Fikra Space Celebrates Its Fourth Anniversary

Four years ago, Fikra Space was founded by the efforts of a tech-savvy group of young Iraqi guys influenced by the Makerspace movement popping up around world. Since it was founded, Fikra Space’s impact and products have been likened to those of Makerspace, which is why it was very important for Fikra to celebrate its fourth anniversary in a different setting.

To celebrate their fourth anniversary, Fikra hosted a fair for Startup businesses in Baghdad. The event was a networking opportunity aiming to bridge the gap between the Iraqi entrepreneurship enthusiasts and the community of supporters, both potential investors and the solution providers.

The fair featured keynote speakers who presented in Ted style talks, and it also included panels debating questions relating to our ecosystem; questions concerning e-commerce and the state of e-payments in Iraq. There was an insightful Q&A session regarding the efficiency of private Iraqi banks when handling online payments.

The startup showcase fair proved to be a hit with the audience, inspired attendees had the chance to interact with entreprenuers who have launched startup businesses and were telling their stories. The showcase fair featured regional businesses such as Nadrus.com (the Arabic MOOCs website, which was co-founded by the Iraqi entrepreneur Ahmed Al-Shagra) and local startups such as Kushuk, Najih.com, Bil Weekend and others. Also amongst the featured exhibitors were exciting startups such as Earvlab (virtual reality) and Wild Games (videogames studio), both impressing the crowd.

The event’s organizers stated that aside from celebrating and focusing on the projects, the event was meant to send a message that investing in youth is very critical, because it is the youth who will build future businesses.

Some of the participating startups businesses were:

Mishwar: grocery delivery service in Baghdad. (Writer has personal interests)

Botlab: A software program that optimizes Facebook’s messenger platform and the bots technology for e-commerce.

Baghdad Projects: A platform that focuses on the promising projects in Baghdad

Anime Neywz: A mobile app that targets the anime fans.

Fekastore: A market place for Iraqi artisans and handmade gifts. (Writer has personal interests)

Madresty: A sophisticated schools-Parents communication tool.

Najeh.com: The website for Iraqi students final exams results.

Bil Weekend: A progressive tourism campaign.

Forward Travel: Travel agencies management system.

AUTHOR

Marwan Jabbar is a lifetime learner and an entrepreneurship evangelist, who is leading two startups in Baghdad now.