TwoFour54 launches fund for Arabic mobile apps

Twofour54 ibtikar, the business arm of Abu Dhabi’s state-backed media zone, on Wednesday announced the launch of a seed fund designed to drive the development of Arabic-language mobile applications.

The fund, called ‘AppsArabia’, will offer capital to Arab entrepreneurs, developers and businesses to create homegrown apps for devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and Blackberry, Nokia and Android handsets.

“There is a huge opportunity for Arabic apps, not just for use in this region but the whole Arab world,” said Wayne Borg, the chief operating office of twofour54.

“Some 60 percent of the demographic in this region is under the age of 25. That’s 160 million people, all major users of smart technology. That market isn’t being targeted right now.”

Borg declined to specify the size of the fund, which will be financed solely by twofour54, but said it would be “substantial”.

“It is not going to be an insignificant amount of money we’re committing. At this stage we have no intention of putting a sunset clause on it,” he said.

The global apps market has grown dramatically following the launch of the iPhone in 2007. The device debuted with just 11 apps, including a calculator and calendar. Today, the App store stocks more than 180,000 applications for download, with Apple receiving submissions for a further 1,000 a day. An estimated $200m-worth of apps are sold by Apple each month.

Alongside capital, twofour54 will also offer mentoring, commercial planning and a website that will put entrepreneurs in touch with app developers.

Successful projects will be sold under the AppsArabia brand, with developers taking a share of the profit once twofour54 has recouped its initial investment.

“Once we’ve had our investment paid back, then from that point onwards the significant portion will go to the entrepreneur and we will take a little bit of that profit to cover our ongoing marketing and promotional services,” said David Ashford, the general manager of AppsArabia.

Though the fund will initially focus on creating consumer apps, it will later target local firms keen to use the channel to target their customers.

“The message to brands in the region is that there is a realistic alternative to outsourcing the development of an app to places like India or South Africa,” said David Ashford, the general manager of AppsArabia.

The fund is already in talks with UAE telecom firms Etisalat and du, he said.