EU initiative fosters young Jordanian entrepreneurs

AMMAN — The Jordan Elevator Road Show, launched on Wednesday at King Hussein Business Park, saw the presentations of nine young Jordanian entrepreneurs competing to gain access to exclusive mentorships and a chance to pitch their start-ups to investors next year. 

“Those who disrupt the classical business model are some of the most successful start-ups,” said Abdulmalek Al Jaber, CEO of Arabreneur, during his opening speech. 

The event was part of the EU-funded Next Society initiative that fosters start-up growth throughout the MENA region and was locally collaborated with the Information & Communications Technology Association of Jordan (int@j) and Arabreneur. 

“We don’t have a shortage of great minds in Jordan. If challenged, coached and mentored correctly, wonders can come out of these minds,” said Umniyah’s Corporate Affairs and HR Manager Sami Jarrar. 

The young entrepreneurs, who were preselected through an application process, were all under the age of 30 and came from various fields, including real estate, healthcare and ICT, among others. 

Having only few minutes to pitch their start-up’s prototype to the jury, the young entrepreneurs had to explain how they have innovatively solving an issue in their community.

“I didn’t want to be that person trying to organise an event using 60 different WhatsApp groups, begging people to respond,” said 30-year-old CEO Rola Fayyad, who presented Friendture, a simplified app that allows users to find and plan group activities, while splitting costs and maintaining privacy. 

After each presentation, the jury asked further questions, challenged the entrepreneur on some of his or her key ideas, and then provided feedback on how to better their business model. 

“We’re asked some good questions, by people who’ve seen and spoken to thousands of start-ups, and I might not have the right answer each time, but by coming to these events and by practising my pitch, I can only get better at it,” said presenter Mohammad Majdalawi, founder of AqarCircle, an online platform for property search.   

The entire event revolved around the theme of fostering innovation, leadership and the transfer of knowledge in Jordan, but 21-year-old Majdalawi said the country can do more for them.

“We need a physical space where knowledge can be distributed. We need a hub where all start-ups can gather together and exchange ideas. Learning from each other is how we can succeed. The Business Park is a very nice place, but it is very expensive. I’m just in the beginning of my business right now, I can’t afford to pay JD10,000 per year for an office.” 

Paying income tax was another concern for some of the young entrepreneurs. 

“Start-ups from day one, have to register as a company, they have to pay taxes, and get permits. I’ve barely raised the money to pay my employees, and now I have to pay taxes.  Give us a one-year break and see how the country will change,” said Friendture founder Fayyad.