Basil: Sure. OK. So, the Arab world, I know you don't do much in that space and geography. What if you have a big potential from a startup that's in the Arab world that's approaching you? Would you consider that? And if so, what criteria are you looking for?
Maha: Absolutely. I would treat them similar to any other startup that I would see in any other geography, and I'll take India and China and put them to the side because the bulk of those companies are focused on selling into their own market because they both have a billion plus population.
In the Middle East, you don't have that population growth, nor do you have that absolute population numbers. So, I would be hesitant to invest in a company that was just looking at the Middle East market. I think that that is a fine market. There are probably many companies to be built there, but from an Internet perspective, from a consumer perspective, you just don't have the critical mass, in my opinion, to amass a huge scale business if you're just focused in the Middle East. I would look to invest there if the idea was to go globally with the audience.
About the Guest:
“Maha Ibrahim invests in innovative cloud and digital media companies with the potential to become global market leaders. Maha is known in the venture industry for her ability to spot technology trends early, foster growth at her portfolio companies through hands-on operational guidance, and achieve profitable exits for entrepreneurs and investors.”
“Maha joined Canaan’s Menlo Park office in March 2000. She was one of the first investors to recognize the huge potential of social gaming. Maha led Canaan Partners’ early investment in social games pioneer PicksPal (acquired by Liberty Media) and is now a lead investor in Kabam, the world’s largest developer of massively multiplayer social games and InhaleDigital, the first social retail site for online games. Maha also invests in enterprise technology companies leveraging cloud computing to improve business outcomes”
Maha holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT and now serves as a General Partner at Canaan Partners.
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Investing in Arabia
Maha Ibrahim talks about the Investment in Arabia.
