The Entrepreneurial and Investments Projects Development Company Salwa Katkhuda- Investment Manager

1. Oasis500: Accelerating Tech Start-ups in • The Middle East The Entrepreneurial and Investments Projects Development Company Salwa Katkhuda- Investment Manager

2. Oasis 500 –Overview • Oasis 500 invests in early stage companies and transforms them into viable businesses by addressing the following gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem: • Seed and Angel Investment Funding • Help and Know-how • Societal and Environmental Support • Oasis 500 is focused on investing in the areas of ICT, mobile, and digital media • Oasis 500 aims to train over 3,000 companies and invest in 500 companies in its first 5 years

3. Oasis 500 – What We Do? Oasis 500 operates 4 major activities to address the missing gaps in the ecosystem

4. Oasis 500 –Gender Strategy Findings Sample size (126 entrepreneurs, 35% women, 65% men) • The ecosystem does not appear to have a bias towards or against female entrepreneurs • The real problem with female entrepreneurship goes back to the problem of women in the workforce in general • Jordan has one of the highest female literacy rates in the region (82%), yet females represent only 11% of the workforce. • The technology sector is one of the only sectors in the economy that supports the involvement of women in the workforce and provides them with high value jobs

5. Challenges Faced by Women • Limited access to a proper transit system • Long working hours • Culture of women being outside the home • Working with men • Access to proper training and education to match employment opportunities

6. Solutions Made Possible by Technology • The Internet has transformed women's opportunities • More flexible work options, freelance, home-based work • Ability to work remotely • Being your own boss with low capital needs • Lucrative growth industry • Online resources available for free/low cost

7. Oasis 500 – Tadreesna Case Study • The first Arabic online tutoring school for students founded by a Jordanian woman- Nora Al Saad • Nora hired 20 freelance online tutors, 10 of which were unemployed qualified teachers, from 5 Arab countries • In 3 months she has enrolled 186 students

8. First Bazaar Case Study • A one stop e-commerce shop where local designers can display and sell their unique hand made goods - founded by Linda Hallaq • Linda helps more than 1,000 women designers in the MENA region sell their goods online from home

9. Oasis 500 - Statistics • Out of the 500 trained entrepreneurs (March 2012), 123 are women (25%) • 18/52 companies were founded/co-founded by women (35%) • 150 total mentors, 30 are women (20%) • The number of women employed by Oasis 500 startups since Sept 2010 is 48. • Women led startups at Oasis 500 have managed to attract USD 1million in follow on funding in less than 1 year. • Oasis 500 team, 8/11 are women

10. Oasis 500 – How Oasis 500 Encourages Entrepreneurship According to Oasis 500 research: • The training boot camp: • Equips entrepreneurs with basic knowledge to start their own business • Allows entrepreneurs to objectively evaluate the business opportunity • Gives entrepreneurs the confidence to start their own business • Exposure to Oasis 500’s previous success stories • The supportive ecosystem: • The incubation, mentorship, coaching, connections, and introduction to investors minimizes risk and costly mistakes

11. Oasis 500 – What More Could be Done to Encourage Women Entrepreneurship According to Oasis 500 research: • Reach out to more women, through targeted marketing, to enroll more women in the training boot camp • Expose women entrepreneurs to more women success stories • Increase the number of women mentors in the network • Introduce entrepreneurship as a viable path for women at school and university levels, promoting being your own boss

12. Do you have any questions? Would you like to get involved? Salwa@oasis500.com