Sponsors | TechWadi.org

Gold Sponsors

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores and 12,000 ATMs and the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com) across North America and internationally. We're headquartered in San Francisco, but we're decentralized so every local Wells Fargo store is a headquarters for satisfying all our customers' financial needs and helping them succeed financially. One in three households in America does business with Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo has $1.3 trillion in assets and approximately 280,000 team members across our 80+ businesses. We ranked fourth in assets and second in market value of our stock among our U.S. peers as of December 31, 2010

Sawari Ventures is an international venture capital firm that invests in people turning visionary ideas into market-leading companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We believe in the transformative power of entrepreneurial thinking. We know that innovation can spark curiosity, speak to personal passions and inspire new markets. We understand the capacity of technology to facilitate, enhance and even create new ways of doing business. Our goal is simple: we want to identify, serve, and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs who are determined to change the MENA region.

Riyada Enterprise Development (RED) is the small and medium enterprise (SME) investment platform of the Abraaj Group. It is targeted to be a US$ 500 million initiative focused on investing in SMEs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including Turkey and Pakistan.

We target individual investments with a focus on providing growth capital for influential minority and, in some cases, majority stakes in SMEs. We are sector agnostic but prefer entrepreneurially run and innovative businesses that are scalable into new regional markets, and that can leverage technology to support their work. The primary focus will be on profitable SMEs in need of capital and institutional and strategic support to grow.

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, PlugandPlayTechCenter.com is a community of over 280 technology startup companies in the areas of Web 2.0, software (SaaS), systems, semiconductor and telecomm verticals. Since its inception in January 2006 the center has helped the startups raise in excess of $750 million in venture funding.

Entrepreneur-centered with strong relationships with the most influential venture capital firms of Silicon Valley and Ivy League universities in the nation, PlugandPlayTechcenter.com has become the ultimate place to launch and grow promising new technologies.

For nearly 3 decades, Plug and Play management has played a direct and significant role in starting successful ventures in Silicon Valley and around the world. Over the years, we have assembled a world-class network of serial entrepreneurs, strategic investors, and industry leaders who actively assist our portfolio as Entrepreneur Partners and Advisors. We partner with entrepreneurs and leverage the resources of our strong network to build successful companies. Together with our Entrepreneur Partners, Advisors, and Strategic Network, we provide access to the resources and infrastructure essential to building rapidly growing and profitable enterprises. Our entire team and network is committed to the success of each investment.

Greatest thanks to this amazing family-owned business for providing Gold Sponsorship and generous preparation of all event materials for the Global Technology Forum 2010 (Silicon Valley) as well as the Global Entrepreneurship Forum in Beirut, Lebanon.

Under one roof, Lahlouh offers a broad range of products and services for the sales, marketing, and human resource needs of our clients. One, single trusted source for all your printing, promotional product, mailing, turnkey & assembly requirements. We create customized on-line programs that tie together all of our products and services into a simple, manageable and painless solution. Our professionally trained staff is dedicated to provide the highest level of quality and service. When you complement our wide-ranging production capabilities with our unmatched clients services, Lahlouh is the smart choice to meet the demands of a dynamic and ever-changing marketplace.

We are proud to announce the latest addition to our roster of sponsors - a generous Gold Sponsorship from Egypt's Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)

ITIDA is the Egyptian business partner making sure that you get all the help you need. We are primarily concerned with building the capacities of the local IT companies, attracting and servicing multi-national IT companies, and growing a qualified, sustainable, and deployable talent pool. ITIDA adheres to a Public-Private Partnership mode to achieve the goals of the IT industry and create for you a business environment where cooperation is a salient feature. ITIDA is the executive IT arm of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, MCIT, and is located in the heart of a modern business environment at the Smart Village. With local and international outreach, ITIDA plays a fundamental role as a one-stop-shop for foreign direct investors seeking to enhance their global offering using what Egypt has to offer and the competitive advantages of the country.

Welcome to Dubai Silicon Oasis, a revolutionary technology park. Established in 2004, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) is wholly owned by the Government of Dubai and is considered the only technology park in the region that provides both a living and working integrated community. Silicon Oasis is a free zone authority and provides a full package of incentives and benefits to companies operating within the free zone.

Designed as a hi-tech ecosystem, DSO offers businesses a plethora of advantages including a state-of-the-art infrastructure, in-house business services and strong business support such as technology investment incentives for large enterprises, entrepreneurial support, an incubation centre and venture capital funding

Based in Dubai, UAE, one of the fastest growing places on earth, our vision is to make DSOA one of the leading business parks in the world.

Ideavelopers manages and advises technology-driven funds including; The Technology Development Fund I & II, Middle East Technology Fund (METF), Jordan Technology Fund (JTF), and Technology investments of the Commercial Intl Investment Co (CIIC) worth in excess of $113 million of invested capital. And, since 2001, Ideavelopers has participated in the funding of some 40 technology-driven companies on behalf of its investment partnerships.

Ideavelopers provides quality venture development services, include offering early stage, high growth companies access to business development services, such as strategic marketing research, financial advisory services, and management consulting services. Access to pre-seed and seed capital is handled through The Technology Development Fund, a EFG-Hermes subsidiary. Leveraging a worldwide, dedicated network of advisers and experienced strategic partners, Ideavelopers has built a reputation for being an exceptional partner for management teams who can create substantial value for investors. At Ideavelopers, we understand how long it takes to build a company and we will be involved in every step of the way, from product development, to early customer and revenue retention, and then to profitability and liquidity.

Silver Sponsors

Soovox is the brain child of investment banker turned entrepreneur, Akram Benmbarek. The company, launched in 2010 and is one of the TechWadi mentorship programs many successes. Soovox is a pioneering integrated marketing platform that rewards people for their social media influence. Fun and engaging with real rewards for users, the platform delivers an experience that inspires consumers to connect and build relationships with their favorite brands. The innovative concept of "Social IQ" measures a user's ability to sway others' opinions and actions by measuring reputation, connections, and knowledge authority through an advanced algorithm tracking Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace. For both consumers and businesses, Soovox is a powerful means of increased communication between brands and their loyal customers. Soovox won laurels at the Red Herring Asia 2009 Top 100 awards.

Banque Libano-Française was organized as a joint stock company (Société Anonyme Libanaise, SAL) in 1967. Its head office is located at Beirut Liberty Plaza Building, Hamra District, Beirut, Lebanon.

Banque Libano-Française is one of the leading banks in Lebanon and an important participant in the Lebanese economy. While it has historically been a commercial bank, the bank has diversified its activities and currently provides banking services in five principal areas: commercial banking, retail banking, investment banking, private banking and correspondent banking.

To be in full compliance with its mission and vision, Banque Libano-Française has adopted in 2004 a more aggressive strategy, in order to create value and ensure long-term growth for the bank, its shareholders, its employees and its customers.

PowerMeMobile is a private Lebanese corporation that delivers reliable, carrier-grade, mobile solutions and content creating new business opportunities for mobile operators, service providers and portals.

PowerMeMobile's fully managed offerings are flexible and can be deployed in a controlled manner according to specific business needs. We provide complex technology to our customers either from ASP facilities or delivered to customers servers, whichever better suits their business requirements. Our solutions enable rapid deployment of services and content, focusing on revenue growth across all areas of the global mobile data value chain.

Berytech fund is a Lebanese start up fund. Its mission is to invest in early growth Lebanese companies whose business is in the information and communication technology (ICT) in exchange for equity ownership. With over USD6 million under management, the Fund focuses on technology companies in Lebanon with proven commercial viability.

We have the operational experience to nurture the right management team to make the vision a reality, helping fast growing companies avoid pitfalls. We offer vision, imagination, experience and a network of contacts across the globe through the Fund partners. The Fund will know how to garner the attention of the Venture Capital community at large, at the appropriate time and facilitate the next round of financing or investment for a win-win situation. Berytech Fund is passionately committed to helping its portfolio companies succeed. We know that it takes more than solid financial support to get a company off the ground: we help make things happen.

SVB Financial Group provides diversified financial services to emerging, growth and established technology companies and the life science, venture capital and premium wine markets. Through its focus on specialized markets and extensive knowledge of the people and business issues driving them, SVB Financial Group provides a level of service and partnership that measurably impacts its clients' success.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company offers its clients commercial, investment, merchant and private banking, as well as value-added services using its knowledge and networks. Founded in 1983, SVB Financial Group serves clients around the world through 26 domestic offices, and international subsidiaries in the U.K., Israel, India and China, and an extensive network of relationships with venture capitalists in Asia, Australia, Europe, India, and Israel. Over the last two decades, SVB Financial Group has become one of the most respected names in the financial services industry. The company has created innovative solutions for some of the world's most successful technology and life sciences companies. SVB Financial Group's businesses include Silicon Valley Bank, SVB Capital, SVB Analytics, SVB Global and SVB Private Client Services.

The National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC), established over 40 years ago, is America's longest serving organization dedicated to U.S.-Arab business. NUSACC is widely regarded as the voice of American business in the Arab world and the premier portal to the United States for Arab commercial enterprises.

The Chamber is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that is registered under U.S. law as a 501-c-6 chamber of commerce. NUSACC is an independent, membership-driven entity that receives no income from foreign governments or the U.S. Government. The National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce is the only business entity in the United States that is officially recognized and sanctioned by the League of Arab States and the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture. As such, NUSACC is a "sister chamber" and partner to the national chambers of commerce throughout the Arab world.