ArabWeeks

Forbes Middle East has unveiled the top 100 entrepreneurs shaping the future of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during an exclusive ceremony held at the stunning Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh.

Under the patronage of His Royal HighnessPrince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Governor of Riyadh, we were privileged to be joined by more than 350 people for the important event. The over-whelming majority of these inspiring individuals represented home-grown talent, with over 80% of the heads on the ranking being Saudi Arabian nationals.

Delivering his keynote speech, Dr. Nasser Bin Aqeel Al Tayyar, President of Arab Publisher House and Publisher of Forbes Middle East praised the vital role of the Saudi leadership in supporting entrepreneurship according to the vision and directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Al-Tayyar noted that the number of startups in technology and IT doubled this year compared with 2014, and that entrepreneurs were more willing to transparently share data and financial information with Forbes Middle East about their companies. He explained that the multiplicity and diversity of startups would ensure that the Saudi economy would remain sustainable and lively, adding that the achievement of the leadership’s ambitious goals would require concerted efforts and the exchange of ideas between decision-makers in the public and private sectors. Al-Tayyar called on top officials, businessmen and investors from various sectors to extend more support to entrepreneurs and provide help to the younger generations armed with science and ambition in order to bring about stability and comprehensive development in the Kingdom in future.

Mr. Sa’ad Bin Nahar Al Badah, CEO of Saudi Manpower Solutions Company, was also on hand to praise the awardees, saying: “The Saudi Government spares no effort in supporting entrepreneurship in accordance with the vision of the wise leadership”, adding that: “This provides a strong incentive for entrepreneurs to make more efforts in order to improve their brands and compete in various regional and global forums.”

Turki Abdullah Al Sideri was honored as Person of the Year 2015 for his 41 years of excellent service as General Supervisor at Alriyadh newspaper.

Forbes Middle East was supported by several organizations in hosting the event, including: Smasco, ATG, fast Auto Technic Co. Ltd. – Maserati KSA, EPG , JLL, the real estate investment and advisory firm, Elite executive services, Elegant resorts, AL Riyadh Newspaper, Sugar Sprinkle, and Spring Rose.

Mrs. Khuloud Al Omian, Editor-in-Chief ofForbes Middle East said: “We at Forbes Middle East are always proud to highlight the achievements of the region’s most promising startups. The people we honor this evening have not only accomplished great success individually, they are also bringing innovation to their industries and pride to their Kingdom. They are shaping the future of the business world in the whole Middle East and we are delighted to throw our full support behind them as they grow and expand.”

Detail about our rankings

Of the top 100 startups, e-commerce and IT were the top sectors with 15 rankings each. Marketing and advertisingwas second with 11 rankings, and the services sector was third with 8. The rest were in a range of sectors including food and beverages, entertainment and industrials fashion.

Entrepreneurs Shaping Saudi Arabia’s Future

Technology and innovation are disrupting industries around the world. The largest taxi company owns no vehicles (Uber); the most popular media platform creates no content (Facebook); the most valuable retailer has no inventory (Alibaba). Entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia are also harnessing the power of the internet and social media to create businesses that didn’t exist six years ago. UTURN Entertainment, which started out as a YouTube channel with a few funny videos, now aggregates original content on its platform, and distributes it across social media. It has become the largest online entertainment network in the Middle East, and has launched the careers of artists, turning them into UTURN stars.

Sawerly spotted an opportunity in the fragmented market for corporate and special events photographers. It has 1,000 photographers on its platform who bid for projects from customers.

E-commerce is one of the hottest sectors in the Middle East, and Dokkan Afkar (translation: the ideas’ shop) sells a lifestyle by curating a selection of merchandise from budding designers in Arab countries, potentially building their brands.  

Those three appear on this year’s FORBES MIDDLE EAST list of top 100 startups in Saudi Arabia. They have the potential to shape not only the country’s future, but the rest of the Middle East.

Dur Hospitality Company appointed Shapoorji Pallonji engineering and construction to build Diplomatic Quarter Riyadh Marriott Hotel and Executive apartments. This Project, considered as an important and promising investment opportunity for “Dur” in terms of geographical location and unique design, is expected to be completed in 24 months for a total cost of 259 million Riyals.

Dr. Badr bin Homoud Al-Badr, CEO Dur Hospitality said: ” the importance of this project lies in being the first international hotel opening its doors within the Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh, home to foreign embassies, international organizations and many governmental and financial institutions and leading private corporations in the Kingdom. Diplomatic Quarter Riyadh Marriott Hotel and Executive apartments will be managed and operated by Marriott International under a long-term agreement with Dur.”

He Added: ”We’re Keen on choosing the best construction company to handle the development of this new hotel which requires modern and sophisticated building techniques, and for that reason we selected Shapoorji Pallonji engineering and construction company, considering its extensive experience in the hotel development projects globally, regionally and locally, which played a big role in winning the development contract of this project. “

It is worth mentioning that The Riyadh Marriott Hotel in the Diplomatic Quarters is a 5-star, fully-serviced hotelstanding on a 25,000 m² land, designed by one of the most prestigious companies, inspired by the geological layers of Wadi Hanifa.

The hotel is comprised of 80 hotel rooms and 140 5-star, luxurious executive apartments, in addition to a main restaurant, a banquet hall with a capacity of 400 guests, a fitness center, and a parking lot with a capacity of 215 cars.

Volkswagen Saudi Arabia and Elite Automotive Alliance, the new Volkswagen dealer in KSA, hosted a press conference in Riyadh on December 17 with the adventurer Rainer Zietlow who spoke about the success of his record breaking experience using the Volkswagen Touareg. The Adventurer and record breaker Rainer Zietlow described the most spectacular project of his career, driving from the South African Cape Agulhas to Nordkapp in northern Norway in less than ten days using the Volkswagen Touareg, which was amplified with sensors and electronics to aid him on his journey. Rainer’s Touareg was also on display for the attendees to explore during the press conference. Zietlow was also driving for a good cause, for every driven kilometre, 20 cents went to an SOS Children’s Village in South Africa, which Zietlow visited in the beginning of his trip. This voyage cements the strength of Volkswagen cars and the essence of the brand that continues to seek progress and defy convention in every way possible, Volkswagen also continuously strives to find new innovative methods to portray their products, merits, and appeal to the brand’s loyal enthusiasts. Rainer Zietlow undertakes this journey with a Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI, which was slightly modified for this world record drive to keep the pauses at a minimum, the series Touareg was in motion around the clock apart from refuelling and border stops. The main sponsors, Hewlett Packard and Intel, provide additional features, which transformed the car into a four-wheeled innovation-laboratory.  This experience is a triumph for Volkswagen as it highlights the power and stability of its products. The Touareg endured various difficulties and challenges and portrayed an ease of adaptation to the critical situations it faced. A major part of the credit goes to the talented experienced Volkswagen engineers.  Rainer Zietlow commented saying, “Driving from cape to cape in record breaking time was a unique challenge, there were many risks and obstacles which made every day an amazing experience. And it is an honour for me to be here in Saudi Arabia again and talk about my accomplishments and get the chance to experience this great city that combines cultural heritage with a modern refinement.” Adel Barja, Marketing and Public Relations Director of Volkswagen Saudi Arabia, commented saying, “It is with great honour that we welcome, for the second time, a great adventurer such as Rainer Zietlow, and we are excited for this year’s unique presentation. We are proud of our brand and the Touareg that aided Rainer in the challenges and hindrances he encountered during his journey and proved its durability and strength in all stages of the trip. We are thrilled to see what future adventures await Rainer Zietlow and we wish him all the best in his career. The conference was held in cooperation with several significant companies, including Goodyear, 3M and BASF and who have significantly contributed to the success of this mission

• 35% sold on Souq.com app while mobile app and m-web accounted for over 55% of sales
• Souq.com is the top local site in the UAE as a result of White Friday
• 12K units sold in an hour

Souq.com, the largest online retailer in the Middle East, reveals that White Friday this year witnessed more than double last year’s sales with more than 13 million visitors and close to 600,000 items being sold from 25th and 28th November across the UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Egypt. Through Souq.comas well as on its mobile app, more than 40K different products were sold during White Friday 2015 sales period, with the top selling items recorded as: Perfumes, followed by Mobiles, Watches, Make up and Handbags. This is the first time that non-electronics items were sold in such large numbers and lead the growth, indicating the growing customer awareness and appreciation of Souq.com’s product diversity.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO & Co-Founder of Souq.com comments “We are thrilled to have recreated the e-commerce history for the Middle East region and we far exceeded the target we set for ourselves. We witnessed six times more new buyers every day, clearly indicating that Souq.com is building awareness of online shopping and leading the e-commerce growth in the region. By offering unrivalled deals and discounts on the most popular brands for a limited time only, we encouraged people who are not buying online to do so prompting further conversion to e-commerce long term.”

Souq.com further confirmed that 2 items were sold per second and over 55% of sales came from the mobile app and m-web. This evidently signifies mobile commerce as a huge driver of growth for the overall Middle East online market. The sales from market place sellers was doubled versus last year, with thousands of sellers who participated for the first time.

Mouchawar further adds, “Souq.com puts the customers at the forefront and is dedicated to providing them an unparalleled shopping experience and continuously innovating across its platform. The robust technical backend preparation we had done for these big days ensured our site did not go down any second even with 13 million visitors. In addition, to ensure a better service we have been working all year round to double our fulfillment network in 40 cities with our own delivery teams in addition to 200 new pick up locations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Souq.com partnered with some of the world’s leading brands during White Friday 2015. Huawei Honor, Samsung, Lenovo, OnePlus, Sony Playstation, Aldo, Guess, Pampers, Pepsi, Uber were amongst 10,000 new and exclusive deals that Souq.com launched during White Friday 2015.