Noushad Rahman, CEO of Zalomi.com Apart from Zalomi E-Commerce platform, Black Arrow Group Plans 100 Physical Outlets for Refurbished Electronics across the GCC through Franchise route Dubai, UAE : Zalomi electronics, a leading UAE-based Refurbished electronics company, has announced a significant expansion plan to establish 100 new outlets across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. This ambitious venture focuses on providing high-quality, refurbished electronics, including laptops, mobile phones, and gaming solutions, catering to the growing demand for affordable and sustainable tech ..read more

Brewing Bigger: Mohamed Al Zain, CEO of the Barns Café chain Plans to open its first outlet in Times Square, Manhattan by the first quarter of 2024.  Saudi-based halal coffee chain, Barns Coffee, has set its sights on the US market, particularly in New York City, with an ambitious expansion plan. Barns Coffee plans to open its first outlet in Manhattan by the first quarter of next year. The CEO of the chain, Mohamed Al Zain, expressed enthusiasm about the aggressive  growth in the USA, keeping pace with the company’s international expansion. He believes that the timing is ..read more

Ourshopee, the popular e-commerce platform, has achieved a significant milestone by crossing the one million app downloads mark. This remarkable achievement comes just Seven years after the company started its operations in the UAE in 2015. After successfully reshaping how people shop in the Middle East, Ourshopee launched in Dubai in 2015 with the mission to become Arab Regions favourite way to shop, by empowering people to shop with effortlessly & Joyful. Ourshopee has since expanded its operations to other countries in the GCC region, including Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The com ..read more

As OrderUp eyes expanding to cities across the U.S., it’s working on setting up digital franchises—online food-ordering websites maintained by people in mid-size cities. OrderUp, the Canton-based startup that facilitates ordering food from restaurants online, faces stiff competition from such bigger, national companies as GrubHub and Seamless. But in 2013, as OrderUp eyes expanding to cities across the U.S., its focus isn’t on competing directly with the reach of GrubHub. Instead, it’s working on setting up digital franchises—online food-ordering websites maintained by people in mid-size citi ..read more

The Funds target underrepresented operators, both new and existing. Miami, Florida – Lafayette Square has signed an agreement with Yum! Brands, Inc. to lend up to $50 million to new and existing underrepresented Yum! franchisees identified by Yum! Brands as part of a new financing program called Franchise Fast Start. Franchise Fast Start will help Yum! Brands carve a path to successful ownership for talented, underrepresented people while bringing diverse voices and ideas to the broader franchising community. By providing access to capital for qualified, underrepresented franchisees identifie ..read more

The Starbucks store at KAFD, Riyadh. Image Courtesy: Alshaya Group Kuwait:  Adding another important milestone to a long list of achievements under Alshaya’s partnership with Starbucks. The Starbucks store at KAFD, Riyadh has become one of the first few Food & Beverage stores in the GCC region to attain this prestigious accolade. Alshaya Group and Starbucks have achieved an historic milestone with KAFD Starbucks becoming one of only six stores globally to achieve LEED Platinum certification by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Having scored 81 points, the store is a ..read more

Funding Franchise Projects from SAR 150,000 to 4 million RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Social Development Bank aims to support small and medium-sized enterprises with SR24 billion ($6.3 billion) financing over the next three years, as the Kingdom steadily diversifies its economy in line with the goals outlined in Vision 2030, revealed a top official.  In sidelines of the Biban 2023 conference, Sultan Al-Hamidi, Chief Business Officer of SDB said that the bank provided SR5 billion of financing to some 9,000 SMEs in 2022 alone.  He said they see big growth in SMEs, and the bank has reacted t ..read more

Biban 2023 — Saudi Arabia’s flagship startup and SME forum — has brought leading entities from around the world together to sign a series of landmark agreements worth approximately $13.8 billion in support of the startup community. Organized by the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Monsha’at), the event has set a new benchmark for partnerships, with a diverse range of collaborations and initiatives being launched to empower entrepreneurs. The fifth and final day of the forum brought more regional and global organizations together to usher in a new ..read more

Saudi Arabia-based startup, White Helmet, a platform to manage and monitor construction operations remotely, from anywhere and at any time emerged the victor of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) and richer by $300,000, after four days of fierce competition, with 100 startups from 53 countries. Co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and Monsha’at – the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority in Saudi Arabia – EWC is one of the world’s largest pitch competitions and startup support programs. Since launching in 2019, EWC has engaged more than 400,000 entrepreneurs from ..read more