Laying the foundation of the MENA startup ecosystem

Laying the foundation of the MENA startup ecosystem

Ecosystem Arabia - Episode 1 of 6 - In the first episode of our 6 week community activation, we tell the inside stories of Yahoo's acquisition of Maktoob.com, Amazon's acquisition of Souq, and dive into how technology inspired the Arab Spring uprising. This community activation is an interactive digital gathering of the Middle East and North African startup ecosystems; it consists of a 6 episode podcast mini-series and a 6 week live-streamed startup pitch competition, which will both culminate in an interactive virtual summit on February 16th.

The State of eSports in Africa

Douglas Ogeto is the Co-Founder and CEO at LudiqueWorks and has built the largest community of game developers on the continent. He is an entrepreneur with 8+ years of experience in Technology, Branding & Community Building. He has co-founded 4 startups in Game Development, Education, Advisory & Branding and has played a key role in designing, planning and execution of entrepreneurship & impact related projects in Sub-Saharan & West Africa, having worked both in the private and NGO sector. What is the biggest hindrance to African Esports taking a broader spot in the global industry? [6:32]What companies and games are investing in Africa to support a league? [7:40] What are the most played consoles across Africa? [12:15]

Unpacking the emerging DeFi vertical within cryptocurrency with Akin Sawyerr

Akin Sawyerr is the Strategy lead for Decred, where he leads strategy and governance functions, and supports the proliferation of Decred across Africa. Decred is an open and progressive cryptocurrency with a system of community-based governance integrated into its blockchain. He's also an early investor and director of Splash Mobile Money, the largest mobile payments company in Sierra Leone. Akin is a long time executive and entrepreneur operating in mobile money, remittances, and payments in sub Saharan Africa.On this episode you'll learn: What use cases within Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is Akin most excited for and why? [3:20]What aspect of DeFi does Akin think will have the biggest impact across Africa? [10:48]What are the best assets to peg a stablecoin's value to? [14:05]

Global Tech Pulse Check: Investor Perspective on Seed & Growth Stages in Global Tech Environment - Part 2

In part 2 of our podcast mini-series we look at the investor perspective of the current state of the global seed and growth stage investing environment. Our 2 guests today include Sean O'Sullivan the Managing General Partner at SOSV, a global venture capital firm providing multi-stage investment and investing in 150 companies, and Tien Wong CEO at Opus 8, where he provides strategy and fundraising advice to technology companies and investors. Opus8 organizes tech networking events as well as fundraising missions for private equity and VC firms to meet overseas LPs.On this episode you'll learn:How Sean has adapted his global vc and accelerator programs and how to think about approaching the post COVID-19 era - [6:01]The difference between navigating market down turns as an entrepreneurs with a company of 15 vs as an executive with a company of 2300 employees  - [13:26]How this is affecting startup valuations and deal flow in the United States - [16:05]

Global Tech Pulse Check: Who's Growing & Who's Successfully Raising - Part 1

In part 1 of our 2 part mini-series we dive into 3 different sectors ranging from delivery startups to CRISPR-based diagnostics as well as 3 geographies including Pakistan, Sierra Leone, and Argentina. Our 3 guests today include Syed Sair Ali, Cofounder and CEO at Pakistan based 'Eat Mubarak', Jurgen Descamps, the General Manager for 'Securiport' based in Sierra Leone, as well as Franco Goytia, cofounder at 'CASPR Biotech' based in Buenos Aires, Argentina & Silicon Valley.In this episode you'll learn:How delivery startups in emerging economies are being affected by COVID-19 - [6:38]How Sierra Leone's experience with Ebola helped shape it's response to COVID-19 - [8:45]How has COVID-19 affected the Buenos Aires Startup Ecosystem - [20:05]