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I'm a do-gooder and entrepreneurship junkie. I also practice yoga, eat potato chips and root for the Mets (in season). Entreventures will bring you weekly stories about entrepreneurs, innovations and innovative ideas from my globetrotting adventures.

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The Arab Jeff Bezos: Startup Turkey Takeaway #2

Arab literature is an oral rather than written tradition. Rich in prose and poetry families and communities would gather around the storyteller to regale in fantastic tales. Modern times have made that more difficult. Amman-based computer engineer Ala Suleiman hopes to revive this custom. His two-year old company Masmoo3 produces and publishes audio books for the Arab world.

 

 

“The majority of Arabic speakers do not feel comfortable or understand other languages,” he told me during eTohum’s Startup Turkey event this past weekend in Antalya. “We’re giving Arabic speakers a chance to have books by audio.” The United Nation’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) put out a report several years back that shows illiteracy in the Arab world is twice the global average. Suleiman believes that moving books from written to aural format will reduce that number. “I am a good listener for audio books in English,” he said. “It is good to do this while traveling or driving to work.”

Working with his sister, a sound engineer, Suleiman secures the rights for published works then hires narrators to read them in what he says is “proper classic Arabic.” The company works with 20. Masmoo3 has published 40 books that users can access on the web, mobile apps as well as in the air. Suleiman has brokered deals with Emirates and Qatar Airlines to carry content, specifically Masmoo3′s children’s book series. He is working with local radio stations to produce a series for the region. Oasis500, a Jordan-based seed investor and accelerator backs Masmoo3.

“We want to increase the availability of knowledge and make listening to books an interesting experience for an Arabic-audience,” he said.

Suleiman is not alone. A number of other Arab entrepreneurs have thrown their proverbial hats into the digital book market. They include: Jamalon, a Jordanian online bookseller and another Oasis 500 company; Neelwafurat, a Lebanese company that has been selling Arabic books since 1998 before launching iKitab; Qordoba Books, an online reading and publishing platform and Sacha Books, an Egyptian startup that produces interactive digital stories for children. Wamda’s Editor Nina Curley notes that among the challenges these companies face is digitalizing content and reaching the masses. Digitalization costs up to $50 per title. Add in licensing fees, that’s a pretty penny. Awareness is another challenge.

When I asked Suleiman what he thought about these challenges he stared at me, “Yes,” he paused with a smile, “there are problems all the time. We must still try to make it.” That more than Suleiman’s bald looks reminded me of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who once remarked, “What’s dangerous is not to evolve.”

Tomorrow: Startup financing? Get angel heavy

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