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Meta & Startupbootcamp Program Will Promote MENA Startups
The initiative will encourage AI adoption through a series of workshops and bootcamps and offer $500,000 to support product development.
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has begun a collaboration with Startupbootcamp, a startup accelerator responsible for over 1,600 successful launches.
The strategic partnership aims to boost the MENA region’s startup scene using cutting-edge AI technologies through its Llama Design Drive initiative.
The program consists of three four-week sprints that will take place across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Llama Design Drive highlights include workshops and mentorship sessions and strategic partnerships with industry thought leaders.
The program by Meta and Startupbootcamp hopes to bridge the gap between established companies and the dynamic AI startup sector. To that end, Llama Design Drive will promote the use of Meta’s open-source large language model, Llama 3.1, helping companies develop products that tackle “real-world challenges in mobility, aviation, energy distribution, retail, and real estate”.
Startups recruited into the Llama Design Drive program will get the opportunity to be fast-tracked into a global initiative sponsored by Meta and have the chance to win up to $500,000 to support future product development.
“Our program not only promotes the adoption of AI technologies to develop solutions for corporate challenges but also facilitates connections between startups, corporates, and industry experts to expand networks and gain valuable knowledge and technical skills,” explained Ibrahim “Abe” Seksek, CEO MENA at Startupbootcamp.
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“The whole world is excited to see how AI can add value to people’s lives,” added Joulan Abdul Khalek, Policy Programs Manager, Africa Middle East and Turkey at Meta. “Llama Design Drive is a great example of how open source can bring people together to co-create meaningful AI solutions. By doing so, we hope to cultivate a thriving community of tech talent across the region, working with them to unlock the potential of these exponential technologies to address real-world challenges”.
The MENA region — and the Middle East in particular — is ideally positioned for AI sector dominance, with both governments and businesses scrambling to adopt advanced technologies. In real terms, the Middle East as a whole is expected to reap 2% of the total worldwide benefits of AI by 2030, with annual growth surging to 20-34% across the region.
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LUVED Is A New Curated Preloved Marketplace For The UAE
Sellers keep 100 percent of every sale and AI can build a listing in five seconds — though the app’s smartest tools are still coming.
Secondhand shopping has become mainstream in the UAE, but the experience is still scattered across resale sites, social media and informal group chats. LUVED, a mobile-first marketplace that launched in Dubai this month, is betting it can pull that activity into one place — and that the thing buyers and sellers actually want is not more inventory, but trust.
The app trades in what it calls circular luxury: preloved fashion and lifestyle pieces across men’s, women’s and children’s categories, bought, sold or given away peer to peer. Its main pitch is economics, with sellers keeping 100 percent of every sale under a zero-commission, fast payout model, while buyers are promised vetted pieces at lower prices.
Where LUVED is staking its reputation is verification. Sellers pass a KYC check, and items run through a two-layer authentication system powered by Entrupy that pairs instant AI screening with human expert review for high-value pieces. Authenticity certificates travel with each item, payments sit in escrow, and a buyer-protection package the company calls The Safety Net adds a 48-hour return window and dispute resolution. Door-to-door logistics removes the in-person meetups that make most resale deals awkward.
An in-app assistant called Luvbot — offering selling insights and demand-based recommendations — is soon to be introduced to the platform. Other features include autofill and dynamic pricing that lets users build a listing in as little as five seconds from three photos, plus a swipe-based feed, story-style drops and in-app chat in English and Arabic. Finally, a gifting layer, Luved & Gifted, lets users pass items to others inside the app rather than sell them.
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“After moving to Dubai, I saw how difficult it was to sell or even give things away,” says founder and CEO Shaima Sibtain. The friction is real, and so is the competition. In resale, trust is won transaction by transaction — and that is the test LUVED has set itself.
The app is live on the App Store now, with Google Play to follow. The company also plans to expand across the region, which will be the real test for a marketplace staking everything on trust.
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