A greener outlook

Aquaponica Corporation, winner of the ‘ideas’ category in the MIT Enterprise Forum Saudi Arabia, has a concept with the potential to ensure food security for years to come by developing sustainable agricultural practices in even the most challenging environments.

Dealing with ever-changing and ever-challenging climate shifts is a truly global problem that does not respect borders or cultures.

It is particularly threatening to food security, potentially leading to large-scale difficulties in the Middle East.

Although there is a strong agricultural tradition across the region, it is vastly underused and underdeveloped. The World Bank reports that as much as 80 percent of all food available in Saudi Arabia is imported and as high as 97 percent in some GCC neighbours.

It is clear that this needs to change – not an easy task in a naturally arid country such as Saudi Arabia. But Aquaponica Corporation hopes to lead that change by using technology and developing innovative, efficient, and climate-specific agricultural techniques that increase the quality and quantity of sustainable arable land.

Founded by Dr Amin Majdi in the Western region of Saudi Arabia, Aquaponica’s primary focus is on the design and implementation of temperature-controlled greenhouses and aquaponic agriculture on a commercial scale.

Dr Majdi received the King Abdullah Scholarship and qualified in the USA with master’s and PhD degrees in energy-efficiency and renewable energy. While in the USA, Dr Majdi was introduced to the concepts of energy efficiency in buildings.

“During my studies, I was introduced to many energy-efficient residential, commercial, and industrial building designs,” he says. “I found the ‘Passive House’ building principle fascinating. Passive houses have incredibly stringent energy-efficiency standards that can reduce energy consumption by up to 90 percent and make renewable energy economically appealing.

“For my PhD research I wanted to take the principles of the passive house and apply them to greenhouses – which typically follow no energy codes whatsoever.”

Dr Majdi used his expertise in energy efficiency to enhance his designs, helped by the latest computer software and smart algorithms. He was drawn to aquaponics in his search for efficient and sustainable farming methods that eliminated the need for conventional cooling/heating and were also practical and economically feasible.

“After I discovered the benefits of aquaponics, I read and researched extensively to broaden my understanding, attending many aquaponic workshops in the US to get more hands-on experience and build relationships with scientists, experts, and leading companies in the field.”

Now, having received his PhD and achieved his aim of creating a new standard of energy efficiency in greenhouses, Dr Majid is bringing his technology to the real world. This means agriculture can flourish in incredibly challenging environments such as in Saudi Arabia.

“I think that Aquaponica is a turning point in the agriculture sector. It saves energy, water and materials, requires no conventional heating or cooling systems, enhances renewable energy systems efficiencies, and produces two fresh premium products – fish and plants – that are free of pesticides and chemicals.”

But taking a concept to market requires business knowledge and marketing and public relations skills, which MITEF Saudi Arabia has provided to Dr Majdi as a part of its competition programme.

“When it came to business, I was trying everything almost for the first time – from talking to the media, to standing in front of the judges. But the guidance I received from MITEF staff was incredibly helpful and I had the opportunity to learn while simultaneously networking and having access to decision-makers.

“This experience has given me valuable perspective. Previously I was a purely technical thinker, but now I have invaluable business skills which will allow me to build my business and adapt my concept for the real world.”

Winner of the 2017 MIT Enterprise Forum Saudi Arabia in the Startup segment, Madad Services LLC, offers an e-commerce platform facilitating supply and demand in the HoReCa (hotel /restaurant/café) sector.

Increasingly, the service industry is looking to further leverage technology, capitalising on the growing strength of the globalised digital marketplace. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in connectivity.

By reducing the distance between stakeholders, the service industry can meet the needs of their customers faster and more efficiently, while simultaneously building on real-time client satisfaction.

This is the area in which Madad Services LLC has come into its own. The company was founded in 2016 with the aim of providing businesses in the hotel, restaurant, and café segment with an online platform to improve their connectivity with suppliers of goods and services to across Saudi Arabia. It is the first company of its kind within the country.

“Our concept is simple; we don’t sell products, instead, we offer a web platform that facilitates the exchange of goods. Our goal is to digitise the regional trading market and help businesses grow through internet technology”, said Faisal Alshareef
CEO, Madad Services.

Like so many great ideas, the inspiration for Madad Services was came from a chance conversation between friends. After deciding to look into the hospitality sector for potential business opportunities, Faisal Alshareef shadowed his friend – a restaurateur in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, to see where there could be room for a new idea.

“A few weeks into the process, I began to notice the agony that my friend seemed to go through every time he set about ordering his restaurant supplies. These issues ranged from the inconsistent pricing, the wasted time and effort in searching for a good price, stock unavailability, and overall limitations in access to suppliers.

“One day, a stock check alerted him that he was running out of cooking cream. He called his supplier to order more only to find out that he too was out of stock. He then called the backup supplier and the backup of the backup to find that they too had no supply. At this point he had exhausted the options available to him, as those were the only suppliers he knew. The result of this was that he had to drop five of the best-selling items from his menus for a few months. This affected his revenue severely.

“This got me thinking about creating a platform that connects suppliers and manufacturers with hotels, restaurants, and cafés where our aim was to empower buyers by offering them a competitive marketplace where the lowest possible price could be achieved. The platform could be a place where convenience is prioritised and customers could find a wide range of suppliers with the broadest selection of products.”
However the company does not simply target improving the supply chain on behalf of the customers. “Our aim is also to add value to our partner suppliers. Our platform also services them by introducing them to the online marketplace, while increasing their market exposure and access, and reducing their operation costs,” Faisal Alshareef added.

Since its launch, Madad Services has aimed to offer a “seductively convenient” client-centric business-to-business experience that will effectively digitise what has traditionally been a face-to-face transaction. So successful was this model that Madad Services took first prize in the second annual MITEF Saudi Arabia Startup Competition, earning SR 100,000 in the process, and public exposure that has resulted in a wave of investment offers.

“It was a great honour to win such a prestigious competition and it was a privilege to meet like-minded people; entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors who are trying to revolutionise our ecosystem,” said Faisal Alshareef. “The knowledge that we gained in such a short time has been unbelievable. We now look to the future making sure to inspire others by making Madad Services a real success story for everyone.”

Increasingly, new businesses concepts are looking to leverage innovative technology – particularly on smart devices, to access their marketplace. Mobile devices and smart technology have connected the world like never before, and offer a seamlessly managed interaction between vendor and customer. The mobile device and smart apps provide a mobile shop front; easily accessed, anytime, anywhere. But the longer we live with smart technology as part of our day-to-day lives, the clearer it becomes that we are only scratching the surface of its overwhelming potential. When applied to higher-minded ideas, smart technology can have real world impacts that exceed convenience or commercial value.

The runner up in the 2017 MITEF Saudi award in the startup track does just that. Using innovative technology, the iBOAT smart app is making Saudi waters safer for boaters – with the added benefit of protecting the environment at the same time. iBOAT harnesses the power of the ‘internet of things’ (IOT) to sync the marine Automatic Identification System (AIS) to create an identity for every boat, integrating the boat’s existing AIS with a mobile app.

The Smart Navigational Captain System enables users to capitalise on the GPS technology in their smartphones, constantly reporting their position and status – making search and rescue much simpler should the need arise. iBOAT has also created a sea lovers’ platform where all can share their trip’s records, with pictures, reviews, and a rating system for boat-owners and end-users of rented boats. iBOAT is now working on a prototype ‘smart’ boat using a single on-board computer that connect the boat’s marine devices to the cloud using international IOT simcards, Sigfox, and Lora technologies.

Environmental protection will be enhanced by some of the smart boats having water sensors to measure sea pollution, ion levels, temperature, and pH – data that will be invaluable in monitoring and regulating marine resources. The business began in 2013 as the iDiveTeam, based on the founders’ love of the sea and marine activities since childhood – swimming, fishing, snorkelling, and scuba diving.

Mohnnad A. Babaeer CEO iBOAT said; “In the beginning we used to go with friends or sometimes rent and plan a fishing trip among ourselves. “After finishing college abroad, I came back home and saw the huge increase in the number of diving shops, divers, and diving instructors. What really interested me was seeing the number of enthusiasts in my home city of Jeddah, so in 2013 we decided to establish a small boating agency.

“We started with one boat that we bought and operated ourselves. We made money and bought the second boat. After that, we thought we didn’t just want to keep on buying boats. “Why not change our business model and make a partnership with every boat in the MENA region by creating the perfect smartphone app that would solve all the problems of boating and renting?

“Our GPS-based app enables boat owners to make money by operating rental trips and tours – a shared economy model that helps sea lovers who always rent boats to go fishing, diving, or even just for cruising so that they can find the best boat for their weekend’s trip. “We start when roads end – always providing our users with high-quality trips. The app has Smart Blue Charts (sea maps) in unique machine-learning algorithms that give the navigational captain guidance on where to go for the best fishing or diving according to the season. “As a Saudi-based company, the iBoat team has worked hard to overcome the challenges presented to it. Tertiary service-based industry, particularly in terms of home-grown technology concepts, is often difficult to develop. Access to market, and creating brand awareness, can be challenging obstacles to overcome in-country without support.

“We have grown through word of mouth, promotion on social media, and using free trending e-commerce websites that relates to our industry. Our success is very much due to my amazing team – I believe in them and vice versa. And because we enjoy doing what we do, no one could be better at it than us.
“We always have a strong will to take the right steps to fulfil our vision and our commitment to innovation.”

Like so many other entrants, iBOAT has benefited from the guidance, mentorship, and support provided by MITEF. Mohnnad A. Babaeer describes his experience with MITEF Saudi as “incredibly amazing – we have learned so much and networked with such inspiring people in the ultimate ecosystem to support entrepreneurs in the Kingdom and all over the world.

“The experience will definitely benefit our success. The expert feedback has made us stronger as we now advance to the MITEF Pan-Arab competition. We will continue developing the app, building strong infrastructure, increasing sales, and making sure iBOAT is the best tool for all sea lovers. “I would recommend all fellow entrepreneurs to get involved with MITEF Saudi and advise them that if they want to be winners they must dream big and follow that with hard work to build sales by making their product to the very best standards of quality.”