2020 has been a tough year for everyone, even the world’s best economies hardly survived. Given this fact, you would assume developing countries like some African nationas paid the highest price. However, earlier this year, #Africa4Future held its annual call for projects.

About 212 responded with applications from start-ups from 28 different countries across Africa. Here we present our top 5 African startups list. This year’s focus was on remote sensing for precision agriculture and infrastructure development.

AgriEdge

This is a promising startup from Morocco which aims ar providing precision agriculture services to small farms. They focus on irrigation, fertilization, diseases and crop yield. By using sensors, they deliver the right amount of water where needed through a user-friendly mobile application. They apply the same logic for fertilization more or less, with a model predictng the amout of fertilizer to deliver after an assessment of weather, soil data and satellite info.

Their approach to disease containment is very cutting edge. Through the app “Phytodetect” farmers are able to get notifications on their crop status and possible future threats just by uploading pictures. Looks like we are really about to see a revolution in agriculture thanks to the ever-growing technology.

Flamingoo Foods

Sometimes simple solutions are the best. In fact, with farmers producing food but not being able to commercialize it companies like Flamingoo Foods apprear to help. Flamingoo Foods is a leading rice producer in the Rukwa Valley. Our rice mill sources and stores paddy rice of high quality from farmers within the valley. The paddy is then milled to become the tasty Flamingoo Foods rice, which is supplied nationally in wholesale and exported to neighboring countries.

Where formerly families in the Rukwa Valley relied on donkeys to transport paddy from remote fields, their army of trucks provides them reliable access to markets. Currently, Flamingoo moves more than 200 metric tons of food per month.

RuralFarmers Hub

RuralFarmers Hub provides agricultural services to smallholder farmers. This company is really trying to take things to the next level, connecting space and earth in a sense. Indeed, their main product, Capture, uses a proprietary algorithm and satellite data to generate real-time farming advice that is delivered to farmers.

Among their services we have e-Extension Service, Remote Crop Monitoring, Farm Risk Assessment and Sustainable Rural Developement. Extension Service combines remote sensing and the good agricultural practices to give farmers the best advice via SMS or even by call.

Crop2Cash

We all know that one the biggest problems of african startups might be the lack of resources. With over 38 million smallholder farmers in Nigeria lacking access to finance to increase their agricultural production, simple and fast solutions are much needed. Crop2Cash with its CashCard enables smallholder farmers in rural Nigeria to receive digital payments and build their financial identity. Through their SupplyBase agro-processors can manage their supply relationships with farmers digitally. No need for suppliers to wait for days to receive oayments for supplying an agro-processor, all tanks to an entirely digitised process.

XY Analytics

Last but not least is XY Analytics. We all imagine how difficult managing livestock can be, this start-up from South Africa is working on a herd management tool to enable the monitoring of health, movement, reproductive status and location of livestock. Thulani Nyandeni and Kearabetswe Nyandeni started the company in 2016 to help local cattle owners remotely monitor the health status and location of their herd. Their flagship? Melusi Connect…

Melusi Connect is an application which uses an IoT device attached on a cow’s ear to collect real-time critical health information such as body temperature, blood pressure, noise, and others. This data is then processed by a machine learning engine that generates insight and recommendations about the individual animal.

All these data have a massive role in shaping the farmers’ decisions who can access their dashboards to have intel. This sounds a little too technical right? Wha about illiterate farmers? Not a problem, the application provides seamless messaging alerts accessible both to educated and illiterate cattle farmers.

source: startupworld.tech

Wa’ed, the entrepreneurship arm of Aramco, tripled the amount of money it loaned to Kingdom-based start-ups during 2020, and injected significantly more money into new businesses through venture capital (VC) investments, as it began a multi-year effort to raise support for Saudi entrepreneurs.

The Dhahran-based venture, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aramco, increased loan disbursements to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia to SR31 million in 2020, from SR10 million in 2019. In venture capital investments, Wa’ed deployed  SR43 million, up 34 percent from SR32 million in the previous year.

The number of loans financed rose to 12 in 2020 from four in 2019, and venture capital deals executed increased from seven to nine over the same period.

Since its inception in 2011, Wa’ed has deployed more than SR375 million to enable the growth of hundreds of innovative, disruptive digital businesses in Saudi Arabia through a unique end-to-end combination of loans, VC investment and incubation services.

Under its mandate to help diversify the Saudi economy and support entrepreneurs, Wa’ed targets game-changing SMEs across all sectors whose technologies are unique, innovative, ready for market, and address a gap in the country.

Diversifying the Saudi economy beyond oil and gas by investing in other sectors is one goal of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 initiative, a bold, ambitious blueprint to ensure sustainable economic growth into the future.

By supporting first-mover companies whose products measurably raise the quality of life in Saudi Arabia, Wa’ed has helped grow the Kingdom’s nascent start-up ecosystem into one of the fastest-growing hotbeds of entrepreneurship in the world.

In 2020, Wa’ed responded to the challenges of COVID-19 by going virtual and redesigning workflows to streamline procedures and manage new realities, creating efficiencies that generated higher loan and VC investment volumes. Wa’ed believes the workflow enhancements it introduced will continue to boost operating performance long after the pandemic ends.

“I am very grateful for the confidence and support we receive from Aramco and the Kingdom, which enables Wa’ed to fulfil its unique pioneering role as an advocate for innovative new businesses that localize technologies and services which are needed in Saudi Arabia and can help improve quality of life,” said Wassim Basrawi, Wa’ed’s Managing Director.

“In a very challenging year, I am proud of the Wa’ed family, which includes my team and our resilient entrepreneurs, for rising to the challenges and keeping us on track to deliver an even greater impact in 2021.”

Through its mentoring and start-up incubation activities, Wa’ed is a thought leader in Saudi Arabia, offering a wide range of cutting-edge professional certification, patent development and incubation support services, as well as a range of entrepreneur networking events that attracted more than 3,000 people during 2020.

Wa’ed’s Innovation Ecosystem team is a Gulf leader in creating new incubation techniques.

In 2020, personnel from the efactory, a prototyping development lab at Wa’ed, were named inventors on three patents from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The team incubated 10 new tech start-ups during the year, and three were awarded national contracts after receiving funding, interest and scouting from Aramco.

Following the onset of COVID-19, Wa’ed adopted virtual training of entrepreneurs by developing an online platform that attracted 60 new mentors, who reviewed over 130 applications from entrepreneurs with “minimum viable products” ready for market.

Social distancing also did not hinder Wa’ed from expanding the Innovation Ecosystem Society (IES), a Wa’ed-sponsored network of more than 1,600 entrepreneurs who meet in virtual events called Google Grind, which is co-sponsored with the U.S. technology giant.

As it prepares to close out its first decade, Wa’ed plans to increase its impact as the largest and most active institutional venture capital investor for Saudi-based start-ups and the only SME-sized lender in the Kingdom offering non-collateralized loans.

Wa’ed currently supports 66 Saudi SMEs through loan financing and, with its venture capital investment arm Wa’ed Ventures, a portfolio of more than 30 companies, including tech platforms Golden Scent, an e-commerce merchant for beauty products; Wahed, a global Shariah-compliant fintech robo-advisory platform licensed by the Saudi Capital Market Authority; and FalconViz, a provider of unmanned aerial drone systems.

In December, Wa’ed announced five new venture capital deals, including Ynmo, which develops Arabic-language instructional software for children with learning disabilities, and Postage, a last-mile logistics provider and rapid courier service for businesses.

Through bridge rounds, Wa’ed raised venture capital investments in Averos, a developer of real-time location-based monitoring systems, Hazen.ai, a developer of intelligent road safety systems, and GetMuv, a platform to access more than 100 health clubs and centers in the Kingdom.

Looking ahead to 2021, Wa’ed is planning a series of new initiatives to support development of Saudi’s venture capital ecosystem, which is increasingly attracting foreign innovators who are interested in localizing their technologies in the Saudi market.

The newest innovation in 2021 is expected to be Wa’ed’s new Venture Builder, a one-of-a-kind breeding ground for promising start-ups in Saudi Arabia, which provides entrepreneurs and start-ups with essential back-office services such as marketing, new business development and networking, allowing innovators to get their companies off the ground.

The Venture Builder will allow Wa’ed to specifically nurture start-up businesses that target existing market needs and gaps in Saudi Arabia, which are critical to the Kingdom’s economic future and diversification.

Overall, Mr. Basrawi said Wa’ed plans to double the number of loan and venture capital deals in next three years by entering new collaborations, better leveraging Saudi Aramco’s own business ecosystems, and actively reaching out to investors.

In its first decade, Wa’ed benefited from co-investment and innovation collaborations with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM).

In December, Wa’ed signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate with OQAL, the largest network of angel investors in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, with the goal of creating a new pipeline of potential deals.

Also during the month, Wa’ed signed an MoU with Namaa Almunawarah, the business development agency for the city of Medina, to support local SMEs there.

Medina is one of the fastest-growing Saudi hubs for start-up investment, based in part on well-developed research universities that have spearheaded the development of new technologies.

Wa’ed is also in advanced discussions to execute an MoU with the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu, to promote entrepreneurial opportunities in the industrial sector.

source: zawya

Dubai-based Rising Giants Community (RGN), a bilingual podcasting community, has secured a $1 million funding deal, led by Triangle Media, Barry Kirsch Productions and angel investor Mentioned Al Sayyed.

The corporate was based in early 2020 by Basel Anabtawi, podcaster and host of the ‘Basel Meets’ podcast, Barry Kirsch and Bashar Najjar. It scripts, produces and builds audio experiences in Arabic and English.

RGN shortly topped the charts in numerous classes quick after its launch, because it supplied plenty of Arabic exhibits together with Amalikat Al Tareek (Highway Giants) with F1 host Firas Al Nimri, Sehtak Aham (Higher Well being) with health influencer Baraa Al Sabbagh and Rihlat Al Mosara’a (Wrestling Experience) with wrestling commentators Faisal Al Meghaisib and Yusef Callaway, along with English present Legendary Rock Tales.

Basel Anabtawi, CEO of RGN, stated: “The worldwide podcasting business has just lately witnessed vital milestones with Amazon buying podcasting big Wondery for $300 million, and Spotify licensing The Joe Rogan Expertise solely for $100 million. There’s an engaged viewers of almost seven million people who find themselves in search of top-notch exhibits to get into, and the time to put money into rising this base within the area is now.

“With this funding, RGN is nicely positioned to be the main audio story-telling firm within the area. With a different slate of exhibits in growth, we’re assured that we will attain that aim and produce exhibits that may enchantment to different viewers teams from all backgrounds,” he added.

source: introducestartups

isqan.com, an Egypt-based property-listing platform, has raised a six-figure seed funding round from the CEO of EGYGAB HOLDING, Mohamed Gaballah.

Founded four months ago, isqan.com has onboarded more than 50 companies, with property listings reaching over ten thousand. The startup plans to use the funds to hire more talent, invest in its marketing channels and develop its product.

“We are thrilled to be working with engineer Mohamed Gaballah. His investment in isqan.com is a testament to his belief in our team, product and growth strategy,” said Karim Kazem, co-founder of isqan.com.

The startup, according to its briefing, plans to close another financing round towards the final quarter of 2021 to bolster its growth plans.

“We aim to digitise the entire real estate industry in Egypt by providing users with the easiest, fastest and most powerful real estate search experience possible,” said Ali Ezzat, co-founder at isqan.com.

According to Omar Mohamed, the chief technical officer (CTO), tech lead at Isqan.com the investment will also support isqan.com in providing a valuable service and offering real value to its users by guiding them to make their next real estate purchase, helping usher the Egyptian real estate market into the modern age.

“isqan.com is a very unique product to the real estate market, not only that it provides a much-improved user experience and incredibly powerful features, but it is also powered by a very advanced and modern tech stack which enables us to provide these unprecedented offerings to the market,” said Omar Doma.

The startup also aims to close a further funding round in the final quarter of 2021 in order to boost its development plans.

According to Afrikan Heroes, Mohamed Gaballah’s faith in isqan was strengthened by the fact that Isqan.com’s team is a very strong one, with both co-founders of the startup having previous experience in the real estate industry.

As a real estate brokerage owner based in Dubai, Karim Kazem, CEO and Co-Founder of Isqan.com was able to realize the unquestionable importance of how real estate portals contribute to the digital economy. It was not long until he started working towards launching a real estate listing portal in Egypt.

In September 2020, iqan.com raised a six-figure seed round from an undisclosed angel.

Isqan.com is offering in the Egyptian property market, a completely free of charge service, giving end-users three free listings, to help them rent or sell a property. Isqan.com has partnered with a number of market leaders to offer users a wide range of trusted and legitimized options.

“We created Isqan.com to simplify the home buying, selling, and renting process.

Isqan.com is an easy way for today’s clientele to search for commercial and residential properties. We aim to tap in to local and international property markets, ultimately revolutionizing the Middle Eastern digital real estate landscape,” Karim Kazem.

Companies listed on the platform include Egypt Best Properties, New Avenue, Byotat, Insider, B2B, Ultimate Real Estate, Remax, Irtkaz, Era, Daddy Estate Investment, Abrag, Proper Move, among several others.

source: africaincmag

UAE-based e-commerce enabler Zbooni, has raised a $5 million Series A funding round led by an undisclosed London-based fund.

Founded in 2017, Zbooni enables small merchants to easily start, run and grow their businesses online, providing them with a range of business-focused services, such as mobile invoicing and payment solutions, digital storefronts in its marketplace, data insights, automated sales tracking and invoicing.

It initially started out as a chat commerce venture enabling payments via WhatsApp before launching its new e-commerce enablement services, signaling the growing demand for online selling.

Zbooni said that it had recorded a rapid acceleration in 2020, including 600 per cent in customer growth. It currently supports thousands of merchants, processing tens of millions of dirhams every month and has enabled its merchants to serve more than 150,000 customers.

Zbooni will use the funding to grow its team and fuel its expansion across its home market as well as in the Saudi and Jordanian markets.

“Zbooni is on a mission to help provide access to digital commerce tools, ultimately supporting our merchants to start, run and grow their business.

While we wish to keep the investor undisclosed, their reputation and track record speaks for itself, they have previously invested in some of the most successful emerging market growth stories - operating a fund of well over $1billion in assets under management.

Through this support, Zbooni will invest in people to develop even better products for our merchants and enhance the customer experience with best-in-class technology,” said Ramy Assaf, Zbooni CEO and co-founder.

The company was incubated at Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, and is backed by regional and international organisations, including Chalhoub Group, Middle East Venture Partners and B&Y Venture Capital.

“Our customers are the real heroes of this story, and we’re just scratching the surface of what we’re able to help them do,” said Assaf.

“We believe there remain millions of SMEs still left severely underserved across our geographies – we are here for them.”

source: wamda

In alliance with Microsoft, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) will offer owners of local startups the resources and tools to “scale their businesses”. Another tech entity, Plug & Play, is also part of this initiative.

“The partnerships are part of ADIO’s commitment to supporting innovation-focused companies,” said Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director-General of ADIO. “We are providing strategic funding and support to the knowledge and tech experts to develop and run programmes that accelerate opportunities in Abu Dhabi for startups.”

Startup focussed

Microsoft will brings its Startups Programme, which provides technology, Azure cloud services, and business support tools to develop the required skillsets.
The first two are the Growth X Accelerator, a virtual accelerator programme with a focus on recruiting local and regional startups, and ‘Highway to 100 Unicorns’, an initiative to recruit high-potential startups for the Accelerator as well as future programmes by Microsoft and ADIO.

Further initiatives focused on entrepreneurship for Emiratis and UAE residents, as well as university students, are in the works.

“We are committed to deepening our support for investors and innovators in 2021,” said Bin Hendi.
“As the global economy looks to the future, Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem is well-positioned as the region’s foremost investment destination for big thinkers to realise their ambitions.”

source: gulfnews

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) governments seeking to diversify their economies and position for growth are rightly focused on the importance of digitization. However, scale and sustainability require serious attention to associated risks. While digitization—both of private sector activities and of government services—has for some time been viewed as central to these efforts, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the process.

At the same time, governments need to establish effective protections for the digital economy to gain scale and become sustainable.

Digitization is central to transformation programs underway as GCC governments seek to wean their economies from dependence on oil and gas

The case is compelling: digital activity grows faster than other parts of the economy. For example, the United Kingdom’s (UK) analysis estimates that growth in the digital sector in 2018 was nearly six times larger than that of the country’s economy as a whole. Moreover, the digital revolution offers a unique opportunity to leapfrog decades of gradual development and gain a foothold in industries that have long been the preserve of more mature economies.

Take financial services as an example. Several GCC countries have ambitions to rise to the ranks of top global financial centers. In each case, the attraction and promotion of Financial Technology or FinTech is a critical or central component of their sector strategies. In addition to establishing tailored regulations—e.g. digital bank licenses—and dedicated environments—e.g. sandboxes—authorities provide technology infrastructure, support human capital development, orchestrate collaboration, and provide financing, among other measures. For instance, Abu Dhabi is the site of a large annual FinTech Festival. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia recently used the platform provided by its G20 Presidency to host a global TechSprint in cooperation with the Bank for International Settlements.

Governments are investing substantially in a focused and coordinated approach

Saudi Arabia’s National Digital Transformation Unit (NDTU) is one of the fundamental programs to achieve Vision 2030. Its mission is to build a world-class digital infrastructure and enable innovative talent to seize opportunities. To that end, NDTU cooperates with digital transformation partners across public and private sectors to support and accelerate digital transformation.

While it remains to be seen whether global leadership can be realized, the strategic direction is plausible and builds on promising foundations. Though GCC countries lag leading countries in the 2020 Portulans Institute’s Network Readiness Index at the aggregate level (UAE ranks at #30, Qatar at #38, and Saudi Arabia at #41), they rank much higher on information and communications technology (ICT) usage and skills among individuals (UAE ranks #1, Qatar #10, and Saudi Arabia #12) and access to ICT (Qatar ranks at #2, UAE at #10, and Saudi Arabia at #19 ). Notably, Saudi Arabia is the world leader in terms of internet access in schools and #4 in terms of government promotion of investment in emerging technologies.

The pandemic has accelerated the already prevalent digitization trend

Working from home and virtual meetings have quickly become accepted practices in the region and many professionals have commented on improved meeting discipline and efficiencies. In the meantime, online commerce, entertainment streaming, and social media offerings are all booming.

Indeed, more than eight in ten mobile phone users believe that internet-connected technologies have helped them cope during the pandemic, enabling them to support their children’s education (76 percent), stay in touch with friends and family (74 percent), and even improve their mental health and wellbeing (43 percent).

While it is evident that adoption of technology has significant advantages, there are also important risks

The most frequently discussed categories are related to information security and the abuse of personal data. The Global Risks Report, which Marsh & McLennan publishes in partnership with the World Economic Forum, has listed “Data Theft and Fraud” among the top five most likely risks for multiple years. Governments in some countries have put in place the legal and regulatory infrastructure to deal with these.

Oliver Wyman’s Cyber Risk Literacy and Education Index shows GCC governments mounting an effective policy response to the problem (especially Saudi Arabia at #9, Qatar at #13 in the Government Policy dimension, and the UAE #18 in the aggregate ranking).

However, awareness is growing of a much wider set of issues to guard against. These include but are by no means limited to:

• The Digital divide is the gap between those who have ready access to computers and the internet—as well as associated opportunities—and those that do not. This shows up at different levels of aggregation. For instance, the most digitally advanced countries have been so for many years running, implying that there is a structural disadvantage that is hard to break. At a more local level, the pandemic has highlighted how children without access to technology have missed out on months of formal instruction, creating a gap they may struggle to fill.
• Digital illiteracy, as in the inability to find, evaluate, and compose clear information through writing and other media on various digital platforms. This is correlated with the digital divide but is still separate, as access to technology does not guaranty the ability to use it effectively. It shows up, for instance, when users buy into and act on baseless conspiracy theories like “Pizzagate,” which nearly led to tragedy in 2016.
• Online harms, such as disinformation, the promotion of terrorist and violent content, and trading in illegal goods. The first of these was on full display in recent US presidential elections, with adversaries and domestic forces seeking to tip the scales or even undermine the very credibility of the democratic process and the country’s global leadership.
• Risks related to the inappropriate deployment of artificial intelligence, with a lack of transparency and agency. As SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk puts it: “We’re headed toward a situation where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is vastly smarter than humans and I think that time frame is less than five years from now. But that doesn’t mean that everything goes to hell in five years. It just means that things get unstable or weird.”
• Risk related to monopoly power, as a small number of tech giants—such as Facebook and Amazon—have become the world’s most valuable companies without formal and structured government oversight. In particular, Big Tech players leverage access to large client pools and the convenience of integrated technology to peel off the most attractive parts of the financial services value chain.
  Digitization strategies will only be scalable and sustainable if associated risks are effectively managed

This calls for debate, both at the national and international level, on what solutions are available to public and private sectors to achieve this outcome.

In some countries and organizations, the conversation on how to manage these risks is well underway. For instance, the UK’s Online Harms White Paper—currently under review—sets out a program of action to tackle content or activity that harms individual users, particularly children, or threatens the country’s way of life—either by undermining national security or by undermining shared rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. Meanwhile, the European Commission has issued Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, which address societal and ethical concerns related to artificial intelligence and reflects similar edicts originating in Australia, Singapore, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, among others.

If GCC countries want to play a leading role in shaping the digital economy’s future and make it the foundation of their economic transformations, they need to tackle these risks head on. Saudi Arabia is off to a good start. The Kingdom recently established the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority with the mandate of developing the performance of the public and private sectors through utilizing the application of AI and Big Data. Its strategy includes the inaction of “the most welcoming legislation for Data & AI businesses and talents.” The strategy refers to developing a regulatory framework that will cover “data collection, classification, sharing, open data policy, and freedom of information.” Indeed, interim regulations are already in effect, and the reference to the future development of a regulatory framework indicates that these regulations will be refined in the coming months and years.

As they develop their policies, GCC governments should consider five principles:

1. Industry specific governance with a common philosophy
With digital technology infusing most sectors of the economy, it is not practical to think that all aspects can be regulated by a single authority. A patchwork of sector-specific regulators will pick up many practical issues related to technology. What is important is that there are a common philosophy and set of principles that unite the full framework, as well as a map that shows how the patchwork comes together and allows the government to identify any over or underlaps.

2. Develop standards-based regulations
Tech firms’ innovations and the risks that accompany them are evolving so rapidly that it’s easy for regulators to fall behind. Standards-based regulatory regimes capable of adapting to technological and social change could help a tech regulator get out in front and stay there.

Standards can be reworked for new risks, but changes to regulations and laws require extensive public consultation. With a standards-based approach, a tech regulator can introduce guidelines to encourage sensible innovation or, conversely, swiftly hold tech firms accountable when unforeseen risks arise.

3. Prioritize activity based on risk
Tech firms constantly introduce new apps, software, and hardware, and there is a real chance that an increasingly cash-strapped government will not be able to afford adequate staffing to properly enforce new regulations. A tech regulator would need to use a risk-based approach to target firms and activities that put the most people at risk first and rank the spectrum of potential threats.

The degree of supervisory intrusiveness should be commensurate with the size of the potential risks that companies pose. Big companies will require dedicated in-house supervisory teams, while much smaller teams can oversee primarily automated data-driven reports from startups. This ensures startups are not unfairly disadvantaged due to high costs of regulatory compliance.

4. Innovation-friendly bias
As ever with regulation, governments need to manage a delicate balance between offering businesses the space to experiment and innovate while providing guard rails to support policy objectives and make the sector’s development sustainable. The cost of compliance with well-intended regulation can constitute a significant barrier to new market entry and, thus, stifle innovation—a reality that large incumbents are only too happy to perpetuate. Financial sector regulators have experimented with Sandboxes and TechSprints as ways to encourage innovation and avoid conflict with important policy objectives.

5. Digital by default
Machine executable regulations, integrated data platforms, and reporting application programming interfaces should be part of the standard operating model from day one to reduce the cost of compliance for companies while increasing risk management efficiency. By replacing quarterly reports with technology platforms that permit regulators to pull information related to key risk indicators from companies’ systems directly, regulators will be able to monitor companies more proficiently.

In the GCC, as elsewhere in the world, the digital revolution is well on its way. Indeed, its importance is uniquely heightened by the critical role it plays across sectors to diversify and transform national economies. Not surprisingly, GCC governments are focused on measures that promote digitization on all fronts.
They would do well to recognize that identification and proactive management of associated risks will contribute to ensuring benefits are broad-based, inclusive, and sustainable.

source: atlanticcouncil

Peer-to-peer vehicle-sharing platform, Ejaro, has raised $850,000 in seed funding. The investment came from angel investors and BIM Ventures.

Mohammed Khashoggi founded Ejaro in 2019. The Saudi platform connects is local vehicle owners with individuals looking to rent cars and other vehicles. According to Khashoggi, the startup aims to tap into the regional car rental market, valued at over $4 billion, adding that the market is set to experience a large potential growth in the post-Covid19 economy.

The car owners make extra money from a car that they may not be using full-time, while renters enjoy the vehicles on the platform which are up to 40 percent cheaper than traditional car rental companies. Renters can search for vehicles by area to find the ones nearby.

All cars on Ejaro have been insured.To further incite owners and renters, the starup has introduced its own peer-to-peer vehicle insurance policy in partnership with Kingdom Brokerage and MedGulf; that is available for both hosts and renters.

Khashoggi said in a statement: “With millions out of jobs and rental companies struggling, our platform empowers owners to earn an additional income from their depreciating assets and share them with the masses. I truly believe that Ejaro will accelerate in the coming weeks.”

Mohamed Amine Merah, Ejaro’s Finance & Strategy Partner and Managing Partner of BIM Ventures, said, “During the downtime [due to Covid-19], we were able to develop and launch a new and improved app, build strategic partnerships, and solidified our internal processes.”

He also said that the startup is planning to expand regionally, starting with UAE in 2021.

The new funds will be used to accelerate the development of additional features on the platform, in order to increase the hosted cars and renters’ bases and to expand the team.

source: wayamedia

Some of the most optimistic people did not expect to see the rapid recovery of startups and small and medium enterprises (SME) in Saudi Arabia, following both the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase of VAT. In addition, few expected to see the dynamic transformation of business models across many of the startups and SMEs, along with the overall growth of some within this sector. The notable and rapid intervention of the Saudi government, and the introduction of various initiatives to support these companies are to be credited for this recovery.

Within the retail sector specifically, micro enterprises in Saudi Arabia faced many challenges, as a result of the imposed curfews and lockdown across all cities in the country on 23 March 2020, followed by the partial closures on 26 April, to contain the spread of the virus. As was the case across the globe, these decisions led to a great many challenges affecting retailers, these included:

• Paying salaries became a major challenge, tied to the halt in sales. With the abrupt closure of stores and the subsequent halt of sales, significant pressure on the cash flow of micro SMEs was recorded. Due to mall closures across the Kingdom, merchants could no longer access their stores or inventory. Accordingly, retailers were unable to pay their employees’ salaries, due to the abrupt halt in sales. Salaries represent 25 per cent of expenses – which became a primary concern of these enterprises.
• Rent makes up around 35 to 40 per cent of an enterprise’s annual expenses. During the lockdown, rent payments were still due, which increased pressure on micro enterprises, due to the slowdown or abrupt halt in sales, which led to a decrease in cash flow.
• On the other hand, the outbreak of Covid-19 resulted in a decrease in the purchasing power among customers, due to the dampened economic situation and the state of public emergency, which the pandemic stirred. A large number of retailers, both in Saudi Arabia and around the globe, suffered from this shift. Customers were less likely to want to shop or buy non-essential goods, and were more likely to save their money or spend on purchasing essential items. This was especially the case during the holy month of Ramadan.
• Some retailers then found an opportunity to start selling online, despite the lack of access to their goods and inventory in-store and in their warehouses, during the lockdown. The digital transformation which many retailers embarked on, continued well after the curfew was lifted, linked to the social distancing measures imposed by the government across all sectors. This shift provided an opportunity for digital solution providers to take flight, such as “Salla” and “Zed”.
• On the other hand, retailers who produce their goods locally, were unable to source raw materials from international suppliers, due to the disruptions of supply chains around the world.

Government initiatives and tailored financing solutions

These numerous challenges were faced by small business owners globally, especially those working in the non-essential goods sector. However, there were multiple opportunities and various governmental programmes that were successfully rolled out in Saudi Arabia, to support the survival of such businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, and enabling them to flourish post crisis.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Saudi Arabia’s government and regulatory bodies, along with the banking sector, have been very quick to respond and support local businesses. The Saudi government has accounted for over SAR 51 billion in the form of stimulus packages and funds to support the private sector during this unprecedented difficult period. These steps have been taken with the aim of limiting the impact of the pandemic on the Saudi economy, in the short and long-term.

The following table lists the various initiatives that apply to startups and SMEs in Saudi Arabia:

The steps that were taken by the Saudi authorities included:

Following the lockdown in the Kingdom, the government eased measures on retailers, and excluded some economic and commercial activities from the ban, allowing them to open during select days of the week, and subsequently, lifting the curfew completely, to cater to the needs of local consumers.

The “Kafala” programme, designed to support SMEs by offering loans, was increased to 95 per cent (compared to 80 per cent in the past), with fees ranging between 1 – 1.5 per cent. The Kafala programme provides loans of around SAR 2.5 million to small and micro enterprises, and SAR 15 million for medium-sized enterprises.

Some banks in the Kingdom worked to facilitate and ease the procedures and paperwork required from companies for borrowing and loans. Some Saudi banks have also provided loans for businesses to purchase raw materials, pay rent expenses and implement business expansion plans, with a grace period of up to six months.

Alternative financing options were also made available for startups. For example, fintech companies operating in Saudi Arabia, such as Al Raida, Lendo and Raqmeya, have facilitated the access to financing for startups and SMEs, providing easier terms and alternative guarantees, reducing paperwork requirements, when compared to traditional means.

The government’s Saned programme provided unemployment insurance to all employers, facilitating the process for businesses to obtain compensation to ensure continuity and pay salaries. The conditions of Saned were amended in response to the downtime during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Saudi government announced that it will pay 60 per cent of Saudi employees working in the private sector, for a period of three months, with a ceiling of SAR 8.96 billion. The compensation adheres to the conditions stipulated in the unemployment insurance programme (Saned).

By shifting to e-commerce platforms, retailers found opportunities to sell online, opening up to a wider target audience. Many industries, such as those operating in the essential categories, including foodstuffs and delivery services, have seen a significant increase in revenues and business activity, since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The way forward

During the pandemic, startups and SMEs worked hard to adapt to the new reality of the world, and work to generate sufficient cash flows to ensure their continuity and survival, until the end of the crisis.  In addition, many have modified their business models to embrace a new reality of a highly digitised market.

According to a study by Ernst and Young, 92 per cent of consumers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have switched to online shopping, which has forced the majority of retailers to quickly adopt digital transformation strategies to keep up with the market and continue to do business (more in our article published in Wamda).

One such example is the increase of use of digital payments as an alternative to cash, which is expected to continue even after the pandemic. In addition, sectors that have thrived during the pandemic, such as e-commerce, delivery services, edtech and healthtech, have all adopted digital payments, thus stimulating the digital financing sector.

In light of the pandemic, the entire retail sector, from micro enterprises to larger establishments, faced multiple challenges and worked hard to maintain their sales, and to sustain business activity. On a global scale, SMEs and micro enterprises struggled to navigate in light of the forced closures and decline in purchasing power.
According to the Saudi Central Bank’s statistics, the volume of spending instore decreased during the months of April and May by 32.95 per cent and 15.7 per cent respectively, compared to the same period last year.
However, what is interesting to note is that the percentage of online sales increased by 78.3 per cent, reaching SAR 37.02 billion by June, far surpassing the highest recorded figure of sales, at SAR 27.93 billion recorded in December 2019.

On another note, the increase in VAT, from 5 per cent to 15 per cent, effective on July 1, 2020, motivated citizens in Saudi Arabia to increase their purchases before the increase was implemented.
This resulted in containing the overall impact and the repercussions of Covid-19, with point of sale (POS) transactions not exceeding a 3.3 per cent decrease in the second quarter of 2020, when compared to the POS transactions of the previous quarter (Q1 2020).
In addition, the points of sale transactions increased by 52.64 per cent in Q3 2020 (amounting to SAR 96.99 billion), when compared to Q2 2020 (SAR 63.54 billion). These figures reaffirm the effectiveness of the preventive measures and financial initiatives taken by the Saudi government, which have led to normalise consumer spending rates.

The distribution of transactions across various points of sale in different sectors, in Q3, 2020

Source: The Weekly Reports on Point of Sale Transactions, issued by the Saudi Central Bank

It is expected that the businesses that have adapted to the new reality will have valuable opportunities to achieve business continuity and growth in the phase following the crisis.

One should note that consumer spending in Saudi Arabia did not decrease by more than 5.57 per cent during the first 9 months of 2020, on an annual basis, with a decrease equivalent to SAR 42.52 billion recorded during the same period last year.

This indicates that the retail sector is on the way to recovery, and that the impact of the pandemic was limited.

Source: wamda

بالكاد يوجد سلعة أو خدمة ليس من المتاح استهلاكها وفقاً لنموذج الاشتراك، ففي العام الماضي فقط وبسبب انتشار وباء كوفيد-19 شهد النشاط الاقتصادي وفقاً لهذا النموذج نمواً هائلاً وانتقلت العديد من الشركات إلى نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك.

ووفقا لمقال نشره موقع المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي تحت عنوان "لماذا يعتبر الانكماش أخبارًا جيدة للشركات العاملة بالاشتراك"، وجد إصدار عام 2020 من مؤشر اقتصاد الاشتراك أن الشركات التي تعتمد على نموذج الاشتراك تستمر في التفوق على نظيراتها القائمة على المنتجات بهامش كبير حتى أثناء وباء كورونا (كما يتضح من الشكل). بشكل عام، يتزايد الاقبال من العملاء على نماذج الاشتراك، وبينما شهدت الشركات التي تشكل مؤشر S&P 500 تراجعا في مبيعاتها بمعدل سنوي قدره 10٪ في الربع الثاني، زادت مبيعات الشركات التي تعتمد نموذج الاشتراك فعليًا بمعدل 12٪. يعتبر هذا دليل على أنه في وقت الأزمات تظهر الشركات التي تعتمد هذا النموذج مرونة عالية.

في هذا المقال سنتحدث عن طبيعة هذا النموذج واهم الشركات العالمية التي تعمل من خلاله والاتجاهات الحالية لنموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك في الشرق الأوسط عبر تقديم قراءة مقتضبة للتقرير الصادر عن مختبر أبحاث ومضة ومايكروسوفت للشركات الناشئة القائم على استبيان من منظوري الشركات والمستهلكين، والذي شمل 193 شخصاً.

المصدر: Zuora - Subscription Economy Index

نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك

نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك هو أحد نماذج الاعمال المتبعة لتحقيق الإيرادات ووفق نموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك يتم تحقيق الإيرادات على أساس متكرر من خلال رسوم تتقاضاها بشكل شهري أو سنوي في الغالب، مقابل الوصول الدوري للزبون إلى السلعة أو الخدمة المقدمة إليه من قبل الشركة. ويتم تجديد الاشتراكات وتنشيطها تلقائيًا باستخدام بطاقة ائتمان معتمدة مسبقًا أو حساب جار.

وتأتي الفائدة من الاعتماد على نماذج أعمال الاشتراك في ان ايراداته ثابته ومتكررة، كما يساعد أيضًا على إنشاء علاقات قوية مع العملاء.

ويشمل هذا النموذج جميع أنواع السلع والخدمات تقريباً فهو يتضمن خدمات تطبيقات الهواتف والاتصالات وكابالات التلفاز واشتراكات قنوات البث والتخزين وصالات الألعاب والرياضة والعناية بالصحة وخدمات التوصيل وغيرها الكثير من السلع والخدمات.

وتعتمد اليوم كبرى الشركات العالمية على نموذج الاشتراك في اعمالها، نذكر أهمها:

Mailchimp : بدأت منصة Mailchimp كمزود تسويق عبر البريد الإلكتروني وهي اليوم واحدة من أكثر أدوات التسويق عبر البريد الإلكتروني شيوعًا

Shopify : منصة التجارة الإلكترونية الرائدة لديها 800 ألف عميل في 175 دولة.

Dropbox: تعتبر منصة مشاركة الملفات هذه مثالًا جيداً على استخدام تسعير freemium جنبًا إلى جنب مع نموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك لتحقيق نمو سريع، وتمتلك الشركة Dropbox اليوم أكثر من 12 مليون عميل.

مايكروسوفت: تحولت شركة البرمجيات العملاقة مايكروسوفت إلى نموذج اشتراك في عام 2013 لمواكبة أكبر منافسيها، ولقد ساعدهم هذا التحول على زيادة الإيرادات من 139.99 دولارًا لمرة واحدة إلى 99.99 دولاراً كمدفوعات مكررة سنوياً.

Spotify : تأسست خدمة بث الموسيقى Spotify في عام 2006، ولديها الآن 217 مليون مستخدم نشط شهريًا.

Netflix: في عام 2018 ، تجاوز استخدام Netflix تلفزيون الكابل والأقمار الصناعية. تتمتع الشركة بشعبية كبيرة لأنها قادرة على مشاركة الكثير من المحتوى القيم من خلال نموذج اشتراك بسيط. بلغت الإيرادات السنوية للشركة في عام 2019 ما قيمته 20.15 مليار دولار أمريكي، لتحقق نمواً مذهلاً في عام 2020.

قراءة في تقرير حالة الاعمال بالاشتراك في الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا

بحسب تقرير ومضة فإن هنالك ارتفاعاً ملحوظاً في "اقتصاد الاشتراك" في السنوات القليلة الماضية في الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا، ارتفاع مدفوع بنمو التجارة الإلكترونية والبنية التحتية للمدفوعات الرقمية، بالإضافة الى ذلك فإن زيادة النمو في نموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك سواء على مستوى التعامل بين الشركات (B2B) او بين الشركات والمستهلكين (B2C) شهد طفرة كبيرة نتيجةً لتداعيات انتشار وباء كوفيد-19 حيث أجبرت الشركات على رقمنة عملياتها من جهة ومن جهة أخرى اجبر المستهلكين، وبسبب إجراءات الحجي المنزلي، على التحول نحو زيادة الاستهلاك عبر الانترنت، لاسيما قطاع الترفيه حيث لجأ المستهلكين الى منصات البث واللياقة البدنية وغيرها من المنصات.

تنقسم الاستبيانات الواردة في التقرير إلى 3 اقسام، الأول للشركات الناشئة التي لديها بالفعل نموذج اعمال بالاشتراك والثاني للشركات الناشئة التي تخطط لإطلاق عروض الاشتراك خلال الستة اشهر القادمة، والقسم الثالث للمستهلكين. ويشمل على مجموعة من الأسئلة الموجه للشركات والمستهلكين، إليك اهم ما جاء فيها:

نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك من منظور الشركات الناشئة

1. مقر الشركة

تحتل الامارات العربية المتحدة صدارة الدول التي تقع فيها مقرات الشركات العاملة بنموذج الاشتراك او تلك التي تخطط لتقديم عروضها، حيث تبلغ نسبة الشركات العاملة بنموذج الاشتراك وتتخذ من الامارات مركزاً لها حوالي 54% اما الشركات التي تنوي إطلاق عروض الاشتراك فأكثر من 43% مقرها في الامارات. وتأتي مصر خلف الإمارات بنسبة 43.5% للشركات التي لديها هذه الخدمة و31% لتلك التي تخطط لإطلاقها، وخلفهما تأتي السعودية بنسبة 24.7% و17% على التوالي.

2. المرحلة التي وصلت إليها الشركة

تشمل نتائج هذا السؤال الشركة التي لديها عروض اشتراك بالفعل، وقد جاءت النتائج كالآتي: 25% منها في مرحلة ما قبل البذرة، 48.2% في مرحلة البذرة، 21.4% مرحلة التمويل A، 1.8% مرحلة التمويل B، 4% شركات.

3. القطاعات التي تنشط بها الشركات الناشئة بنموذج الاشتراك

بالنسبة للشركات التي لديها بالفعل عروض اشتراك فيأتي مجال التعليم في المقدمة حيث تعمل 18% من الشركات في قطاع التعليم يليه قطاع التجارة الإلكترونية بنسبة 13% يليهما قطاع الإنتاجية بنسبة 12% وقطاعي التكنولوجيا المالية وخدمات الطعام بنسبة 10% لكل منهما، اما قطاع الرعاية الصحية فيحتل نسبة 8%. وتأتي القطاعات الأخرى كقطاع النقل والخدمات اللوجستية والتسلية أسفل القائمة بنسب تقل عن 5%.

اما عن الشركات التي تخطط لتقديم عروض اشتراك لزبائنها، فنجد اختلافاً في توجهاتها عن الشركات التي تقدم بالفعل عروض الاشتراك، حيث يأتي قطاع الرعاية الصحية بالمرتبة الأولى بنسبة 22% يليه قطاع التسلية بنسبة 17% وقطاع التجارة الإلكترونية بنسبة ـ13% بينما تنخفض نسبة الشركات التي تخطط في الاستثمار بعروض الاشتراك في قطاع التعليم إلى نسبة 4%، وهو اعلى قطاع تعمل به الشركات التي شملها الاستبيان والتي تقدم عروض اشتراك بالفعل.

نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك من منظور المستهلكين

1. توزيع المستهلكين جغرافياً

جاء التوزيع الجغرافي للمستهلكين مختلفاً بعض الشيء عن تمركز مقرات الشركات جغرافياً، ففي حين أن 35.6% من المشتركين يتواجدون في الامارات و21.2% موجودين في مصر إلا ان البيانات تكشف عن وجود 19.5% من المستهلكين في الأردن و10.6% في السعودية و9.6% منهم في لبنان فيما يتواجد 3.8% في كل من الكويت وعمان، واما في آخر الترتيب فتأتي تونس والبحرين بحوالي 1.9% والجزائر وعمان وفلسطين 1% اما الدول الأخرى فتحتل مجتمعة نسبة 3.8%.

2. الفئات العمرية

أكثر من 55% من المشتركين يأتون بالفئة العمرية بين 25-34 عاماً و32.7% منهم بين 35-55 عاماً اما الفئة العمرين بين 18-24 عاماً فيشكلون 10.6% وأخيراً، يشكل المشتركون من عمر 55 وما فوق 1% فقط من إجمالي المشتركين.

3. العمل

حوالي 82% من اجمالي المشتركين يعملون اما بدوام كامل أو بدوام جزئي بالإضافة إلى 1.9% من أصحاب العمل الحر (Freelancer)، فيما لا يشكل الأشخاص غير العاملين من المشتركين أكثر من 9.6% منهم 3.8% طلاب، وتتمثل أقل فئة بأصحاب الشركات الذي يمثلون 1% فقط من أجمالي المشتركين.

4. المنصات الأكثر اشتراكاً من قبل المستهلكين

وعن المنصات الأكثر اشتراكاً جاءت منصة NETFLIX بالمرتبة الأولى حيث يشترك بها 64.4% من اجمالي المستهلكين الذين شملهم الاستبيان، يليها Microsoft 365 بنسبة 26.9% وSpotify بـ26% كما يشترك المستهلكون بنسب متفاوتة بعدد كبير من المنصات الأخرى منها منصة زوم وأدوبي ولينكدإن وتطبيق انغامي وغيرها.

نختم المقال ببعض النصائح للشركات التي تريد تطوير هذا النموذج كما وردت في مقالة المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي

1. إعطاء الأولوية للخدمات الرقمية الجاهزة للسوق

ألق نظرة فاحصة على ما هو جاهز للسوق وما هو غير جاهز. قم بتقييم مشاريعك لتحديد الحد الأدنى من المنتجات القابلة للتطبيق (MVP) والجاهزة لتحقيق الدخل والتوسع. حدد أولويات تلك المشاريع التي لديها بالفعل إثباتات قيمة مقنعة مع العملاء الحاليين ويمكن أن تتحرك بسرعة وبشكل متكرر.

2.  تحويل التركيز من "الأرض" إلى "التوسع"

من المهم تحويل استراتيجيات النمو من "جذب عملاء جدد بمنتجات ناجحة" إلى "توسيع العلاقات مع العملاء الحاليين". نظرًا لظروف السوق الحالية، سيكون من الأسهل البيع لقاعدة عملاء ترى بالفعل قيمة لخدماتك بدلاً من إقناع عملاء جدد بالاستثمار في خدمة جديدة. ودائمًا ما يكون الاحتفاظ بالعملاء الحاليين أقل تكلفة من العثور على عملاء جدد.

3. اختيار السعر المناسب

يلعب التسعير والتعبئة دورًا رئيسيًا في نجاح نموذج الاشتراك. نظرًا لظروف السوق الحالية، من الأفضل أن تقوم الشركات باكتساب المزيد من المشتركين باستخدام إستراتيجية طويلة الأجل لزيادة الدخل. عادةً ما يأخذ هذا شكل سعر رمزي أو بشكل مجاني من أجل دفع المستخدم لتجريب المنتج أو الخدمة وتبنيه.

4. إنشاء مركز اشتراك متميز

تحديد الموارد الداخلية للتركيز عليها لانجاح نموذج الاشتراك. يتضمن ذلك الموارد التجارية المخصصة والالتزام بتقديم الخدمة وإنشاء مجموعة من المقاييس متوسطة المدى للنجاح.

المصادر:

تقرير مؤسسة ومضة: State subscription businesses MENA

موقع: Investopedia

المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي: www.weforum.org