‘Environment for Jordanian start-ups improving, still has way to go ‘

AMMAN — The amount of investments in Jordanian start-ups in 2018 reached JD56 million, the ICT Association of Jordan (int@j) said on Wednesday.

Jordanian companies accounted for 8 per cent of the total number of investment deals in regional start-ups, placing the Kingdom fourth after the UAE, Egypt and Lebanon, according to an int@j statement.

Int@j Chairman Bashar Hawamdeh said that while the improvements do not meet the aspirations of the sector, they reflect the association’s efforts in cooperating with stakeholders in the Kingdom to develop the start-up environment.

The chairman added that many Jordanian start-ups had managed to turn challenges into opportunities, noting that original ideas which conform to the local market can still find success despite challenges.

Hawamdeh said that last year the association launched startupsjo.com, which serves as a platform to provide information related to business entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, such as the names of start-ups, their projects, investors, supporters and financers.

He added that int@j had also launched two business incubators in partnership with the Amman Chamber of Commerce and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.