Weekly Wrap-Up: January 26-30
Join the MIT Media Lab workshop in Dubai this Feb 24-27; Apply by Feb 1st
This month, we’re thrilled to be hosting, with MIT Media Lab, a workshop digging into best practices in innovation relating to food technology, health technology, sensors and networks, as well as crowdsourcing and crowdmapping data. Here’s why this multi-day event may make a big difference for you, and how to submit your application before tomorrow!
Upcoming Event
- 01 Feb - MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition
- 04 Feb - Seedstars World startup competition finale
- 06 Feb - Startup Weekend Kuwait
- 14 Feb - 2014 NYU Abu Dhabi Annual International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World
Be sure to check wamda.com/events, or follow @WamdaME on Twitter to stay up to date about more of the regiona's top events!
Articles you Might have Missed
Online education platform Coursera blocks students in Syria and Iran
If you missed it this week, Coursera frustrated students in Syria and Iran when it denied them access in order to comply with new clarifications in US export control regulations. All you need to know about the ban and where it stands today.
Arabreneur announces $440,000 USD investment in four Palestinian startups
In its first investment round, Arabreneur has brought four leading and innovative Palestinian startups into its acceleration program. Find out more about them in this post, and what Arabreneur’s program, in partnership with USAID, entails.
Qordoba announces $1.5 million USD Series A investment
Online localization company Qordoba has just announced raising $1.5 million dollars from Silicon Oasis Ventures and MENA Ventures Investment. What's next for the startup? Here's what founder May Habib had to share during our chat.
How HTML5 will change gaming in the Arab world
HMTL5 has been dubbed as the most significant evolution yet in terms of web standards. And Arab mobile gaming platform Cloud Games is surely betting on its capabilities, to create a collective gaming experience, bridging between different browsers and devices.
What makes stories go viral, and why it may threaten your site's credibility
While virality, as a term, has often received its share of mockery, it remains one of the most interesting phenomena to observe- are there foolproof techniques to ensure your content goes viral? And what becomes of the intended impact of your content when the hype has died out? English managing editor Stephanie d’Arc Taylor weighs in, in this piece.
What keeps your employees happy? It's not the money
Making sure your team members enjoy working at your startup might result in more engagement and drive from their part, but it is also a way to cut costs- if your primary way of incentivizing them was through money. Here’s why.
Palestine's only startup accelerator Fast Forward announces its second class
Fast Forward, Palestine’s first accelerator, has recently announced its second class of startups, focused on these four tech-based solutions. From promoting indie music to a solution to current local online purchasing obstacles, here are the problems these startups are addressing.
10 tips for entrepreneurs on how to protect users' private information
As your startup grows, you find yourself with a substantial amount of user data to protect- how do you make sure you’re as breach-proof as possible? Managing editor Maya rounded up these 10 tips, on Data Privacy Day.