In the second episode of 'Unplugged,' we get up close and personal with Abdullah Mutawi of Taylor Wessing. Abdullah is English-qualified lawyer with a knack for seed and early-stage investments. Dubbed as 'one of the MENA region's top corporate lawyers with deep ties in technology, media, and communications,' he also wears the hat of cofounder and chairman at Dubai Angels Investors. Ever wondered why someone with such a corporate flair was once drawn to criminal law? Abdullah spills the beans...

Welcome to Unplugged, our fireside chat series, where we host casual conversations with some of the region's boldest and brightest game changers. In our first recorded episode, Nuwa Capital's Stephanie Nour Prince chats with Mustafa Koita, founder of Koita Milk. In 2016, Mustafa turned frustration into inspiration when he launched Koita Milk. He wanted to offer his children, Serena, Danyal, and Sophia, a better option when it came to organic and fresh foods, especially Milk. And so started a...

In Episode 21 of our podcast, I sat with Nadine Benchaffai of Fab Food co, Tortilla Mexican Grills (UK), Taqado Mexican Kitchen - and many other much-loved homegrown brands. Nadine explains the intricacies of (and the required mindset for) building successful food brands in markets with fast-changing consumer behaviors. We also discuss where the region stands in terms of future-proofing food and building sustainable food systems, as well as why our markets could stand to innovate on a global...

Before moving over to the investing side, Arzan.vc's Laith Zraikat was the cofounder of Jeeran.com along along with Omar Koudsi. Jeeran, founded in 2000, was one of MENA's earliest and at some stage most trafficked and valuable digital businesses in the region. The company started out as a free hosting platform and eventually evolved into a regional blogging platform and then after an additional pivot, into a reviews site which ultimately proved to be unsuccessful. I met Laith Zraikat early...

There is a clear mismatch between the demands of the modern day traveler and the available supply of apartments. As a corporate traveler, Aahan Bhojani sought the comfort of a homely apartment with the conveniences of a hotel, something that proved difficult to find. A year later, Aahan and his team had brought to market the first set of Silkhaus branded units.  In this episode, Aahan takes us through how his vision evolved throughout Silkhaus’ first year in operations and how understanding...

Art and Web 3.0 are two spaces where community is a key driver for growth. And through both, we have also seen the meaning of 'ownership' evolve. While further digging into the Web 3.0 space earlier this year, we felt the need to explore the unfolding of NFTs from a creator's perspective, so we reached out to Kristel Bechara, an award-winning contemporary artist whose work has been displayed globally. Kristel was one of the first artists to create NFT art in the Middle East, and has developed...

Introducing our #canceled series: Every Friday afternoon, we set up in our meeting room and discuss market developments, hot topics - give or take a few tangents - to wind down and conclude the week. Totally unscripted, and very, very lightly edited. Ep. 1 features Khaled Talhouni, Stephanie Nour Prince, Nitin Reen, Arnav Danthi, Ghassan Noursi and special guest Mikail Malik. Ep. 1 was recorded on May 13.

Traditionally, startups have had to face large delays prior to launch due to the need to build infrastructure and core back-end functionalities in-house, such as the acceptance of payments. This takes up valuable resources, and shrinks the amount of time developers have to build the startup’s core product/service. Realizing this issue is faced by every startup and can be commoditized, many infrastructure-as-a-service / API-first startups emerged, enabling startups to outsource these core...

The tech ecosystem across MENA is young but rapidly evolving. As recently as a few years ago, startups were restricted to fundraise from limited sources of capital, predominantly from a handful of VCs or angel investors. Today, with increasingly more capital entering the ecosystem, the capital base has diversified, with an innovative set of players such as super angels, solo GPs, and syndicates arriving and changing the game. Investment in MENA-based companies has more than doubled in the...

Two years ago, many of us went through some sort of a reset in terms of how we think of, prepare, and consume food. With more time spent at home, some resorted to making their own bread and nut butters, while food delivery still soared. This, however, may have only acted as an accelerant to an existing trend: MENA is witnessing an increased adoption of health-conscious food choices, in line with global trends: over 60% of the region’s population has adopted a healthier lifestyle over 2020/21,...

The global pet care industry was estimated to be at c. $200B in 2020. It is, in fact, larger than the baby care market (c. $70B) and trailing shortly behind the child care industry (c. $270B), with pet owners spending more and at a higher rate on their pets. In MENA, the market remains a bit of a curiosity, with pet ownership seemingly on the rise and a tangible change in perception of what taking care of a pet entails. In the last two years alone, there has been a flurry of new products and...

Similar to the healthcare industry, the mental health care and provision system was built for and within an environment that has since greatly shifted. While the mental healthcare system has traditionally depended on therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, the supply of qualified professionals is thin, particularly in MENA. Research in the space has stalled, particularly on specificity of treatments or discovery of new treatments as a whole, and data tends to be extremely scarce. This...

The Lighthouse seems to sit at the nexus of venues that are at once both familiar and inviting. A place where conversation, culture, literature and curiosity intertwine at ease and unfettered. Perhaps a Fitrovia Tavern to the budding Dubai Bloomsbury group.  As Hashem comes from an academic household, with a father he describes as an “economist at heart”, and a mother with an unparalleled level of curiosity and a strong interest in Art, we were curious about which elements Hashem brought...

With Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) increasingly looking to sell directly to consumers, Seez pre-empted the disruption coming to traditional dealerships by building a full suite of SaaS-based products allowing them to provide a real omnichannel experience. As end-consumers, we are probably more familiar with the Seez marketplace and car valuation data. But behind the scenes, cofounders Tarek Kabrit, Andrew Kabrit, and the Seez team have been innovating upstream, and have done so by...

Media is a difficult industry. It is resource-intensive, extremely high-touch, and requires a constant state of being switched on to developments within sectors of focus. It is even more challenging in an atmosphere where things move faster than in traditional industries, and where the market is in constant flux.  There is a need to elevate the quality of coverage dedicated to entrepreneurship, and the onus is on startups, investors, and the media. That doesn’t necessarily mean more...

There is a clear paradigm shift in how we think of wealth generation and capital more broadly. While previous generations may have primarily relied on passive income, today’s generations have a clear and rising appetite for a different kind of investment. And even more so in our markets, where current offerings are mostly directed towards higher-income segments and remain traditional and rigid, while international platforms are inaccessible or costly. For Episode 9 of the Nuwa Capital...

Earlier this month, Sarah and I had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Fayad Al Dandashi, CEO of Tamer Healthcare, for an in-depth discussion on the drivers of innovation in healthcare, and his perspective on how the space is shaping up for the future. Dr. Fayad started his professional path as an entrepreneur, having founded two companies in biotech and healthcare. Building on his experience as a founder, which offered him access to the innings of the industry, Dr. Fayad moved to the public sector...

The last couple of years, it seems, have witnessed a certain coming of age of the tech ecosystem in MENA, with founders moving on to their second ventures, operators launching their own companies, and a lot of movement within support organizations. Exits such as those of Careem and Mumzworld are bound to create trailblazing founder ‘mafias’ of their own, who will go on to launch the next Careem’s and Mumzworld’s of the region. Others will take on leadership positions in similar companies and...

In Ep. 6 of our podcast, Khaled Talhouni sat with Anass Boumediene and Mehdi Oudghiri to discuss eyewa from inception to Series B, a round Nuwa Capital co-led and which was announced today. When we launched Nuwa Capital, a key part of our thinking was to invest in companies building the next generation of retail where the online and offline experiences are seamlessly integrated and private label/own brands drive growth and differentiation. Eyewa, one of our first investments in 2020 as...

Sundeep Sahni and Nadin Karadag are part of a new generation of founders who have significant depth in their field, a stellar track record, and unparalleled drive and ambition. Sundeep is a third-time entrepreneur, having previously cofounded two businesses, both of which were acquired by Alibaba, Lazada. Nadin brings years of experience on the capital side through Growthgate Partners, and had also had a number of operational roles prior to that at large corporations. The cofounders...

  Launched in 2020, Homzmart is an online furniture marketplace connecting consumers with manufacturers and sellers. The company found itself in a unique position since launch and throughout the pandemic, and navigated its way through growth of 30x in sales. The company, one of the fastest-growing companies we've seen, is helmed by Mahmoud Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohamed - a new generation of seasoned founders who have previously played key roles in Daraz and Jumia.   In this episode of our...

Launched in 2018, FlexxPay is a Saas-based employee financial wellness platform allowing companies to offer their employees access to already-earned income. Our deep conviction in FlexxPay stems from its robust model, and most importantly, its strong founding team, Michael Truschler and Charbel Nasr, and how they look at the space they’re operating in (the intersection of fintech and HR/productivity). In this episode of our podcast, we chat with Michael about the FlexxPay model, where the...

Over the course of the past few months, company valuations have been making their way into any and all conversations around venture. Prior to COVID-19, the valuation trend line had been consistently going up, with new investor profiles eyeing the asset class and a subsequently decreased cost of capital for startups.Nuwa Capital’s Sarah Abu Risheh hosted Amjad Ahmad, managing partner at Precinct Partners, and Patrick Rogers, co-founder and CEO of Clara, for a discussion on the specific...