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Yela Secures Over $2M To Connect Fans & Celebrities Via Video Messages

Yela gives you access to personalized video messages from your favorite A-list celebrities from around the MENA region.

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yela secures over $2 million to connect fans and celebrities via video messages
Yela

Yela, a platform that aims to connect fans and celebrities via personalized video messages, has secured $2.2 million from global investors to support its launch in its first pre-seed round of funding.

The list of investors includes Justin Mateen (co-founder of Tinder), Sean Rad (co-founder of Tinder), and Razmig Hovaghimian (a board member at Rakuten). The creators of the platform, Alex Eid and Marc Dakroub, claim that they’ve been able to secure the backing of such high-profile investors by offering exclusive access to A-list celebrities, including Amr Diab, Haifa Wehbe, Youssra, Ahmed El Sakka, Mohamed Henedy, Chico, Ghada Addel, Amr Youssef, and Mostafa Shaban, just to give a few examples.

Yela differs from its main competition, American video-sharing website Cameo, by targeting the MENA and South Asia market, whose population is relatively young and tech savvy.

“We’re differentiated in the region we cover, the type of creators we are onboarding, and the audience we are targeting,” said Yela CEO Alex Eid. “Also, the team is made up of second- and third-time venture backed entrepreneurs, with a passion for the product.”

Also Read: Anghami Lab Venue To Bridge Digital And Traditional Entertainment

Because Yela is currently in private beta, users are required to join a waiting list to get early access and unlock rewards. The first 5,000 users were able to secure priority access to the platform and get $100 worth of credits as a bonus. Now, up to 10,000 users can get only $40 worth of bonus credits. Supported payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and PayPal.

Platforms like Yela can be seen as products of the ongoing monetization of human interactions, which has been made possible by the internet and online payment methods. Their usage has increased significantly during lockdowns, likely as a result of people craving social interactions and being more willing to pay for them.

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Dubai Residents Will Soon Travel Door To Door By Flying Car

Aviation firm Aviterra has signed a deal with Dutch company PAL-V to purchase over 100 Liberty flying cars.

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dubai residents will soon travel door to door by flying car
PAL-V

A Dubai-headquartered aviation company has signed an agreement with Dutch firm PAL-V to bring their groundbreaking flying cars to the Middle East.

Aviterra, a manufacturer of aviation and aerospace components, will purchase over 100 Liberty flying cars and directly invest in the European aviation company, they revealed in a recent joint statement.

At $799,000, the two-seat Liberty is a costly vehicle predominantly aimed at high-end, corporate, and government clients and individuals with very deep pockets. Described by PAL-V as a “personal aircraft for daily medium and long-distance commutes,” the Liberty combines a gyroplane and three-wheeled car with collapsable propellers and tail fins stored on the roof.

In car mode, the vehicle can reach 100 kph in under nine seconds and has a top speed of 160 kph. Changing into aircraft modes takes around five minutes, with the helicopter-like blades rising from the roof and the tail fins extending up and out from the rear. Finally, the car’s rear jacks up, and two hatches open to deploy the rear-facing propeller.

pal-v liberty flying car

As an aircraft, the Liberty has a range of between 400 and 500 km and a maximum speed of 180 kph. It can reach an altitude of 11,000 feet and requires a runway (or straight road) of at least 200 meters for both takeoff and landing.

The current batch of Liberty flying cars run on regular gasoline but will eventually be configured as EVs “once batteries get lighter”, according to Robert Dingemanse, CEO and founder of PAL-V.

Also Read: Abu Dhabi To Develop $1 Billion eSports Island Facility

Meanwhile, as both Abu Dhabi and Dubai continue to make strong commitments to air mobility, other companies are also keen to deploy flying cars in the Middle East. Slovakian firm KleinVision, for example, is developing a flying vehicle called the Aircar, powered by a BMW engine.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority recently signed agreements to use air taxis in the city in the next two years, while Abu Dhabi’s Investment Office has announced plans to introduce an all-electric air taxi fleet by 2026.

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