212 Updates #138 | April 28th
Swipeline Summit
As of last week, I've been on the road again. The trip to Dubai was very fruitful. In addition to catching up with our network, I also had a chance to meet with new founders and investors. Dubai continues to be a major hub where one can attend a different event every week and build an ever-growing network.
Speaking of events, we’re now in Antalya to attend the second Swipeline Summit. It’s a two-day organization where attendees have a lot of time to meet with the stakeholders of the ecosystem. I personally prefer multi-day events with long breaks between sessions rather than a tight schedule jampacked with speeches and presentations. We will also have a Popcorn live session at the Summit.
Meet the Team
Say hello to Maher Hakim, Partner at 212. Maher joined 212 in September 2018.
Q&A Spotlight:
If you could bring one guest to the 212 annual party, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I would bring Daron Acemoglu (whom I would love to meet if you can help 😊). I'd love to learn more about Daron’s insights on how institutions affect prosperity as well as his analysis on how decisions on investments in technologies determine how the world is shaped...
What’s one technology or trend you think is dramatically underrated right now?
Parents losing control completely of how their children are learning and how they are building their value systems.
Maher's Picks:
If you could describe your job at 212 with a movie title, what would it be and why?
The “big short”. I find myself trying to find problems/holes in any “too good to be true” story/pitch.
What’s the most unusual or unique investment pitch or experience you’ve ever encountered at 212?
It is a pitch when you are trying to determine if the founders are absolutely genius or if they are total crooks (I won’t name the company).
Last Week
Investment teams interacted with 55 companies.
I was in Dubai for meetings and attended Dubai AI Week.
Selma and Zeynep attended Scaling Beyond Borders.
Ali attended Dragon Hunting Podcast.
This Week and Next
We will be at Swipeline Summit this week in Antalya.
This week, we will bridge May 1st holiday into a long weekend.
Some News
Revolut, the $45B neobank, posts $1B profit in 2024. Read more…
Apple, Meta Fined by EU, Ordered to Comply With Tech Competition Rules. Read more…