News & Stories
Syrian Anti-Car Theft App AWI and Smart Marionette Win the Startup Roadshow in Gaziantep
SWB Team Syrian-led startups AWI-Car Secure and Smart Marionette have just won the pitching competition at the Startup Roadshow in Gaziantep, Turkey, after a 5-day bootcamp where 20 teams of Syrian startups battled it out for the first prize. AWI International, founded by Firas Sheakh Mousa, is a mobile app and an electronic device to...
Saleem Najjar, The Syrian Entrepreneur Building the Artisans’ Gateway to Global Markets
Yasmeen Smadi meets the Syrian entrepreneur giving artisans in Jordan access to market with Sharqi Shop. By Yasmeen Smadi Brought by: Jusoor and Spark It’s Monday evening and I’m driving through the streets of Amman, the windows rolled down to enjoy the spring breeze, as I head off to the city’s Business Park to meet …...
5 Things I learned Interviewing 13 Refugee Changemakers
While writing her book ‘Refugee Changemakers,’ Apoorva Mittal embarked on a journey to encounter newcomers across the Netherlands. This is what she learned. By Apoorva Mittal What if we took a tour across the Netherlands to find the refugee changemakers turning adversity into unimaginable strength? That’s what Apoorva...
Inside Amsterdam’s Only Arabic Bookstore Cafe: Meet the Syrian Entrepreneur Behind ‘Pages’
Yasmeen Smadi meets the relentless award-winning publisher who brought Arabic literature to the city of canals. By Yasmeen Smadi In the heart of Amsterdam, amongst one of its three main canals lined with beautiful old houses, tall trees, and bicycles chained to its bridges, lies a cultural gem: the city’s only Arabic bookstore...
Inside TEDx Roma Salon: Innovation By and For Migrants Takes the Stage at Porous Borders
By Valentina Primo Inside a packed auditorium in Rome’s MAXXi Museum, we get to meet the changemakers behind Arian Teleheal, Mygrants, and Re-future Project. It was a packed room at Rome’s MAXXi museum last September at TEDx Roma Salon as “Porous Borders,” a relay series of talks held in five cities geared up to begin. …...
E-Commerce Startup Sharqi Shop and HealthTech Fadfeth Championed the Startup Roadshow in Amman
Amman. Syrian-led e-commerce platform Sharqi Shop, and Fadfeth have won the Startup Roadshow competition in Jordan, held on October 11th. The Startup Roadshow, organised by Jusoor and SPARK, is in the midst of its tour across 5 cities, setting off to discover the next generation of Syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey and the Levant region....
Refugee Entrepreneurs Are Using Facebook to Sell their Products. What Can Facebook Do for Them?
By Valentina Primo “Learning is key – not only for refugee entrepreneurs but also for us,” says Facebook’s Vice President in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey Ari Kesisoglu. “We’re here to give hope. There are 3 groups of people that matter: SMEs, entrepreneurs and women. When these three groups success, countries do...
Peer-to-Peer Logistics and AgriTech Startups Win Big at the Startup Roadshow in Erbil
Shiffer, a peer-to-peer, online logistics platform for express shipping, and Agri-Answer have won the Startup Roadshow competition, held in Erbil on October 4th. This is the second round of the competition organized by Jusoor and SPARK to support Syrian entrepreneurs, after a successful first edition in Beirut last September. At the end...
How 10 Years in a Dutch Refugee Camp Prepared Sina Azizi for Trading Cryptocurrency
The Iranian entrepreneur began trading penny stocks to learn about the stock market. Today, he advices firms through his startup. By SWB Team Trading on the stock market is a volatile and risky business; it is a simple reality that everyone loses money at some point. But then again, refugees are known for taking risks. …...
Home Chef Lebanon and Loop Just Won the First Prize at the Startup Roadshow in Beirut
The startups, a home-made meals delivery service and a peer-to-peer platform for exchanging and commercializing second-hand toys, will compete at the finals in Amsterdam next November. It’s October, but it still feels like summer in Beirut. At the Beirut Digital District, Lebanon’s tech hub, Syrian entrepreneurs ...
7 Migrant Entrepreneurs Going from Dreamers to Founders in Cairo
What makes someone a founder? We speak with 7 refugee entrepreneurs turning their ingenious ideas into concrete business plans. Last summer, 20 bold entrepreneurs met as the SWB Coaching Competition kicked-off in the heart of downtown Cairo. The sessions started off with a group session led by Business Coach Reem Sherif, who went on to...
“Instead of Being Helped, Refugees Are the Ones Doing the Helping”
What if we turned the tables and started looking at refugees for the talent they have, instead of the things they they need? We meet Mursal Hedayat, founder of the EdTech startup doing just that. By SWB Team Summer is officially over. This month, children across Europe start the new school year. But a crisis …...
The Startup Roadshow Has Begun in Lebanon – and You Can Still Apply!
The competition for Syrian entrepreneurs in the Middle East has just started the first of its startup bootcamps in Lebanon, as 20 teams of brave startups battle it up to pitch at the finale in Amsterdam. Twenty teams of valiant Syrian entrepreneurs have just taken to Beirut Digital District, where the Startup Roadshow kicked off the...
Could This Be the Middle East’s Own Lush?
Yasmeen Smadi meets Samah Kheir El-Zein, the Syrian entrepreneur pioneering locally-made organic skincare products in Egypt. by Yasmeen Smadi Samah pours the green mixture into the small, heart-shaped moulds as the voice of her children playing sings in the background. Her organic skin-care products, which she makes at home, emanate a...
This Entrepreneur Invented a Device that Helps Parents Track their Children through a Chip in their Shoes
Syrian entrepreneur Raafat Hantouch turned a dramatic childhood experience into an innovative tech solution that is now making waves in Germany. By Valentina Primo and Maysaa Ajjan That day, the Damascene market bustled with busy consumers hustling their way to buy Syrian specialties. But for one mother, the experience became a painful...
