Medventures, Boosting Mediterranean high growth start-ups - December 3, 2010 Marseille France

Bedaya Angels Network

Bedaya is a regional Network of investors interested in investing in innovative companies in the MENA region. The main objective of the Network is to link Angel investors and VCs, with early-stage, technology-based SMEs in the region. This will provide investors with attractive investment opportunity while addressing SME’s needs of accessing sources of capital.By providing a systematic and effectively process to match innovative companies with investors, the Network will help innovative start ups to access needed capital and address the “Valley of Death” which in turn will help these early-stage companies to grow and create additional high value-added job opportunities.
The Network activities include:
• Identifying business opportunities for investors (Deal Sourcing)
• Holding regular match-making events between investors and entrepreneurs
• Providing training and coaching to Entrepreneurs
• Spreading the culture of angel investment in Jordan
• Capacity building of potential angel Investors
• Organizing national and regional conferences related to early-stage investing
The network is located in Amman, Jordan at El Hassan Science City; an ideal location that is currently hosting the iPark Technology Incubator, Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship, Jordan Intellectual Property Commercialization Office (IPCO) and Jordan Innovation Center, the Royal Scientific Society (RSS), The National Energy Research Center, (NERC), the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), and Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT).

For more information, please contact:
Bedaya Capital Network
El Hassan Science City
PO Box 36, Amman 11941, Jordan
T: +(962)6 533-5255
F: +(962) 6 533-5031
Email: Director@ipark.jo

Wissam Rabadi
Dr. Wissam Rabadi is a senior executive with over fifteen years experience in Strategic Planning and Management, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, and the Commercializing of Innovations.

Dr. Rabadi is currently the Executive Director of the Arab Science and Technology Foundation-Amman Office, and is the Acting Director of iPark Technology Incubator at the Higher Council for Science and Technology.

Before joining ASTF, Dr. Rabadi was the Director of Research and Business Development at King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) – Electronic Systems Group.

Dr. Rabadi is a cofounder of the Zakroff Group, LLP, a Houston-based firm that provides investment advice and business development consulting services to Small & Medium Size U.S. corporate clients looking to expand their marketing and operations in developing countries including China, Middle East and Latin America.

Prior to that, Dr. Rabadi was the Strategic Business Development Manager at Texas Instruments Inc. in the US where he worked as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff and as a member of the Strategic Planning Group. His work at Texas Instruments included Systems Design, New Product Development, Commercialization of New Technology, Business Development and Incubation, Venture Investments and University Research Funding. He led the effort of starting and growing several multi-million dollar business units serving various vertical markets such as Digital Photography, Internet Music, Electronic Security, Optical Communications, and Bio-medical applications. He managed major Fortune 500 customer accounts including HP, Kodak, Siemens, Nortel, Sony, Sharp and Cisco.

Dr. Rabadi was Professor of Computer Engineering at the American University in Dubai (AUD), a visiting professor at the University of Houston and a Research Assistant at the Center for Research in Electro-Optics and Laser (CREOL) in the USA.

He serves as a Board Member of the Licensing Executives Society-Arab Countries, and was the President of the Arab American Antidiscrimination Committee (ADC)-Orlando Chapter. He is a senior member of the IEEE and an active member of the Association of Corporate Growth, the Houston World Affair Council, and the Middle East Institute.

Dr. Rabadi holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan, a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida and an MBA from the University of Texas in Austin. He published a long list of papers, spoke at various international conferences and holds several patents.