Viaka Newsletter: Recapping the Lunch n Learn with nomu group!
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Event Spotlight: Lunch n Learn with NOMU Group
Hi everyone! This week, we’re highlighting Viaka’s most recent Lunch n Learn, which happened on March 1st with the leadership team of nomu group, MENA’s leading startup revolutionizing the region’s food system.
In partnership with TechWadi and ABANA, Viaka hosted Salman Attieh and Shehab Mokhtar nomu’s Chairman and CEO respectively. Salman and Shehab shared an overview of MENA’s current food system, highlighting some of the main pain points that nomu is solving, especially for families and small business consumers (i.e. restaurants and corner shops).
We also learned about nomu’s origin story and how both Shehab and Salman separately reached the conclusion to build the solutions that now comprise nomu’s product family (appetito and jumlaty).
The conversation closed with a look to the future and nomu’s role in building a more reliable food supply chain across the MENA region.
Promising Opportunities from Our Partners
New opportunities added in March 2023
To advise:
eComz is looking for experts in lead generation & sales expansion into new MENA markets, particularly KSA.
YallaPlay is looking for expert advice on setting up a scalable employee incentive program and exploring the possibility of a rebrand to better address global markets.
Designer-24 is looking for expert advice to help them build a strategy and template to effectively franchise their model in smaller MENA markets.
To fund:
NOMU Group is looking for investors to join their Pre-Series A, to build out their products and grow market share and support their vision for a sustainable, equitable, and personalized food system for families and business in MENA and beyond.
To receive investment from:
Unshackled Ventures is looking for visionary immigrant founders in the U.S. at the earliest stage of company creation.
No Label Ventures is looking fo immigrant founders in Europe at the earliest stages of startup creation. Have an amazing idea and looking for your first institutional funding? This is the fund for you.
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.”
LebNet and TechWadi are hosting a panel! On March 8th, TechWadi and LebNet will host a panel focusing on the discussion of the state of startups and venture funding. This in-person event promises to be great for the West Coast community. Sign up here.
AFICI is hosting a fundraising event in support of UNICEF. AFICI is joining the San Francisco NextGen Social Committee to aid UNICEF’s earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkey. The event is a great way to fundraise for an important cause. See more here.
HealthTech Investors is hosting a pitch competition! Eligible startups can enter a competition to win a minimum fundraising round of $100K. Learn more and sign-up here.
Origins Fund is looking to work with a freelancer, part-time helper, or intern to support content creation and social media management across platforms for the fund. If interested, please send an email to invest@origins.fund with your resume and relevant work samples to apply!
The Viaka Network has launched its exclusive Slack Workspace. To join, apply to become a member by clicking “Join the Network” below.
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.
Read of the Week
Viaka has launched a Network Reading List, where Network members are encouraged to submit media suggestions of their own.
Our suggested read this week is this piece from Network member Timothy Motte focusing on Daba, a startup focusing on changing investing in Africa.
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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