Endeavor Jordan concludes DealMakers 2015 event

Drawing on its mission to support high-impact entrepreneurship around the world and to enable Jordanian entrepreneurs to unleash their potential, Endeavor Jordan hosted DealMakers 2015 - the biggest annual ICT investment match-making event in Jordan - for the third consecutive year on Friday 20 November, 2015, at the Grand Hyatt Amman. Connecting top international, regional and local investors with some of the Technology sector’s most promising entrepreneurs, the exclusive event presented participants with an ideal platform to network, discuss investment opportunities and share industry knowledge. Sponsored by Umniah, along with Bank al-Etihad, Capital Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank and King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), the event was attended by 120 investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders. 

DealMakers 2015 kicked off with an opening talk by Co-Founder and CEO of Souq.com, Ronaldo Mouchawar, moderated by Editor-in-Chief at Entrepreneur Middle East Magazine, Fida Chaaban, during which they discussed Souq’s emergence as the largest online shopping mall in the Arab World. This was followed by a full program of four entrepreneur workshops addressing Design Thinking; Marketing Strategies; Raising Capital; and Navigating the Legal Landscape. The workshops were delivered by a group of high-caliber international speakers comprising: Karim Cherif, Managing Director of Cirquest - Netherlands; Mike Keriakos, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Everyday Health and Curacity Inc. /Surface Hotels - USA; Allen Taylor, Vice President of Endeavor Global Network; Jon Layman, Partner at Hogan Lovells - USA; and Brandon Simmons, General Counsel and Head of Growth Engineering at Tachyus - USA.

In addition to the workshops, the Endeavor Investor Network held a closed Investor Roundtable discussion, giving investors the chance to explore investment opportunities and learn about the latest developments in the MENA ICT sector.

The event culminated in the one-on-one speed networking sessions, during which entrepreneurs sat with investors for 15 minutes each over the course of two hours. The match-making sessions successfully connected more than 40 Jordanian entrepreneurs with international, regional and local investors.

“The annual DealMakers event underscores our ongoing efforts to support the wider entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Kingdom by attracting more investments. Through this event, we were able to help tech companies within our network connect with investors and mentors in order for them to grow their businesses,” commented Rasha Manna, Managing Director of Endeavor Jordan. “We’re honored to have had such a distinguished group of speakers, investors and entrepreneurs participate with us this year to discuss investment opportunities, exchange industry knowledge and connect with one another. On this note, I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to all our sponsors for their help in making this event such a success.”