“Under the visionary leadership of His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince, and the guidance of His Highness the Prime Minister, Kuwait has made great strides towards realizing its National Vision 2035,” stated His Excellency Mr. Omar Saud Al-Omar, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Communication Affairs.

Eighteen months ago, Google Cloud revealed details of a national alliance framework agreement with Kuwait’s government that intended to develop an all-encompassing roadmap for digital transformation. Government entities and specific state-owned enterprises would benefit from Google Cloud’s cutting-edge data expertise and technologies — such as AI — enhancing their operations and bolstering cybersecurity.

Also Read: Top Free AI Chatbots Available In The Middle East

According to Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, Managing Director of Google Cloud in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, “Opening Google Cloud offices in Kuwait is yet another step to meet the demand for our services and expertise to support the New Kuwait Vision 2035 vision […] in addition to participating in the implementation of several digital transformation initiatives in healthcare, education, disaster recovery, and smart living”.

Google has also collaborated in a national upskilling program in Kuwait to help government employees, entrepreneurs, and graduates better understand the latest digital technologies. According to a Google-commissioned study by Access Partnership, the overall annual economic impact cloud computing technologies could bring Kuwait may reach a colossal USD29.8 billion by 2030.

The post Google Cloud Opens New Kuwait Office To Aid Digital Transformation appeared first on Tech Magazine.

2024 should see continued growth for the classifieds platform as the company focuses on refining and enhancing its search capabilities. A major strategic endeavor will involve the implementation of hyper-personalized recommendations for customers, enabling the optimization of strategies for holidays and major commercial events. To achieve this, 4Sale will employ data collection and analysis techniques similar to those of Google and Facebook.

Furthermore, this year will see a significant upscaling of the company’s infrastructure to accommodate its rapid growth trajectory. The goal is to reach two million monthly active users by 2025, a substantial market share in a country of just five million people.

Tarek Sakr, Chief Executive Officer of 4Sale, expressed his enthusiasm for the outstanding 2023 performance and emphasized the company’s ambitions to enhance customer experiences in the coming year. “While a market leader, 4Sale’s ambition remains undimmed; we want everything we do to be bigger and faster, easier and more personalized for customers, with maximum choice […] I look forward to next year with confidence and excitement”.

Also Read: Dubai Plans To Deploy Driverless Pods And Green Rail Buses

Meanwhile, Nabil Mohamed, Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer of 4Sale, highlighted the company’s commitment to hyper-personalization and technological advancements that aim to transform sporadic purchases into daily habits. “We are committed to delivering an enhanced user experience and embracing technological advancements for the benefit of our users. Our goal is to offer highly relevant recommendations and truly beneficial features”.

As part of the ongoing infrastructure upgrades, 4Sale is investing in more efficient technologies to streamline website and backend operations in a bid to enhance performance and data-handling capabilities.

The post 4Sale Achieves Remarkable 2023 Sales Volume Increases appeared first on Tech Magazine.

Raha offers a full range of fresh produce, groceries, and other household essentials. The company’s smart ordering platform leverages user data to provide a personalized experience, while a robot fulfillment team manages a mixture of products and made-to-order recipes inside Kuwait’s first fully automated distribution center.

Despite upfront costs, the robot-operated systems have better profitability margins from the third year onwards compared to conventional labor-intensive sorting and picking systems, Al Tunaib says: “it saves on manpower, it saves you the amount of real estate you require […] and it’s also very energy efficient”.

Saleh Al Tunaib began his career in Kuwait in 2010 and co-founded the crowdfunding platform Jaribha in 2011. By 2013, Al Tunaib was working at the OnCost Cash and Carry chain of grocery stores and had risen to the position of chief executive by 2016.

Also Read: Mobile Trends Shaping MENA In 2024

Due to changing habits in the wake of the pandemic, the MENA online grocery market is currently booming and was valued at $4.5 billion last year. The sector is forecast to grow massively by 2030, reaching a peak of $25 billion, according to consultancy firm RedSeer.

Since the launch, Raha has raised nearly $14 in seed funding and grown to become a multi-sector technology provider. The startup now has its sights firmly set on further GCC expansion.

The post Kuwait’s Raha Is An E-Grocery And Logistics Tech Startup appeared first on Tech Magazine.

The new realty portal aims to shake up Kuwait’s property sector and revolutionize buying, renting, and selling commercial and residential property.

4Sale Realty will feature immersive interactive 3D tours and an accurate measurement tool to explore the exact dimensions of every listed property. Meanwhile, a team of dedicated agents will manage property listings from end to end, making the platform not just engaging but offering genuine on-the-ground experience of the country’s local markets.

Before the launch of its dedicated Realty platform, 4Sale was already a significant real estate advertiser in Kuwait, hosting over 60,000 listings across the country during 2022 alone.

“We are delighted to launch 4Sale Realty to our customers in Kuwait. Housing demand is projected to rise continuously, and the sector is ripe for technological disruption. We have developed a digital real estate experience to transform the process of buying, selling, and renting property in Kuwait. Part of 4Sale’s rapid growth is driven by a deeper expansion into key verticals – such as real estate, where we already had a strong market position – and I am very excited for consumers to experience it,” said Tarek Sakr, Chief Executive Officer of 4Sale.

Also Read: Mubadala-Backed Tabby Raises $200 Million In Funds

Kuwait continues to invest heavily in cutting-edge technology, and platforms like 4Sale Realty contribute considerably to the growth of the digital economy. The website is already hugely popular, with over 2 million registered users listing 12 million items since its inception.

The post 4Sale Launches New Realty Platform In Kuwait appeared first on Tech Magazine.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are included in the ban, but the legislation does not extend to digital representations of physical currencies, securities, or other financial assets.

The new law aligns with Kuwait’s 2013 legislation concerning money laundering and terrorist financing. People breaching the regulations could face severe penalties, including fines and even imprisonment.

MENA countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, have all imposed restrictions or bans on virtual assets over the last few years. However, in stark contrast, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have encouraged the use of digital assets, and cryptocurrencies in particular.

Also Read: Threads: Everything You Should Know About The Twitter Alternative

Binance received a Dubai operating license in March 2022, around the same time the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority was established there. Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Central Bank released a paper on virtual assets in November 2020, outlining how they could best be regulated and used in the Gulf state.

The post Kuwait Bans Cryptocurrencies, Putting An End To Virtual Assets appeared first on Tech Magazine.

The carmaker initially launched the LYRIQ in the USA and China before unveiling the EV in the Middle East. The limited edition version of this hotly-anticipated SUV comes in a Celestial Metallic armor color, with an Oxford Stone interior, exclusive badging, and a panoramic roof. Single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor (500hp) all-wheel-drive versions are available, with the former achieving up to 494 km of range per charge from its 102-kilowatt-hour battery.

The Al Awael’s interior features laser-etched patterns on its wood-over-metal décor, plus a large, curved 33-inch diagonal LED screen. On-board tech includes built-in Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while Active Noise Cancellation intelligently assesses wind and vibration and uses a premium AKG speaker system to cancel road-induced noise.

Also Read: WeRide Granted First Self-Driving Vehicle License In UAE

“Our journey to an all-electric future starts now with the epitome of sophistication, the exquisite LYRIQ. Powered by General Motors Ultium platform and curated with over 120 years of Cadillac’s design craftsmanship, it combines looks, performance, advanced technology, and exclusivity to provide an unparalleled driving experience,” announced Kristian Aquilina, Managing Director of Cadillac International Operations and Cadillac Middle East.

“With LYRIQ Al Awael, the first electric vehicle to reach our region, we invite loyalists, pioneers, and optimists to inaugurate the new era of luxury electric mobility and lead the way forward,” he added.

The post Cadillac’s LYRIQ “Al Awael” Has Arrived In The UAE & Kuwait appeared first on Tech Magazine.

The Exchange stars Rawan Mahdi, Mona Hussain, and Hussain Almahdi. It takes the audience on a journey through the trials and tribulations of navigating a male-centric industry during a time when Kuwait’s stock market was booming.

Written by Nadia Ahmad, Anne Sobel, and Adam Sobel and directed by Jasem AlMuhanna and Karim El Shenawy, the six-part series offers a refreshing take on our current obsession with everything from the 1980s.

Also Read: 5 Best Video Streaming Services In The Middle East

“Having grown up in Kuwait and surrounded by independent women my whole life, this production is close to my heart. Rawan and Mona perfectly depict the struggles women experienced back in the 80s, and I can’t wait for the world to see their characters’ stories unfold on the big screen. Besides the plot, I am excited for the audience to see how we brought this era to life, which brings together local and international expertise in a high-production masterpiece, shot and produced entirely in Kuwait,” says the show’s producer, Abdullah Boushahri.

The Exchange is Netflix’s second original Kuwaiti series. In September 2022, the platform released The Cage, a comedy-drama about the ups and downs of marital life.

The post New Kuwaiti-Based Netflix Series Features Women In Lead Roles appeared first on Tech Magazine.

As part of its expansion, Google Cloud aims to set up a local headquarters in Kuwait and will team up with the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), and the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT).

The Government of Kuwait and Google Cloud will work towards “digitizing citizen services” and increasing employee productivity. In addition, the partnership will begin implementing several transformative initiatives that will help to digitize a broad range of sectors, including healthcare, education, disaster recovery, and smart living.

By leveraging Google Cloud’s technology and formidable expertise in data analytics, the Government of Kuwait will also be able to improve regional cybersecurity and artificial intelligence deployment. Meanwhile, Google Cloud support will become available to public sector organizations, businesses, and startups to build a modern, data-driven economy.

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“The strategic alliance supports the Government of Kuwait’s Vision 2035, which aims to transform Kuwait into a digital society and diversify its economy. We are proud to bring the latest Google Cloud technologies to Kuwait to help the country realize its digitization ambitions. The arrival of Google Cloud will contribute to developing a rich tech ecosystem in the country, creating exciting, highly-skilled job opportunities for Kuwaitis,” says Thomas Kurian, Chief Executive Officer, Google Cloud.

As well as a raft of economic benefits, the Google Cloud partnership will enable Kuwait’s Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) to develop a national upskilling program for government employees. All in all, the strategic allegiance looks set to radically overhaul Kuwait’s government and public sector, ushering in a new era where cutting-edge data analytics, machine learning, and enhanced security mesh seamlessly into everyday life.

The post Kuwait Aims For Digital Transformation With Google Partnership appeared first on Tech Magazine.

What Is Raha?

Raha is an e-grocery platform and digital shopping destination whose goal is to redefine the grocery experience to meet the complex needs of today’s savvy shoppers.

If you’re like most shoppers, then you start your average trip to the grocery store with only a rough idea of what you want to buy based on the meals you want to cook, the items that are currently on sale, and your regular shopping habits.

As you walk from one aisle to another, you may discover that some items are not in stock or fail to notice a large discount on something you routinely buy. You then have to wait in a checkout line or go through the whole self-service ordeal.

The team of passionate business minds, retail gurus, data wizards, and operational masterminds behind Raha are convinced that what we’ve just described doesn’t have to be the default grocery shopping experience for most people.

Instead, they want to take all the inconveniences out of grocery shopping by offering a full range of groceries, fresh produce, and household essentials through a data-driven online experience.

What Makes Raha Different?

Online grocery shopping isn’t a new thing, but most shoppers still prefer the traditional experience because online grocery shopping platforms tend to be cumbersome to use and sometimes even unable to deliver all the items shoppers are used to buying.

To stand out from the crowd, Raha has been designed to provide the most satisfying customer journey possible. The platform is:

• Easy To Navigate: Raha believes that online grocery shopping should be intuitive and fun. That’s why they’ve streamlined and optimized their platform for the user’s optimal convenience, making it as easy to navigate as the plethora of online services we all enjoy every day.
• Intelligent: Physical grocery stores can’t dynamically change their layout and items to adjust to the individual requirements and dietary preferences of each shopper, but Raha can, delivering a made-to-fit experience for everyone.
• Personalized: Made-to-order items, step-by-step customization, and an impressively wide range of product varieties are just three examples of how Raha delivers the most personalized grocery shopping experience today.
• Comprehensive: Raha strives to be the only destination for your grocery shopping needs, offering the widest assortment of products in the market, including fresh produce, bread and bakery, fresh meats, dairy, snacks, household essentials, beverages, frozen foods, baby products, and more.
• Always Fresh: To ensure maximum freshness, Raha operates the first fully-automated robotics–fulfillment center in Kuwait, employing a temperature-controlled process capable of achieving quality benchmarks across every order. It also has an in-house fleet and a last-mile delivery solution that optimizes routes and timings.

Since the purpose of grocery shopping is to turn food items into delicious meals, the Raha platform offers a broad selection of professionally curated recipes.

All Raha Recipes come with instructional videos that provide detailed step-by-step instructions that even inexperienced home cooks can easily follow. Best of all, adding all ingredients for a recipe you want to cook to your shopping cart is as easy as clicking the corresponding button.

What’s To Come For Raha?

Upgrading the grocery experience to better meet the needs of current and future shoppers alike is no easy task, but the team behind Raha seems to be on the right track.

During its seed round of funding – led by Saudi’s Aujan Investments, Kuwait’s NOX Management and London-based Cedar Mundi Ventures – Raha was able to secure a US$ 7 million investment, enabling it to establish itself as the region’s first fully automated e-grocery pure-play platform.

The only question that remains to be answered now is whether shoppers in the MENA region are ready to say goodbye to physical grocery stores. Based on how the world has changed over the last two years, we think it’s safe to say that they are not just ready but already looking forward to it.

Raha has apps for both Android as well as iOS, and can also be found on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

The post Meet Raha: The Next-Generation Grocery Experience appeared first on Tech Magazine.

The solution takes advantage of blockchain technology (the same technology that powers and secures cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin), using it to immutably store collected user data.

Designed to make both paper and online forms obsolete, AKcess uses nothing but a smartphone app to collect and validate KYC data. The submitted information can then be verified in a number of different ways, such as by taking a selfie or using a third-party verifier. When a user approaches an institution that collects KYC information, he or she can simply share it via AKcess, making onboarding effortless.

“KYC is a major challenge for all financially regulated and unregulated companies, but the bigger challenge is to update the KYC after initial onboarding of a client,” said Nehme AbouZeid, Founding member and Chief Technology Officer of Akcess, in an interview with Entrepreneur Magazine. “Using a combination of our mobile app and our blockchain network, we were able to find a solution acceptable to all parties, the regulator and the institutions.”

Also Read: New Digital ID Verification Solution Available To Turkish Fintech Apps

The blockchain-based digital ID solution could be a boon to banks, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), government organizations, educational institutions, healthcare providers, insurance companies, and more. In other words, its impact could be significant.

AKcess has recently opened offices in Kuwait, and the company also has projects underway in several other countries in the Middle East including Egypt, UAE, and Qatar.

The post AKcess Brings Its Blockchain-Based Digital ID Solution To Kuwait appeared first on Tech Magazine.