Amman, March 2013 - Oasis500 , the MENA region’s premier early stage investment company and technology start-up accelerator program, held its 9th Angel Network Event in Beirut, in partnership with ArabNet and WAMDA. Sponsored by Lebanon-based Solidere Management Services, the Event took place on Thursday 21st March, 2013, at Solidere’s Cloud 5 which is a technology park targeting start-ups and emerging entrepreneurs.

The 9th Angel Network Event was attended by a group of local, regional and international investors, Oasis500 partners and mentors, in addition to media entities. Showcasing their presentations at the Event were 10 fast-growth and investment-ready entrepreneurial start-ups within the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), digital media and mobile technologies sectors.

The Oasis500-incubated start-ups that pitched their ideas at the 9th Angel Network Event included HealingLand, an Arabic portal that provides medical information and services to patients and medical tourists; Jamalon.com, an online portal that sells both Arabic and English books; and I3zif, an online music center that teaches users how to play musical instruments via pre-recorded video lessons.

Also participating in the event were Progressive Generation, a production company specialized in producing creative new generation 2D and 3D animation targeting the Arab World; Aqar Estate, an online real estate platform for buyers and sellers to find, evaluate and select real estate; and Ekeif, an online platform for free short how-to videos in Arabic. WAMDA-incubated start-ups included Zoomal and GamaBox.

“We are proud to be the ideal choice for start-ups in search of an effective platform to present their innovative business ideas and attract early-stage investment. Our Angel Network Events, held four times a year, are geared towards offering promising entrepreneurial start-ups the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of high-net-worth investors from across the Middle East and the world. We hope to provide these emerging companies with the added value necessary to accelerate their operations and pave their paths to success. These carefully-selected start-ups were pre-chosen by Oasis500 and have received intensive training and guidance over the course of our Boot Camps. On behalf of Oasis500, I would like to thank ArabNet, WAMDA and Cloud 5 for helping us make this Event a huge success,” stated Dr. Usama Fayyad, Executive Chairman of Oasis500 and former Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer of Yahoo! Inc.

In turn, Omar Christidis, Founder and CEO of ArabNet added, "We are thrilled to be partnering with Oasis500 and WAMDA on this Angel Network Event which took place alongside ArabNet Beirut, the MENA's leading conference for the digital creative sector, geared towards supporting start-ups in garnering the exposure, financing and networking opportunities they need to grow their businesses."
Also commenting on the Event was Habib Haddad, CEO of WAMDA, who said, "We are excited to help bring Oasis500’s Angel Network Event to Beirut, a key step that will significantly advance the entrepreneurial ecosystem."

Oasis500 is the first development and investment company of its kind in the MENA region. It aims to support entrepreneurs by providing them with funding and training in an effort to accelerate the transformation of business ideas into start-up companies in the ICT, digital media, and mobile technologies and content sectors. Oasis500 aims to facilitate the launch of 500 start-up companies within the next five years, which will create an incentive for aspiring entrepreneurs and generate job opportunities within the world’s fastest growing sectors. Since commencing its operations in September 2010, Oasis500 has successfully secured investments for 55 technology companies, in addition to a number of other investments that were unmatched by any investment fund in the region.

For more information about Oasis500, its Angel Network, training Boot Camps and other activities, kindly visit www.oasis500.com.