At Kuv Capital, we like ambitious projects. And here is one really ambitious.

Why we think it’s possible?

First, We now have enough experience to get right things done. We have invested in incubators (AppFrica), we ran our own investment funds and I’m also advisor in FrogVentures. We have tight links with public incubators like EuraTechnologies and we have been hosted in Dubai Media City for some years now. Plus, we invested into startups for more than 8 years.

So yes, we have a good idea about the ideal place for the entire ecosystem. We have dreamt about it for years, so let’s do it now.

Why lebanon?

Lebanon needs a lot of improvements (Broadband, Electricity, etc.) to be the perfect place but it has the essential components (cheap cost of incorporation, talents, etc…), you can read more about this on my personal blog

So, where are we know?

The registration of the company who will run the project is in progress. We are working on this legal matter.

Some locations have been spotted and we have engaged serious discussions for two potential locations.

We have also engaged discussions with many stakeholders in Beirut to have the best understanding for everybody’s needs.

We will create a strategic committee to advise the company on what is need to be done in the Media City (if you want to participate drop me an email herve(at)kuvcapital(dot)com. We want to keep that project as opened as possible because it’s definitely not a real estate project but a community project.

What are the next steps?

• April-May(-june if needed): Will be dedicated to identify potential locations and initiate discussions with landlords.
• May: First community meeting to brainstorm on services we would like to find in the Media City.
• June:Second community meeting and presentation and business model finalization.
• July-september: Meetings with investors.
• October: Go / No Go decision to be taken.

Do we need help?

Oh yeah. First of all, we, at Kuv Capital, don’t know if we will see our money back one day but it’s not our primary motivation.

We think that, if the project succeeds, we will all have a return on investment if Beirut becomes a digital hub.

So if you are an architect, an 3D designer, an environmentalist (oh yes we forgot to tell you we want this Media City Green of course otherwise it is to easy , an investor, a digital passionate, an entrepreneur, or none of this and you think you can help, you are welcome.

We want to see universities coming, trainings and conferences happening, exhibitions, innovative companies and VCs joining us. So please spread the word and don’t hesitate, we need everyone.

herve cuviliez will be speaker @ arabcrunch Demo09

Let’s meet there. Princess Sumaya University for technologies on 23rd feb 09 @ 4 pm.

About ArabCrunch Demo

ArabCrunch DEMO 09 is the Arab world’s launchpad event for emerging technologies, developed by startups or by established companies. The event has selected a number of the most innovative and promising startups and established companies from around the Arab world, so they can launch and demo their products during the event.

First of all, we, Kuv Capital team, would like to wish you a prosperous 2009.

This is the right time to take a moment and have a quick look back to make plans for the year to come. And for this special year, we will remain wide open for prompt changes!

2008 was a busy year,
We transferred our central operation from Paris to Beirut, we maintained our presence in Paris for Europe businesses and in Dubai for the Middle East.

Our digital production center went from 12 to 25 employees with a growth of 230% of our billings.

So, what 2009 will look like?

No certitude but we will build our 2009 strategy on some market figures read through our 15 years of experience and learnings in the digital market.

2009 is forecasted to be one of most terrible recession years since WW2 but for those who were in the industry at this time, 2000/2001 were, in my opinion, much more violent.

What did we learn from the Internet bubble burst? Those who developed a bold strategy, made a successful outcome.

That’s what will drive us for 2009. Be really picky but invest.

With a recession in Europe and a weak dollar, the growing potential of our digital outsourcing is still large.
Our investment will go to HR by recruiting and training talented people for all positions in this industry.

Middle East marketers are still investing less than 2% of their media budget in online advertising, when the average is 12% in Europe and 25% in the US.
We believe that the crisis will make them more ROI focus and the web will be finally a good answer to them.

In anticipation to this, we will accelerate our investments (wikeez.com and  any new project to come) in the online media sector.

We also believe that e-commerce will emerge in Middle East (especially in big cities) and we will finance some experimentation this year.

Our last move in a couple of months will be the opening of our first African operation (location to be announced soon).

if you are an entrepreneur, a talented person or a potential partner in one of our business field, please do not hesitate to share with us your project, your resume or a partnership proposal (2009 (at) kuvcapital (dot) com).

Again, we wish you a great 2009 year full of opportunities and success!

Best regards,

The Kuv Capital Team

After Dubai, Paris and beirut (our HQ), we plan to extend our activities in Africa.

Why Africa ? Beyond all “clichés”, Africa is becoming a very dynamic region ITC wise.

As, we made an early move  in Middle East, we also want to be an early bird in Africa.

Our short term goals are 1) appoint a regional operations manager in the coming months 2) make our first investment in Q1/Q2 2009

The location is not decided yet, if you have suggestions or contacts, we thank you in advance for your help.

We will keep you updated on this.

We are proud to announce a USD 250, 000 investment in Wikeez.com.

This investment represents a key milestone in the growth and development of Wikeez.

This step will progress Wikeez alpha version to a full functional offer and add yet more experience and expertise to Wikeez’s board.

more details about Wikeez

After months of hard work, MyId.is is finally in alpha version. It’s a great achievement. To known more about the alpha version and may be become alpha tester, you can go on the MyId’s blog or you can contact me directly: herve(at)kuvcapital.com. 

We arrived yesterday in la Baule (french west coast) to attend the California Tech showcase.

This 2nd edition is already set to be a success. 50 californian startups, instead of 40 initially planned, have made the trip from the silicon valley to meet the european tech groups.

We had meetings today with startups in the mobile business / advertising and we will debrief in a couple of weeks to seize the opportunity to organize the California Tech showcase in the middle east (read here).

I’m confident in making this happens.

We attended on may the 5th the ABAN meeting. this event was the “Fostering Entrepreneurship and Angel Investing” Forum.

It’s was great, It’s refreshing to attend events like this in Dubai where for few hours the investment focus is not on the real estate market or the stock one.

We met a great startup: Yamli and its co-founder Habib Haddad. We loved his energy and we think that his company matches a real need: Search the Arabic web using English letters.

thanks again to Mr Hanna for organizing this event.

During his keynote, Tim O’Reilly emphasis this importance of hackers’ philosophy in our business.

Hackers’philosophy:

they don’t if it’s the next big thing, they just love it

we humbly share this vision

Our business we rarely know where is the business opportunity but what matters its that entrepreneurs love what they do

Too many times, we meet people with a me-too project who just want to make money but that’s not the way it works. Most of the time, you, we find the success by accident so that’s why this hacker’s philosophy is such a big condition for success.
If you are this kind of entrepreneur, we definitively want to meet you.

a quick list of emerging technologies are available on the Dubai TechCenter’s blog 

We will spend 4 days at the Emerging Technology Conference 2008 in San Diego.

I will try to publish every day a quick summary of the conferences. Today : a 3 hours session about Data Vizualisation. It might sound geeky but it is a crucial discipline for those who intent to create new websites.

To better understand, i recommand you to go on the speaker (Tom Carden) company (Stamen) website.
I strongly believe in this and we will invest in this sector. The application range is huge : ecommerce, data analysis, real estate (trulia).

If you have any project in this area, let us know.

to be continued…..