7 promising startups coming out of Gaza in 2015/ 2016

I recently had the pleasure of watching seven pitches from Gaza-based startups looking for seed investment, and was pleasantly surprised by the innovative ideas and delivery.

To address some of the immediate questions your probably thinking, if your not well versed on the region: yes, there are startups in Middle East war zones; yes, they can be of high quality; and yes, entrepreneurs have been killed.

Not only is there a clear determination to solve local problems, but also to compete in the same industries as well funded ventures from booming tech areas around the world, and all without the resources.

Much of this is thanks to the Gaza Sky Geeks accelerator who provide a desk and mentorship to turn these ideas into reality. They are currently cash strapped, so check out their expired Indigogo campaign for an overview of what’s going on. Here’s a brief look at these seven Gazan startups pitching for investment in 2015:

(1) TebCare provides access to text and voice consultations (video in the future) with qualified doctors in order to combat the limitations of online search. An ambitious and very important project that aims to relieve pressure on hospital intake, while improving accuracy of diagnosis. It is easy to see the value for vulnerable regions such as Gaza, with all sorts of potential for NGO partnerships. However, I suspect that the true private-sector scope goes far beyond the boundaries of the Middle East as they explained to us.

(2) KeenBall, a smart football that helps you improve your shot technique, measuring power, curve and point of contact, using sensors connected to a mobile app. Football is a sport that connects communities around the world, so it’s only fitting that such a product comes from grass-roots players in Gaza who believe in accessibility, quality and fuelling grass-roots talent. On top of that, Keen are in fact packing more features for a fraction of the price of competitors.

(3) Dietii, a dieting app specifically aimed at Arabic Women. Built by three determined Gazans in Abeer, Salam, Amal, this is a great example of the high female participation rate in the region that trumps Silicon Valley (depending on where your getting your statistics). They have identified that the key to a truly useful application is beautiful and intuitive design with automated notifications. We had a great discussion on potential problems incorporating nutritional data, and it became clear very quickly that the founders are enthusiastic problem solvers.

(4) Walk and Charge, a battery for your electronic devices that you can charge simply by walking. Yet another example of a young startup with the aim of solving local issues that can be grown to a global scale. The founders have managed to build working prototypes with extremely limited resources, and could adapt the technology for other exciting applications.

(5) Baskalet, a new player in the Arabic social mobile games space that has previously achieved 100k downloads within 3 weeks for a single game. The team of six now hope to release six games a year and replicate that previous success for clients and their own in-house projects.

(6) Mock App, a new software application for mock UX designs that focuses on unique social features to stand out in the crowd. Having seen a brief demonstration of its capability, it was a clear sign that the design team here is able to produce a top quality product that can certainly compete with the big players.

(7) Maktabi, the Airbnb for desk space that offers a platform for Arabic companies to rent unused office space. Office sharing is a culture that has taken off in the Western markets in the past few years, but Arabic countries are still transitioning to the change. Maktabi appears to be well ahead of the curve in that respect, but as the startup scene grows in the region they will have an attractively designed platform ready.

You may have noticed that none of these ideas are completely new, but that in itself should be encouraging. Gazan founders are identifying disruptive ideas in foreign markets and realising they can be improved and executed with far fewer resources for relatively untapped markets. Without the disadvantage of being the first-mover in these types of markets it should reduce a lot of the risk in the eyes of potential investors, although access to finance in the region is the next big obstacle and ill write another post about why that is some time in the near future.

To learn some more about the fresh ideas coming out of Gaza please check out the Gaza Sky Geeks website, or to explore further some of the harsh realities of doing business in Gaza, check out this 2014 article by wired magazine.

The author: A British born business economics graduate from Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Having spent time with the Studentsinc incubator in Utrecht and the Oasis 500 accelerator in Jordan he has caught the startup bug after once dreaming of becoming an investment banker in the London Docklands. Catch me on LinkedIn.