Stories
Stories
Innovative Thinking Fuels Nascent Startup Scene
Amira Rashad (MBA 1998)
When Amira Rashad (MBA 1998) cofounded the grocery delivery platform BulkWhiz in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in spring 2017, she joined a nascent startup scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. “Many of the necessary ingredients for entrepreneurship are there,” says Victoria Ivashina, the Lovett- Learned Professor of Finance, who studies the MENA region and serves as faculty chair of the School’s Middle East and North Africa Research Center (MENARC). Ivashina points first to the demographics of the region: 40 percent of the population is under 25, and youth unemployment stands at 28 percent. “The human capital is there,” she says. “And they are thinking outside of the box.”
In many ways, BulkWhiz, which has now grown to more than 50 employees and could potentially expand into Saudi Arabia, epitomizes the startup trends on the rise in the MENA countries. The company was cofounded by a woman—women represent about 25 percent of entrepreneurs in MENA countries as compared with the global average of 10 percent—and it capitalizes on the region’s high digital connectivity. BulkWhiz translates a grocery-delivery business model that has found success elsewhere in the world to the MENA market.
Circumventing obstacles presents opportunities for MENA entrepreneurs. Despite being one of the most connected regions in the world, with 88 percent of people online every day, the area’s e-commerce sector has grown slowly. One reason is last-mile delivery challenges in a region where people often lack formal street addresses, a problem solved by UAE-based startup Fetchr, which utilizes smartphone GPS coordinates for delivery.
Vitoria Ivashina, Lovett-Learned Professor of Finance and Global Initiative Faculty Chair, Middle East and North Africa Research Center (photo by Evgenia Eliseeva)
Although many startups have identified and seized upon opportunities, there are also several key challenges to entrepreneurship in the MENA region, Ivashina acknowledges. Some countries lack the necessary institutional structures. And even the startup hubs—Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, and Istanbul—lack one element that has made Silicon Valley such a success: a culture of failure. “Successful entrepreneurs have, almost as a rule, previously failed,” says Ivashina. “That’s how we learn. In Silicon Valley, it’s a badge of honor. But the MENA environment is not as conducive to a quick recovery after failure. The successful entrepreneurs that we’ve seen in the region are the survivors.”
Still, Ivashina is optimistic about the future of startups in the region: “The desire—and the need—for entrepreneurship could move the region’s economies forward in substantial ways.”
Post a Comment
Featured Faculty
Unit Head, Finance
Related Stories
-
- 15 Mar 2024
- Making A Difference
Hungry for Change
Re: Laurel Flynn (MBA 2012) -
- 01 Mar 2024
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Game On
Re: Brian McCarthy (MBA 1972); By: Jen McFarland Flint; photographed by Edward Linsmier -
- 01 Mar 2024
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Come Sail Away
Re: Michael Sard (MBA 2018); By: Julia Hanna -
- 01 Mar 2024
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Action Plan: Wild at Heart
Re: Heather Evans (MBA 1983); By: Christine Speer Lejeune
Stories Featuring Amira Rashad
-
- 13 Jan 2021
- Skydeck
Silicon Valley’s “Detroit Moment”
Re: Nicole Poindexter (MBA 1997); Amira Rashad (MBA 1998); Alex Lazarow (MBA 2010) -
- 01 Dec 2020
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Out of the Valley
Re: Alex Lazarow (MBA 2010); Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011); Nicole Poindexter (MBA 1997); Amira Rashad (MBA 1998); Nancy F. Koehn (James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration)