Generation Start-up: how three ex-Google executives are building Middle East’s Venmo – The National

Generation Start-up: how three ex-Google executives are building Middle East’s Venmo – The National

When colleagues Asim Janjua and Imad Gharazeddine became flatmates after moving to Dubai in 2012, they had a tough time sorting their shared expenses.

The absence of a peer-to-peer app that would simplify fund transfers in a market that was only gradually embracing online payments became evident to the duo.

“We were divvying up our rents and our electricity bills and it was such a nightmare to send money through bank transfer. You have to log into a bank account [and provide an] IBAN number," says Mr Janjua, co-founder and chief experience officer of Mamo, a peer-to-peer payment app.