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Amman: Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) Chief Executive Officer, Laith Al Qasem, has conducted a session with a group of entrepreneurs and startup owners to discuss their ideas and potentials for growth and development within the Jordanian market. The entrepreneurial projects were focused on tech and marketing solutions, as well as business intelligence.
During the session, Eng. Rashed Al Dweik addressed the topic of media startups and their relevance to business development and innovation, commenting, “We extend professional media services and have worked with several companies and clients, achieving effective results. Over the course of the session, we learned more about the phases startups undergo and the different requirements of each, which will enable us to merge business development with the existing media services we provide so as to accelerate our growth.”
Meanwhile, the entrepreneurial concept of Eng. Majdi Mabrouk tackled the regulation of the car industry and the facilitation of related services within the local and regional markets, stating, “Our idea stemmed from the need to streamline the supply of cars to Jordan and coordinate after-sales services, on par with global car manufacturer standards. Exploring my concept with a leading entity that specializes in supporting innovative ideas has been of great value and has given me several viable options for consideration.”
Furthermore, entrepreneur Ezz Al Din discussed his augmented reality project, elaborating, “We aim to deliver an inventive solution that enables establishments to boost interactivity between their customers and their surroundings in order to enhance user experiences and integration. This technology will allow us to become part of the upcoming tech revolution anticipated for 2030, which will be kicking off within the next few years. Our idea comes with various challenges and finding an entity that is knowledgeable within this field has not been easy. However, we now have the ability to devise a clear work plan that empowers us to overcome these obstacles and transform our concept into reality when the time is right.”
Throughout the session, Al Qasem shared valuable advice and guidance, whilst highlighting the key role of the ISSF in supporting entrepreneurial ideas and SMEs through investment, training or funding.
“We firmly believe that the future of Jordan lies in its youth. That being said, sufficient communication with them remains lacking and their voices and ideas must now be heard. Our goal at the ISSF is to advance the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is primarily achieved by directly interacting with youth, and this is the main reason we kickstarted these sessions,” explained Al Qasem.
These sessions are the first in a series of meetings specifically organized by the ISSF to engage with young Jordanian female and male entrepreneurs to ultimately bolster communication with them, offer them guidance, understand their challenges and respond to their questions.
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About the Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund
The ISSF is a national project established in 2017 as a private shareholding company to actively promote a fundamental shift within the local entrepreneurial and innovation landscape. The ISSF - which is the largest investment fund of its kind in Jordan - is implemented in cooperation with the World Bank over a duration of six years, concluding in November 2023. During this period, the World Bank foresees the ISSF to make both direct and indirect investments (the latter in investment funds) in 150-200 local innovation companies and build the capacities of at least 825 entrepreneurs and SMEs through specialized training to qualify them for prospective investments. The total working capital of the ISSF is USD 98 million, with a USD 48 million investment from the Central Bank of Jordan and a USD 50 million investment from the World Bank. The ISSF is committed to facilitating funding for Jordanian early-stage startups and SMEs, particularly those demonstrating ambitious vision and high growth potential. The ISSF endeavors to foster a thriving and supportive entrepreneurial environment that enables promising local entrepreneurs to transform innovative projects into sustainable startups; generate jobs for Jordanian men and women; and prompt economic sectors that serve export markets by capitalizing on the creative and technical capabilities of entrepreneurs and management teams across Jordan.
© Press Release 2021
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