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 protect cars from robbery, in addition to allowing users to…
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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 cafe: Pages. Set in the peace and quiet of The Herengracht, the…
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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 better,” said Ari Kesisoglu, Vice President for Middle East…
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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  Ahmad Alhamwi, Median Abd Albaki, and Qusai Husni Sakher are…
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