ME NewsWire
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Thursday, January 16th 2014
Endeavor, a global non-profit NGO that supports high impact entrepreneurs, announced the formal launch of a new affiliate in the United Arab Emirates. This represents Endeavor’s seventh affiliate in the MENA region and expands the organization’s presence to 19 countries around the world.
All Endeavor affiliates are spearheaded by a local board of leading business people and CEOs. The new affiliate's board will be co-chaired by Muna al Gurg, Director of Retail at Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and Patrick Chalhoub, co-CEO of Chalhoub Group. Founding directors include: Avishesha Bhojani, Chairman of International Management Ventures; Fadi Ghandour, Vice Chairman of Aramex; Joseph Ghossoub, CEO of MENACOM; Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of MAF Ventures; Souheil Hajjar, CEO MAF Trust; Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises; Noor Sweid, Founder of ZenYoga; Nilesh Ved, Chairman of Apparel Group and Mustafa Abdel Wadood, Partner of Chairman of the Management Executive Committee, Abraaj Group.
The board has named Noor Shawwa as Managing Director of Endeavor in the UAE, who will oversee a team at the affiliate’s Dubai offices.
Patrick Chalhoub stated: "the establishment of Endeavor in the UAE makes us proud and we are excited to establish its operating model, especially since Dubai is considered to be a business hub and the crossroads for companies on a regional and global basis, which makes it a focus in the public eye."
He added: "business leadership is an essential pillar for the creation of new and advanced opportunities and we will work diligently through Endeavor to help small and medium-sized companies expand internationally and meet global standards."
In separate comments, Fadi Ghandour said: "this is an essential step in helping Arab, and, in particular, Emirati youth achieve initiatives on a sound basis, enabling them to take advantage of business opportunities beyond their borders."
“We’re thrilled to include the UAE as a member of the Endeavor network,” said Endeavor co-founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg. “This is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and we hope that we can help bring a number of locally based businesses to scale and play a role in fostering entrepreneurship here.”
This announcement was made during Endeavor’s 51st International Selection Panel, held in Dubai, in which two UAE-based companies were selected, PropertyFinder and Duplays. PropertyFinder was created in 2007 as the UAE's first online property catalog, an invaluable resource for developers and sellers to list their properties and for buyers/renters to locate available properties in seconds. Duplays, created in 2008, is a platform that helps individuals build and join sports networks and tournaments.
The launch of Endeavor in the UAE continues its rapid expansion in the MENA region. While Endeavor’s UAE team will focus on selecting and mentoring Emirates-based entrepreneurs with scalable business models from across all the Emirates, it is also expected to play a role in supporting other Endeavor entrepreneurs from across the region. Endeavor already operates in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Founded in 1997, Endeavor selects and supports high-impact entrepreneurs who have the potential to scale from promising SMEs into companies that create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs and generate significant revenues. Once selected, Endeavor Entrepreneurs are given world-class strategic mentoring advice, access to key networks and other tools and talent programs that will catapult them to success.
In the past 16 years Endeavor has selected 844 high-impact entrepreneurs from 15 countries around the world in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, and Southeast Asia. In 2012, these entrepreneurs generated US $6.0BN in revenue and had created 250,000 jobs.
About Endeavor
Endeavor breaks down barriers that prevent emerging and growth market entrepreneurs from reaching their high-impact potential. Hailed by NYT columnist Thomas Friedman as the "mentor capitalist" model and “the best anti-poverty program of all,” Endeavor identifies entrepreneurs leading high-growth innovative companies in 19 countries worldwide. These entrepreneurs are given world-class strategic advice, access to key networks and other tools that will catapult them to success. With Endeavor's guidance they become “high-impact” – expanding employment, generating wealth and inspiring others to innovate. Often overlooked, these local entrepreneurs are now jumpstarting private sector development in their countries.
At year-end 2012, Endeavor Entrepreneurs throughout Latin America, MENA, Southeast Asia and Europe had created more than 250,000 jobs and generated over $6 billion in revenues. In 2012 Endeavor expanded operations to include new affiliates in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Greece. For more information, visit www.endeavor.org
Contacts
Noor Shawwa
Managing director
Endeavor UAE
Tel: +971 - 50 - 244.0336
Noor.Shawwa@endeavor.org
Georges Geagea
Media relations
Havas PR Middle East
+971 - 4 - 455.6000
Georges.Geagea@havasprme.com
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