Middle East technology and Startups News

We try to cover Middle East and Arab tech, startups scene and technology news

[middleeasttech]

Dubai have a RoboCop

[middleeasttech]

internet censorship,  Turkey block Wikipedia due to the 2017 Constitutional Referendum article, pointing out Controversies and electoral misconduct

This part:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_constitutional_referendum,_2017#Controversies_and_electoral_misconduct

[middleeasttech]

Dubai to introduce Flying Cars this summer !  more details<<

[middleeasttech]

Dubai to bring futuristic flying taxis to reality this summer, via personal transport drones.

Related : Above River Flying Taxis in Paris

[middleeasttech]

Dubai to bring futuristic flying taxis to reality this summer, via personal transport drones.

Related : Above River Flying Taxis in Paris

[middleeasttech]

Careem a Middle East Uber ?

Untill today, i haven’t heard of Careem, an Uber like ride hailing App from Dubai.

But according to bloomberg, Saudi Telecom Co. will invest $100 million in Careem Networks FZ, giving the four-year-old company a valuation of about $1 billion.

[middleeasttech]

To protect Airport from drones, Dubai launches DroneHunter program

Drones can cause a lot of headache, especially when they fly over airports, Dubai Airport have recently suffered from drones presence, which lead on several occasions to shutting down the airport. Each shutdown costs the airport about $1 million a minute. The most recent closure, which lasted for 90 minutes on Oct. 29, 22 flights had to be diverted to other airports. 

The solution might be the drone hunter program explained in the video above.

[middleeasttech]

UAE : Souq invests in Instashop the Grocery Delivery App

Souq.com announced, that it has invested in the UAE’s InstaShop, a leading startup in the on demand grocery delivery in the UAE.  The app allows users to directly shop for groceries from nearby supermarkets through their mobile app, and get them delivered  in 30 to 60 minutes. InstaShop has a partnership with over 50 local supermarkets and chains and has more than 60.000 users.

   Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO & Co-Founder, SOUQ.com, commented: “Millennials are leading the online grocery shopping revolution across many parts of the world, as they increasingly opt for the stress-free and time saving convenience of online shopping. InstaShop has a strong concept and platform in its own right, but by utilising our leading logistics app, it is looking to further grow its presence in Dubai and the other emirates. We will also be empowering the business with access to SOUQ.com’s customer base and technology.”

   The investment in InstaShop comes shortly after SOUQ.com recently announced investments in Wing.ae and helpbit.com. These new partnerships form part of its drive to support SMEs in the region as well as to create an integrated network to provide a world-class online shopping, delivery and after sale service experience for customers.

   Mouchawar continued; “We're committed to the development of e-commerce in this region which includes constantly adding new offerings to make online shopping as enjoyable and seamless as possible. SOUQ.com has a lot of responsibility as a local brand to deliver on its promises, not just to users but also to the larger ecosystem of entrepreneurship and technology.”

[middleeasttech]

Dubai plans to have 25% of the vehicles on Dubai roads driverless by 2030

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed announced plans to make 25% of the vehicles on Dubai roads driverless by 2030.

In his words, this move will “reduce congestion and reduce pollution”, it will also give back “millions of hours wasted” and lead to the “increased productivity of individuals”.

Driverless cars testing have already begun, one of the companies Easy Mile, have a minibus sort of vehicles that travel short distances on pre-programmed virtual routes. The route of the car can easily be adjusted if need be.

They can move 10 passengers, and the speed limit is 20 km per hour.

[middleeasttech]

Israeli 3D company Replay Technologies acquired by intel for $175m

Replay Technologies  was acquired by intel as announced on intel’s company blog post .

Replay technologies provides a 3D video rendering capability it calls “free dimensional” or freeD™ video. This technology have had great Sport applications,  where it enabled fans to get a 360 degree view of key plays and was particularly useful at the NBA All-Star Weekend recently. The technology require a lot of resources to generate the 3D videos.

Below video showcase the technology in action:

[middleeasttech]

#Israeli company #HumanEyes to launch #Vuze , a $700 #360degree #3D video camera

A 3D, 360 degree video camera for under 1000$, that would soon be possible thanks to Israeli company  Human Eyes, that is launching it’s camera in August. The videos will only be possible to be seen through VR technology, so don’t hope to be able to see results on your PC anytime soon. Demo video below:

[middleeasttech]

is #Yahoo exiting #MENA region and #MiddleEast?

2 weeks ago, Yahoo decided to close it’s last office in the Middle East Region, the closure of its Dubai office, made more than 50 people redundant.

In  2009 Yahoo acquisition of the Jordian Startup Maktoob for $175 million, was and remains the largest acquisition of a tech company in the MENA region -excepting Israel-. 

[middleeasttech]

#UAE Mission to #Mars by 2021 code-name #Hope

A followup to the announcement done a year ago, about UAE plans to enter space exploration  ...

The mission is planned to be launch in July 2020 and arriving at the red planet by 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE. , it consists of sending a space probe on a 60-million-kilometer journey, to collect data about the atmosphere and climate on Mars, and study how the lower and upper layers of the atmosphere interact with each other .

Saeed al-Gergawi, a researcher at the Mohammad bin Rashid Space Centre, said the government decided against approaching NASA or other space agencies, as the aim is to build a domestic capability.  The name was chosen via twitter suggestions, “A lot of the region isn’t doing well, and we wanted to give the 200 million youth who are in the region the hope to invest in science and technology, and venture into the stars,” said Gergawi.

Video promo below:

[middleeasttech]

30M $ seed Fund for Arab startupts by @500startups

500 Startups, have started putting more weight in the Middle east and North Africa, this time setting a focused fund, dedicated to help startups from the area grow.

as it was announce on the firm’s site:

500 Startups Gives Flight to 500 Falcons, a $30M Middle-East and North Africa Focused Fund

500 Falcons will have a target size of $30M USD and focus on seed stage investments between $50,000-$100,000. We will actively co-invest and syndicate deals with existing funds and angels in the ecosystem, with the goal of investing in 100-200 companies. Our main areas of focus will be e-commerce and marketplaces, video and Arabic content, SaaS, mobile, fintech, hardware and IoT. We plan to do follow-on investments of up to $500,000 in the top 20-30% of our companies, with potential additional capital from our main global fund in selected deals. 500 Falcons will be led by 500 Startups Partner Hasan Haider, and in the near future will also include other 500 venture partners in local MENA geographies and markets.

[middleeasttech]

#Dubai invests $136 million in a #future #tech #museum.

Dubai is taking on future tech !!! Dubai’s ruler  HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced the project saying: 

Today we issued a decree for setting up Dubai Museum of the Future Est. A research endowment to specialize in future sciences & innovation. We have invested AED 500 million to build this establishment, overseeing many new scientific centers, as well as the Museum of the Future. Our goal is to develop efficient & innovative solutions for challenges of future cities, & to improve people's lives through new innovations.

[middleeasttech]

Global VC @500startups investing heavily in the Middle East

US based Venture capital firm 500 startups have been investing heavily in the middle east, the VC firm have already invested in 17 startup in just 3 years. 

Maybe not a big deal for VC's used to invest in hundreds of startups yearly, but it is a welcomed news, for the thousands of Middle east based startups, that have very few VC's and angel investors to turn to when raising capital.

In numbers, 500 startups invested in 17 startup,the bulk of it's $2 million investment was done in Jordan (9 startups), followed by Egypt (4 startups) then Turkey (2), Lebanon & Bahrain (1each).

[middleeasttech]

Iran blocks 3 chat Apps

Iran's official IRNA news agency says the court has ordered LINE, WhatsApp and Tango, the 3 communication apps providing free phone and messaging services to be blocked.

Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are already blocked in Iran.