Sandpit Startups Sam Drake & Abhishek Chatterjee

In this podcast episode with Walid Mansour, Co-founder of Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), we explore the journey of the first and now one of the largest Venture Capital firms in MENA. Since its inception in 2008, MEVP has built an impressive portfolio, including stellar names like Anghami, Invygo, Fresha, and MamoPay. Join us as we delve into how venture capital is akin to a startup constantly raising funds, the essential checklist for startups applying to VC firms, and how VCs identify ...

Join us for an engaging conversation with Atul Bansal, co-founder of Livlyt, a cutting-edge IT platform designed to help companies optimize their tech spending. Atul provides valuable insights into how Livlyt tracks SaaS usage, manages device inventory, secures devices, and offers on-demand IT support to streamline operations and save costs. We also explore how his experience consulting with McKinsey and working in a Unicorn (or Unicamel in MENA) influenced his entrepreneurial mindset. Additi...

We have a deep dive discussion with Obediah Ayton, Director Dhabi Holding Company and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Family Office Summit. Obediah shares his experience on the rise of the new investor class that many startups aren't aware of. We also understand how 2 different emirates although in one country behaves as a different hubs for startups. Also we discuss the investor's mindset and what startup entrepreneurs should keep in mind when they engage with such investors. Get ready for a crash cou...

Join us in this inspiring session with Tarek Ghobar, co-founder of Paymennt and recognized as a Forbes Top 20 FinTech Entrepreneur. Discover how Paymennt is is transforming digital payments for micro and small businesses handle online payments by offering a quick, secure, and cost-effective solution. Tarek shares his experiences from managing FoodPanda in Saudi Arabia to spearheading Paymennt's innovative, secure, and cost-effective online payment solutions. Learn about the acquisition journe...

In this episode, we have a food chat with Benjamin Mouflard, the co-founder of Chatfood. ChatFood offers restaurants a commission-free platform for online ordering and sales via social media and websites, with integrated payment and logistics solutions. We talk to Benjamin about his entrepreneurial journey from selling golf balls in his youth to getting Chatfood acquired by a global scaleup Deliverect. Benjamin with Chatfood raised more than USD 5 Million in funding and talks about making a n...

In this squeaky clean episode we sit down with Jad Halaoui, the co-founder of Washmen, a digital laundry and dry-cleaning service in the UAE. We talk about Jad's journey from working in Canada one day for an Oil & Gas giant to take the leap of faith to fly to UAE and work with his co-founder Rami on Washmen. He talks about the highs of receiving multiple rounds of funding and being mentored by the co-founder of Careem to the lows of coping with the struggles and anxiety of his startup Was...