Led · Seed · Mar 2021

Abwaab builds web and native-app learning products for secondary-school students, delivering curriculum-aligned micro-lessons, assessments, discussion boards and chat or video tutoring. The platform targets gaps in online educational resources across the MENAP region and aims to reduce reliance on offline tutoring. It operates a freemium model in Jordan with a one-off annual subscription (about US$15) to unlock access for the academic year. Abwaab says it grew active users 10x during the 2020/21 academic year and previously acquired Pakistani edtech startup Edmatrix. Founded in late 2019, the company has expanded from Jordan into Egypt and Pakistan. Following its latest fundraise, Abwaab plans to further expand across MENA and Pakistan. Abwaab offers an online learning platform for secondary school students across the MENA region, providing concept-based video lessons, visualized learning journeys, continuous assessment, and performance-tracking. The platform is accessible via desktop and mobile web and includes expert tutors and on-demand content. Since launching its product in Jordan, Abwaab has produced over 50,000 video lessons and questions and currently serves hundreds of thousands of unique students. The company plans to use the new funding to accelerate regional expansion, beginning with Egypt. Financially, the recent seed round increased the company’s total funding to $7.5M. Abwaab was founded in 2019 by CEO Hamdi Tabbaa and is based in Amman, Jordan. Abwaab Technologies is an Amman, Jordan-based edtech startup focused on improving out-of-school learning for Arabic-speaking youth. The platform offers concept-based video lessons taught by experienced teachers, along with assessments and performance-tracking features so students can learn at their own pace. The website launched in early February and the company has produced nearly 1,000 videos to date. Abwaab has begun rolling out STEM content tailored to the Jordanian market and operates a freemium subscription model. Founded in September 2019 by Hamdi Tabbaa and Hussein Alsarabi, the startup aims to make high-quality education accessible regardless of socioeconomic background. The company plans to use new funding to further develop its product and expand its team.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2020

Intrro uses data science to comb a company’s wider network and automatically suggest the most promising candidates as employee referrals. The platform aims to make outreach personal by enabling existing employees to vouch for and refer candidates rather than relying on mass outreach. Customers report a five-fold increase in referral hiring within the first 90 days of usage, and clients include Airwallex, Riskified, Faire, Applyboard, and Typeform. The founders, Nasser Oudjidane and Neel Shah, previously sourced and placed talent at Adecco Group before building Intrro. The article highlights industry statistics on referral effectiveness and retention to contextualize Intrro’s value proposition. To date the company has raised $2.8 million in funding, including a new $2.2 million round. Intrro offers software that digitises and automates employee referrals: it uses machine learning to scan employees’ social and professional networks to identify candidate matches, then enables a human intro before a recruiter takes over. The product aims to deliver pools of diverse, verified talent to hiring managers. The company was founded last May by Nasser Oudjidane and Neel Shah, both formerly with Adecco Group’s Abu Dhabi office. Intrro’s business operations are based in London while its product, development, and data science teams are in Tbilisi, Georgia. The startup has just raised new funding and plans to deploy most of it to its Tbilisi teams and product development. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.