Viaka Newsletter: Helping financial institutions access DeFi -- Tarek and hyphen!
Viaka is building the exclusive digital destination for top-tier founders, experts, investors, and talent across the globe with a professional or personal interest in the MENA region
This week, we’re featuring Network member Tarek Mohammad!
Who are you?
I am a startup founder, building out hyphen labs. My story is simple: I come from a small country in the Middle East, Lebanon. I studied economics and actuarial science as an undergraduate and graduated in 2019. However, during that period, Lebanon experienced huge economic turmoil. The government defaulted on its government bonds, in parallel, the banking system defaulted. I lost all my personal savings. By that time, I was working for KPMG as a consultant. Covid hit. Concurrently, the second largest non-nuclear explosion hit the Port of Beirut in August 2020. KPMG office was five minutes walking distance away from the explosion and one of my managers died.
Being faced with those events, I was dedicated to innovate in the banking sector. I quit KPMG. By then, I’d decided that the banking system needed to be fixed, and the only way to do it was through fintech and blockchain because with this novel technology, there are no intermediaries. Within that period, I applied to the Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) program at Berkeley Haas and arrived in the states in March 2022. During my studies, I won the Franklin Templeton Blockchain contest in Palo Alto. During that period, I met Jin, my current co-founder, at the orientation of the MFE and I decided to partner on a venture together and never looked back.
What do you currently do?
Focusing on helping financial institutions to get access into DeFi, we carried our startup to get accepted into Techstars. Our startup is on mission to be the bridge for financial institutions to access new financial venues. Today, significant number of traditional firms are keen into getting into this new world; however, with any emerging market, there is lack of infrastructure that is needed to be built first before execution. Here comes hyphen Labs, we are reimaging the financial infrastructure with the help of the new technology.
What prompted you to go down this career path and how did you get into this field?
Putting my personal story that I lived in Lebanon, I believe in the power of fintech and blockchain being the driver force to innovation. Traditional finance is great, and it got to what we are today. I believe it is time to hand over to financial technology to shape the future we are all thinking. Many inefficiencies are eating the margins in the financial world from payments, trading, banking, to even compliance. Before coming to the states, I always had back in mind that I want to run a business; however, getting admitted to the Master of Financial Engineering program, which is ranked #1 quant finance program worldwide, I thought the end goal is getting a full-time job as day trader on Wall Street or quant researcher. My cofounder and I were able to craft our own path with the help ofcourse of the program director toward entrepreneurship. In addition, this is my second venture, I tried previously building Brex for the EMENA region.
What originally got you interested in connecting with the MENA startup ecosystem and other like-minded folks in Europe/North America?
I am from there. I spent most of my life in Lebanon. I understand what it takes to build in the ecosystem in the middle east, I had a firsthand experience. The challenges facing founders in that region are immense with deep rooted causes that require collaborative effort to be solved. From my current position and being in heart of innovation in Silicon Valley, I have to give back. Isn’t this what entrepreneurship all about? Borderless innovation. I would love to see one day Lebanon among other countries as leaders in innovation. Talent exists, motivation exists, but always boil down to infrastructure that needs to be built out.
What types of connections are you looking to make through Viaka? This can be from the MENA side, as well as with other MENA-connected folks in the Viaka Network
To iterate over the previous question: infrastructure. I see myself building out this infrastructure with different folks.
Where will that take you?
From a perspective of giving first, I am not looking for a return. The fact I am able to feel that a founder from the MENA region is benefiting from my offering is by itself the reward. This is what I wanted from startup founders when I used to be in Lebanon. A source of hope. And I believe it is time to be that source. If we are talking about my startup, we see ourselves playing the long-term game in innovation in financial markets in the states from different angles. It is important for founders to position themselves before the wave comes. Today, we may be facing the coldest winter, accompanied with banking meltdown, in the states. This is having a direct effect over the entrepreneurial spirit. But downturns are times for true builders and believers to build and be scrappy.
Bonus: favorite dish from the MENA world?
Ouch, the two dishes that I am willing to spend my life eating are stuffed grape leaves “Warak Enab”, Lebanese know what I am talking about, and definitely Hummus.
Promising Opportunities from Our Partners
New opportunities added in May 2023
To invest in:
uMake is raising a seed round to fuel the expansion of their innovation ecosystem model to commercial real estate in Palestine and the rest of the MENA region.
To receive investment from:
533 Syndicate is looking for promising founders across stages and industries. Ticket sizes as low as $20K and as high as $100K.
Click on the button below to see all current opportunities & get involved:
Exciting Announcements From Our Network
Below is a list of updates, wins, and asks emanating from members of the Viaka Network in the “West.”
We’re hosting an AMA with 4 VCs in our Network! Fundraising is tough right now, so we’ll be asking top-tier VCs how startups can still impress.
Unshackled Ventures is hosting an event during LA tech week! This great event will feature a discussion of successful immigrants in entrepreneurship. See more here.
uCast is hiring a sales team member! Interested in joining an early-stage startup in a sales role? Check out the posting here for more info.
If you’re a member of our Network and would like to share your own update next week, email info.viaka@gmail.com or submit an update via this form.
Reads of the Week
Viaka has launched a Network Reading List, where Network members are encouraged to submit media suggestions of their own.
Lara on the Block writes about the exodus of crypto startups from the US to MENA.
Middle East Eye analyzes how AI is leaving Arabic speakers behind.
a16z looks into their “commandments” of raising equity in a tight market.
Check out Viaka’s full reading list here.
Weekly News Digest
Check out our weekly digest — we provide news from all across the MENA startup ecosystem, every single Friday. Be sure to follow our LinkedIn and Twitter for more.
That’s it for this week. Thank you! 👋
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