When Morten Lund, the co-founder of Skype, came to Dubai in 2004 seeking support for the internet phone service from UAE telecoms officials, he was turned away in a taxi and given a one-way business class flight back to Denmark. Now he is back to launch a new business venture, and this time the officials are listening.
Coders Trust is a micro-financing company that is aimed at freelancers and students in emerging markets who want to upgrade their programming skills. The company provides loans to students to take courses and charges a 10 per cent commission from their freelance fees in return.
Mr Lund, the chairman of Coders Trust, and its founder Ferdinand Kjærulff chose Dubai to announce the launch of the company.
The two are targeting sovereign wealth funds in the region to help finance their operations. Coders Trust is already close to closing a “small round of funding of a couple of millions of dollars” before it embarks on local partnerships, said Mr Lund.
“We are talking to educational institutions, microfinance companies as well as investors in the technology space. What we find interesting in the Middle East is the huge potential in terms of youth. What everyone is telling us is the lack of education which is the problem for companies in recruiting talent,” said Mr Kjærulff.
Skype, which was bought by Microsoft for US$8.5 billion in 2011, is no longer blocked in the UAE but voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services are not authorised by the regulator TRA unless provided by the main operators du and Etisalat, whose revenues and traditional business models have been disrupted by VoIP.
Coders Trust’s first project will be in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which accounts for some 12 per cent of the total market of freelancers worldwide. The company has the backing of the Danish government and is currently working with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. It is aiming to have 5,000 students using its service within the first 18 months.
“I don’t believe you can save the world by hugging trees and doing yoga. We are a business, we will give them [students] a mentor and cash to get there,” said Mr Lund.
By providing them with the tools to attain new skills – from data entry to advanced coding – Coders Trust will empower students in remote areas around the world to generate an income.
“We are here to engage with the local start-up community and have a discussion on how to work together. We’ve been talking about Syrian refugees in Jordan that are currently highly educated, but have no access to the labour market. Doing a project for them would really be a symbol of the potential of the business model,” added Mr Kjærulff.
According to a report by McKinsey and Company, online freelance portals will create more than 150 million jobs by 2025. Freelance portals such as Odesk, Elance and Freelancer already have close to 20 million registered users.
Speaking about the local digital start-up sector in the Middle East, Mr Lund said that the talent is here, but investors are too concerned with a “local angle”.
“Investors here always want a local angle and I think that is wrong. In my opinion it is dangerous to do something with a local angle. Start-ups on the internet should be global [because] the internet is global and the competition is global,” said Mr Lund.
thamid@thenational.ae
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In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company%20Profile
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Voices: How A Great Singer Can Change Your Life
Nick Coleman
Jonathan Cape
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
The%20specs
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Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
New Zealand
Penalties: Barrett (7)
British & Irish Lions
Tries: Faletau, Murray
Penalties: Farrell (4)
Conversions: Farrell
Results
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How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
