Mawwell, which means "to fund" in Arabic, aims at giving project creators who may be too small for venture capital firms or too innovative for bankers the opportunity to attract the attention of individuals whose financial support will help the projects concretize themselves.

"We are very excited about the launch of Mawwell as the first crowdfunding platform to fully address the EMEA creative projects’ crowdfunding needs." said Joanna Truffaut the Founder and Director of Mawwell.

How does it work?

Mawwell welcomes projects in the following categories: technology, music, gaming, art, comics, publishing, design, films and documentaries, photography, and fashion.

Project creators can post a project in one of the above categories and run fundraising campaigns, with a deadline and a target amount, in order to fund their creative projects. Each campaign targets pledgers who are looking to support creative or innovative projects against non-monetary rewards.

Pledges will automatically be paid to the project owner only if the campaign goal is reached or exceeded by the set deadline. If not, all pledges will be automatically cancelled, meaning that it is a neutral operation.

A few examples of projects Mawwell is launching (two of the three below are from the MENA region!):

Qrated: A cultured and fun tourism voice guide application that aims at providing the best guided-tour experience and break with the traditional inanimate guides (such as old-fashioned audio guides and travel guide books). The app will start with the city of Dubai!

Eclectic - The Album: a world-music album project by Dubai producer DJ AKS. An awarded producer, AKS has worked with Enrique Iglesias (Turn The Night Up official remix) and Sean Kingston and also remixed officially for top Bollywood film soundtracks such as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Student of the Year.

Polly Gone: a well-written and illustrated book for children about a triangle that wants to become a square. This is a unique book project, as it was written by a ten-year-old French- Canadian who happens to be a writing genius. The parents have taken the initiative to crowdfund the publishing of the book.

Mawwell intends to meet the fast-growing creativity and innovation scene in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa and help these projects get off the ground by leveraging the power of the crowd.