- Connectors: Mohsen Malayeri/Shayan Shalileh/Reza Hashemi/Said Rahmani Khezri/Patrick McDermott/Misagh Shakeri/Muhammad Arrabi/ Pejman Nozad
- Events: Startup Weekend/Startup Global Battle/Tedx Tehran/Global Entrepreneurs Week Iran
- Organizations: Iran Entrepreneurship Association (Incubator)/ Karya (Online startup school)
Hear the words of any wizened real estate agent, ‘Location, Location, Location’. Similarly in today’s world, where you are placed in the giant ecosystem of startups, VCs and accelerators plays a huge role in how valuable you and your startup can be. We’ve headed down to Iran to find the most exciting figures in the Iranian startup industry.
Local Iran Connectors:
Mohsen Malayeri (LinkedIn): Vice President of Iran Entrepreneurship Association Co-Founder of Anetwork/Global Facilitator Startup Weekend Organizer for the Iran Web Festival
Shayan Shalileh (LinkedIn): Director & Founder of Iranian Website News Agency (Webna) Founder of Khavarzamin System Kish Company
Reza Hashemi (LinkedIn): Serial entrepreneur Founding member of the first major Persian web startup, persianblog.
Said Rahmani Khezri (Linkedin):
Founder & CEO of Sarava, the first VC/PE fund focused on investment in Internet and Ecommerce and incubation of technology startups in Iran
International Iran Connectors:
Patrick McDermott (LinkedIn): Entrepreneur based in Singapore with strong ties with the Iran tech scene.
Misagh Shakeri (LinkedIn): Software engineer raised in Iran Worked in France and now in Canada working on growing the sharing economy
Muhammad Arrabi (LinkedIn):
A web programmer turned evangelist turned mentor, he is active in Jordan, Dubai and “Digital Arabia”
Pejman Nozad (Crunchbase):
Named by Forbes as “Silicon Valley’s hottest VC”, he was an early investor in famous startups Dropbox, Zoosk and Path
Events in Iran
If you’re eager to check out the latest ideas from the booming startup scene in Tehran, be sure to check out these amazing networking opportunities. Featuring globally recognized names, these events feature the best and most creative talent from the Iranian ecosystem:
Startup Weekend Startup Global Battle Tedx Iran
Global Entrepreneurs Week Iran
Not to be outdone, the locally bred Iran Entrepreneurship Association has contributed much to the talent and drive of budding startups. The Iran Entrepreneurship Association is a non-profit organization that organizes events such as Startup Weekend and the Iran web festival. It also goes so far as to collaborate with the above universities and identifies mentors, training them to mentor the next generation of creators.
Karya (http://www.karya.ir/) is an online startup school that caters to local talent, with a Farsi interface that provides entrepreneurs with the best videos, articles and resources. Karya covers various essential basic topics such as how to develop a business model, how to create a lean startup and the principles of team building.