-founded successful companies in the IOT industry for consumer electronics. Her background is in bioengineering, mobile apps, IOT, and strategy. She also completed the Stanford University's Go To Market strategy course that was lectured by Apple's first marketing manager. Her passion for a good life was the seed for Vivoo. She wants to proceed on their journey by helping people make better decisions on their wellbeing journey.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guests from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest of this episode is Faisal Al Hammadi, the CEO of YACOB, a nutrition recommendation engine for organizations that enables its users to select F&B products that suits their health profile.Faisal is also a Member of the Board of Directors of Slices, a company that he co-founded that offers catering services to education institutes in 50 locations.In his previous role, Al Hammadi was a Member of the Board of Abu Dhabi Telemedicine Centre as well as Vice President at Mubadala Healthcare. He has also served as a member of a number of Abu Dhabi Government initiatives and committees including the Executive Committee for the Abu Dhabi Economic Plan at the Department of Economic Development, and the Health Education Committee at Health Authority Abu Dhabi.Al Hammadi holds a Master in Busin

Tarek Kabrit is the CEO and co-founder of Seez, an intuitive car selling, buying and lending app in Dubai and Kuwait, which has been cited by leading publications as a ‘tech game-changer.’By using artificial intelligence to gather and cleanse the jungle of car data online, Seez reduces the process of finding a car from 17 hours to 6 seconds. Tarek and his team also invented the world’s first A.I. car negotiation chat bot called Cesar, who finds you the best deals, estimates the fair value of the car, and even negotiates the price on your behalf.As a testament to Seez’ success, they celebrated 250k downloads. They are also number 3 on Apple Store with over 3,000 ratings and number 5 on the Android Store.With over 17 years of regional and international experience in strategy consulting, investment banking, private equity and VC, with industry leaders such as Deutsche Bank, Abraaj Group, Mubadala, Wamda, and Booz & Co, Tarek understands both sides of the start-up journey.Enjoy the show!Show Notes:01:30 - Tar

We had a chance to sit with Michael De Angelo from Holacracy One.Michael is an experienced business leader with C-level executive experience in different industries including healthcare, entertainment, technology, and natural resources. Starting as a Computer Scientist for the US Department of the Interior he moved on to lead technology teams at the Walt Disney company and eventually become the Deputy CIO for the State of Washington where he led the first large scale implementation of Holacracy in Government in the world. He also partnered with Harvard Business School researchers and others to lead the first controlled experiment of Holacracy.Now at HolacracyOne, he is helping businesses around the world think through the executive challenges of driving this level of change in their organizations. When he’s not helping organizations with self-management concepts he’s working with self-organizing honeybees as an avid beekeeper. We explored what Holacracy is, how it is being implemented in the private and

We had a chance to sit with Ludmila Yamalova, Founder & Managing Partner of LYLaw, HPL Yamalova & Plewka DMCC.Ludmila is the founder and Managing Partner of the Firm, actively managing and practicing since 2009. She is a U.S. qualified attorney, licensed by the State Bar of California. Ludmila has fifteen years of legal experience, six of which was in the Silicon Valley, plus three years of business experience in the same area.Prior to moving to Dubai and setting up her practice, Ludmila was Associate General Counsel of a NASDAQ listed company in Silicon Valley, California – Finisar Corporation, a fiber optics company, managing high profile patent litigation and global corporate matters.Before Finisar, Ludmila practiced with DLA Piper in the San Franisco Bay area, specializing in intellectual property litigation and bankruptcy.Ludmila also interned at Howrey Simon & White and Legal Strategies Group, both in the San Francisco Bay area.Ludmila grew up in the former Soviet Union and moved t

We had a chance to sit with Issa Aghabi, VC Investment officer for IFC, heading the MENAP region. He shared his insights into the Venture Capital space of the region as well as how he got started in this space over a decade ago.Enjoy the show!Posted on February 27, 2019Show Notes:01:15 - Issa’s backstory01:45 - From Jordan to Canada back to the Middle East2:45 - From dinner party to Venture Capital4:30 - Understanding how do they create startups when entrepreneurs themselves didn’t know what startups were5:00 - The catalyst for the growth of VC in the region5:45 - Looking up what Venture Capital means6:00 - The first investment portfolio Issa was involved with7:15 - TwoFour54 reaching out to Issa to grow their investment arm8:30 - What is media?9:00 - His short term consulting role at Yahoo! and developing their M&A strategy for the region10:15 - The Rocket Internet of the Middle East13:00 - Issa’s return to TwoFour5413:30 - Launching one of the first accelerators in the UAE14:00 - N2V’s model a

Mohammed Bin Kuwair is the Senior Manager for Energy Projects at Bee’ah. He has a reputation for ground-breaking work in the process and operation of the energy industry.He is responsible for leading Project Management processes from their inception to completion, evaluating technical and commercial proposals while providing recommendations for the same.As a Senior Manager, he works in collaboration with all of Bee’ah’s operations, supporting Integrated Waste Management, process improvement, and cost reduction initiatives to drive rapid results delivering the highest levels of performance, while following and supporting the organizations’ quality management system. Formerly, he served at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation as a Project Management Specialist.While working at their Project Management Office, he supervised all strategic projects, identified program risks, managed internal and the external stakeholders and controlled the corporate project management methodology framework. Mohammed held severa

Nada Taryam joined Bee’ah as Director of Civil and Architectural Projects in 2013. The responsibilities of this position require planning, execution and closing of large-scale environmental projects with the company’s biggest clients. Nada is accountable for creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements and managing the constraints of the project management and ultimately accomplishing the stated project objectives to the highest quality.Nada utilises her leadership capabilities to liaise with clients of Bee’ah, in order to determine and implement the exact needs of the project, drawing on her knowledge of the company and the experience she has accomplishing detailed and specific environmental targets. Leading some of the biggest projects at Bee’ah, Nada has consistently used her expertise to meet targets and satisfy the needs of the clients, acting as a driving force for transforming Sharjah into the environmental capital of the Middle East.Prior to joining Bee’ah, Nada

A seasoned entrepreneur and business leader, Muhammad Chbib has been integral in the inception, strategic development and operation of several organizations in Europe and the MENA region since the late 1990s.After graduating in 1998 Muhammad started up his first Internet startup in Munich/Germany. From 2004 to early 2011, Muhammad led McKinsey & Company’s client service teams, where he served various Fortune 500 companies in the online, financial and telecommunications sectors, both in the Middle East and Europe.In 2011, Muhammad moved to Dubai to take the entrepreneurial plunge with Sukar.com, an online fashion platform, which was acquired by MENA’s biggest online marketplace Souq.com in 2012.From April 2015 until August 2018, Muhammad led the Online Unit of Saudi travel giant Al Tayyar Group, developing the company’s technology arm in the online travel space. This business unit generated close to USD 1 billion total sales within three years only, catapulting its two online travel agency brands, tajawal

Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde is a creative thinker and maker of social designs which explore the relation between people, technology and space and best known for creating landscapes of the future. He founded Studio Roosegaarde in 2007, where he works with his team of designers and engineers towards a better future.Daan is a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum and featured by Forbes and Good 100 as a creative change maker. Roosegaarde was also 2018’s keynote speaker at Dubai Design Week.In this episode, he discusses his innovative practice which merges people, technology and space to create a better world. He is the creator of smart highways, virtual floods and smog sucking towers. He examines and activates solutions to improve daily life in urban environments.Listen to learn more about his innovative works and his grand ambitions for a project for the Dubai Expo 2020.Enjoy the show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Karim Helal is the Founder & CEO of ProTenders, an award-winning platform for the construction industry that enables over 30,000 developers, consultants, contractors and suppliers to connect with new partners, source accurate project intelligence and streamline their bidding process. Karim has an MBA from HEC Montreal and is an angel investor and extreme sports enthusiast.Listen to learn more about his journey and his insights into starting up in the UAE.Enjoy the show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fares Ghandour, Partner at Wamda Capital & Khaled Talhouni, Managing Partner at Wamda Capital sat down with us to discuss their investment ethos and the various initiatives Wamda is undertaking.Khaled comes from a career in private equity and venture capital professional with significant experience in value creation and realization. He has built unique experience in the MENA region originating, appraising, structuring, negotiating and executing private equity investments and venture capital transactions in the TMT space. He has a particular focus on digital, gaming, e-commerce, publishing, animation, TV production and social media. He has developed a strong skill base in strategy, business plan development, financial modeling, deal structuring, KPI development, governance and reporting mechanisms.Fares also serves as Portfolio Manager at MENA Venture Investments (MVI), the region’s largest seed-stage fund. Previously he ran the region’s flagship mentorship event, Mix N’ Mentor. He has a Bachelor of Arts i

Rania & Zaina Kana'an are the dynamic founders of Charicycles. They are colouring the streets of the UAE through up-cycling and customizing forgotten bicycle frames to save the environment while encouraging a healthier lifestyle. Each sale also contributes to funding a bicycle for a child in a refugee camp to ensure that each purchase spreads the bicycle love worldwide.Our bicycles descend from a historic lineage of the Japanese bicycle. At Chari Cycles, we up-cycle bicycle frames to promote sustainability and a clean environment while encouraging a healthier lifestyle.WE UP-CYCLEAt Charicycles we find bicycle frames that have been forgotten and restore them into the beautiful bikes they once were, giving them a re-newed heartbeat and home, while promoting a cleaner environment.WE CUSTOMIZEOur bikes are fully customizable so that you can get the dream ride you always wanted. Feel free to browse our ready collection or design your own.WE GIVE BACKEvery child feels freedom when riding a bicycle. A

Ibrahim Colak, CEO & Founder of MrUsta, had a promising long career at Nokia prior to founding MrUsta.  The inspiration for his startup came to him in the form of a pain point he was experiencing that was all too common for residents of Dubai.  He validated his idea further and eventually launched MrUsta with the support of his, then girlfriend, now wife, Dunia Othman. Listen to learn more about his experiences and how MrUsta has pivoted and become evermore customer driven over the years.Enjoy the show!Show Notes:01:30 - Turkish beginnings from Istanbul.02:15 - Microsoft years and Nokia cultures.02:30 - Nokia Networks in Dubai.03:10 - Where the name MrUsta comes from.04:00 - MrUsta brand company.04:15 - MrUsta’s service offering.04:45 - Husband-Wife Founding Duo.07:00 - The idea coming from real world problems they experienced.08:45 - Doing a study to validate your own hypothesis.09:45 - MrUsta’s evolving service offerings and their initial pivots.11:00 - Feedback and customer ser

Talal Bayaa and Tarek Bayaa, the CEO and CCO of Bayzat. Bayzat is a technology company that empowers businesses with smart and effective insurance & HR solutions.As CEO, Talal is responsible for providing the vision, overall leadership and strategic management for the company as well as ensuring the highest quality of the services provided. Prior to setting up his own company, Talal worked for a private equity & corporate finance firm, followed by two years at an investment bank.  Talal started Bayzat with his school friend and now co-founder Brian Habibi.As CCO, Tarek Bayaa (Talal's brother), is responsible for establishing a world-class sales team and in delivering exceptional customer service. He has been involved in the company on an advisory basis since 2013 and joined the company full-time as the Chief Commercial Officer in April 2015.Listen to learn more about their experiences and how Bayzat has scaled over the years.Enjoy the show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt