Meet-up 08: Global Appeal, Local Access

Mazin AlShanbari

Director of Venture Capital at Jada Fund of Funds

​​​​​Jada’s third meet-up saw Saudi’s leading business executives coming together for a panel moderated by Mazin Alshanbari, Venture Capital Director, Jada, where the findings from the ‘Saudi Ventures’ Q2 report were discussed, published by the Saudi Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SVCPE) in August 2020.​

Mohammed AlDossary

​​​Sary Co-Founder & CEO​​​​

​​Mohammed Aldossary, Co-founder & CEO of Sary,went on to explain how Saryis using the data it is extracting from its operations. “Today, if you want to know how your product is performing as a manufacturer, you need to wait for the quarterly report and survey on a small sample. At Sary we have touch points with all the merchants on a daily basis, at the exposure of 30,000 SMEs in more than five major cities. So, we always have [in-depth] local understanding and the demand of these micro and small businesses.”He added: “With the data we give you how to maximize your earnings. As a supplier, we give you the reach to understand performance. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The data we are leveraging and capturing today gives us the capability to reduce costs for buyer and supplier, alike.”​

Khaled AlSiari

​​​Sary Co-Founder & CTO​

​Khaled Alsiari Co-Founder & CTO, Sary, explained howtheB2B ecommerce marketplaceis connecting buyers with sellers in a more seamlessthrough digital technology.“What the market lacks is synchronization,” he said. “To do this, we use technology to build continuity and connectivity between the multiple nodes in the supply chain. “We are empowering the buyers with technology that utilizes the data available in the market, the ability and accessibility that data provides to the other side of the market, the suppliers. And we are empowering suppliers, especially the micro suppliers who are new to the market, or they have limited reach due to the current operational challenges. And we are getting them more reach to other buyers.”​

Maan Eshgi

​​​​VentureSouq Partner​

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Suneel Gokhale

​​VentureSouq Partner​

​Turning to the investor’s side of thestory,Suneel Gokhale Partner, VentureSouq,explained some of the reasons behind an increasing outreach from international investors looking to enter the Middle East and specifically Saudi market. “Silicon Valley VCs like Rocketship are increasingly looking at Saudi and the region, because they are starting to realize it’s a unique and exciting[market], particularly for those comfortable investing in emerging and frontier markets.”​

Sailesh Ramakrishnan

rocketship.vc Managing Director​​​

​Offering an international perspective on how investors are identifying high-potential startups around the world, Sailesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Director, Rocketship.vc, said: “We build machine learning algorithms that work on the largest database of startup activity in the world today, to find what we believe are going to be the fastest-growing startups in the world. “We find those rocket ships that are about to launch or just have launched wherever they are in the world. So,on any given day, our algorithms find these companies and we reach out to them proactively.”He went on to add why he thought Sary’s value proposition was compelling. “There is still a little bit of resistance to doing B2B commerce with trust and with the real money on these systems. So,the thing that Sary brings to the table is it brings a very transparent platform that folks can see what is going on and sort of develop that trust.”​