Amal

Often labeled a“gig economy” the construction sector is relatively unstable due to its cyclical nature.Worker rates are not regulated,consistent jobs are hard to find and reputation is difficult to scale.For contractors,retaining “good” construction workers is not a difficult task as they are in high demand.Most importantly, in the Levant & North African markets,there are no vetting methods to streamline the recruitment process.Accordingly,a lot of time is being wasted due to the manual process and lack of technology involved.We are connected to this industry and have seen the pain points from our own experiences in dealing with this sector especially in the Palestinian context where labor is unstable due to the current political situation.Amal is a transparent construction-to-contractor digital network.Utilizing the latest AI technology,service gets bespoke,crowd-sourced information to help create reliable matches and help users optimize the resources based on reports and management tools(Time attendance,location tracking,communication channels,budgeting reports and smart scheduling)

Often labeled a “gig economy,” the construction sector is relatively unstable due to its cyclical nature. Worker salaries are not regulated, consistent jobs are hard to find, and reputation is difficult to scale. For contractors, retaining “good” construction workers is simple as there is a high supply of workers. What is troubling, particularly in the Levant & North African markets, is that there are no vetting methods to streamline the recruitment process. This means a lot of time is being wasted due to the manual process and lack of technology involved.

We are connected to this industry and have seen the pain points from our own experiences in dealing with this sector, especially in the Palestinian context where labor is unstable due to the current political situation.

Amal aims to build a transparent construction-to-contractor digital network. Utilizing machine learning technology, Amal’s service attains bespoke, crowdsourced information to deliver reliable matches and helps users optimize the resources based on reports and management tools. Contractors, therefore, will have the most up-to-date technology and information, enabling a revolution in the labor market that supports workers. Workers can be assured that contractors will be aware of their availability, and that should they be right they will be chosen, rather than missing out due to poor and missing information,  and optimize the resources based on reports and management tools (such as Time attendance, location tracking, communication channels, budgeting reports, and smart scheduling)

Beneficiaries: Foreign workers, the under-employed or unemployed, and construction workers:

Our Importance to the Beneficiaries:

• Help workers gain job offers with ease and dignity.

• Workers can review and rate employers - giving them the power 

• Legalized and formalized the employment process.

• No middleman - which means workers are not taken advantage of.

Our importance to the Employers:

• Contractors can select workers based on their rating, wage, availability and other filters

• Contractors can better manage worker attendance, timesheets, and payroll.

• No middleman 

• Workers are vetted and on-boarded after training on safety procedures and best practices.

NGO's and Ministries:

• Find real-time data about workers (employment, unemployment, etc) in marginalized areas.

• Find missing profession and needed skill sets to design programs and training.

We are filling the gap of matching workers who are struggling to keep or find good jobs also experience skills shortages and unfilled vacancies in MENA in the construction as its the biggest employer,these workers don’t have resumes we help them via sample steps to create a profile that show off their skills and working style to match them with suitable job,we provide professional development to increase their awancess from (banking,safety, soft skills,legal) and after the matching we provide full management for both users which makes the process frictionless and make more professional and legal without anyone taking advantage

1. Digitizing one of the most outdated industries

2. AI is one of the most important components of our product: 

The power of our application is coming from the AI and reporting engines; both can enhance the worker's and employer's working manners. Both engines are built to track and engage both of them properly and safely to maximize their efforts. The application will track the worker's behaviors like jumping or wrong actions, which can then be reported to upper management for further observation. Moreover, the AI engine works smartly to match the employer's requests with the pool of workers and provide them with the best matching with the cost estimates per worker.

The workers will have the ability to open leaves and even disputes about the environment or behaviors from other team members. The rating per work will be logged for future matching and estimations from both sides, the worker and employer. 

The power of our application is coming from the AI and reporting engines; both can enhance the worker's and employer's working manners. Both engines are built to track and engage both of them properly and safely to maximize their efforts. The application will track the worker's behaviors like jumping or wrong actions, which can then be reported to upper management for further observation. Moreover, the AI engine works smartly to match the employer's requests with the pool of workers and provide them with the best matching with the cost estimates per worker.

The workers will have the ability to open leaves and even disputes about the environment or behaviors from other team members. The rating per work will be logged for future matching and estimations from both sides, the worker and employer. 

Our solution is built on top of latest technologies and based on best practices for both the solution and the end user. They are widely used, especially in SAAS platforms as the solution should be scalable and high available at the same time.

The solution contains three main modules, the first one is the front-end, we’ve built it using Angular platform, which is one of Google’s products.  The backend is on top of the dot Net Core, which is the newest technology that Microsoft introduced with the biggest advantage as it is a cross platform. The third component is a mobile application that is built within React Native platform, to provide the performance and ability to run in IOS and Android.

All the modules are connected with our cloud in AWS, ensuring the scalability and high availability.

However, this business model is used in other industries such as Uber in transportation. They are a marketplace with AI to match drivers with end-users, process the payment, live location and big data.  And there is a leading construction management company in the USA that provides A-Z SAAS for constructions companies.

1. When you match workers to the right job, they will feel empowered as they will not be fired after a couple of days, increase the legal work

2. Match unskilled workers as helpers to the skilled, we increase the income for some countries

3. Match foreign will formalized the employment process

After working offline for 6 months with only 3000 workers, COVID-19 outbreak hit Palestine, from the data that we have we were able to help the Ministry of Labor: 

1. Create segmentation of the workers, and determine which ones are impacted the most, and needs support,

2. What kind of other jobs that can be done in house

3. Understand the labor market in Palestine 

We aim to achieve  the following via our solution for the long terms:

• Classify the workers through portfolio, it will be their resume/LinkedIn

• Have the largest number of workers in MENA, workers can be unskilled, skilled,mini subcontractor, small subcontractors, and middle subcontractor  

• Number one of construction management tool in MENA

• Optimize the resources in constructions sites based on customized reports generated per project

Provide real-time data about constructions/ labor in MENA from the data entered in the above three 

Since the start of our operations in August 2019 in Ramallah, Palestine we had 500 workers, then operated in Palestine, and we had identified over 3,000 construction workers, which has led to over $300,000 earned by them. We have also saved 777 hours in search time by using our AI matching platform. There is a lot of potential in this industry: estimates show that the Middle East and North Africa construction market will reach $7.2 trillion, with 50-60% going to the workforce in 2020. and With five years we are aiming to serve 10.7 million in the Middle East and North Africa. 

We aim to achieve  the following via our solution for the long terms:

• Classify the workers through portfolio, it will be their resume/LinkedIn

• Have the largest number of workers in MENA, workers can be unskilled, skilled,mini subcontractor, small subcontractors, and middle subcontractor  

• Number one of construction management tool in MENA

• Optimize the resources in constructions sites based on customized reports generated per project

Provide real-time data about constructions/ labor in MENA from the data entered in the above three 

1. Find talent: Low, strong, committed employers with the knowledge needed 

2. Vetting process: High, this won't be automated at the start and will have to be done manually:

3. Accessing other markets

1. Find talent: Low, strong, committed employers with the knowledge needed, solutions: 

• Search for talent in the diaspora

• Hire part-time instead of full-time for expensive hires  

• Request VC/investor referrals

2. Vetting process: High, this won't be automated at the start and will have to be done manually. Solutions:

• Automated as a second stage with computer vision 

• Hire operations engineers to manually vet the workers and contractors

• Call the contractors regularly to improve the vetting and rating process

3. Accessing other markets: Medium.

• Apply to accelerators to open doors for us in other markets

• Investor connections/networks will open doors for us in other markets

• Partner with local contractors to help us expand in their markets 

• Partners with strongly influenced entities such as EXPO 2020, ILO and Governments

N/A

Full Time:

1. Rowan Alawi CEO

2. Mohammad Jaradat CTO

3. Haneen Qurt React Native developer

4. Muayed Al Mafarjeh Full stack developer

Part Time:

1. Jamal Abdfattah Operation engineer

Interns:

1. Mamoun Iqtait UI/UX designer

2. Mira Darras Operation officer

Mohammad Jaradat is an entrepreneur who is keen to improve lives with technology.He is committed,and data-oriented.He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Birzeit University.Mohammad has experience both in the public and private sectors.He was previously a team lead for Hi-tech company, and throughout his career,he has been actively participating in various projects, mainly aiming at improving Health Care and Sales Systems via designing and implementing the top-level architecture

(Rowan Alawi) have over four years of experience working at a flourishing international and VC startup.I developed critical insights into what it takes to create a successful venture.During my time at Freightos,my hard work and dedication granted me two promotions within the frame of 2 years in that time I was able to establish quality control processes and protocol which decreased the number of bugs by approx.70%and I formulated a standardized process and protocols within departments to reduce the distraction and increase the performance to 80%.My innovative propensity and determination enabled me to work at a fast pace without compromising the quality of my work.My inherent knack for leadership allows me to help those around me develop and flourish,albeit through trying times and from a young age,I was groomed to become an entrepreneur.Having worked for my family-run interior construction business,I learned the ins and outs of running a business.This experience led me to realize the pre-existing gaps in the market,ultimately leading to the formation of my venture-Amal-a startup geared to efficiency in the huge market of construction workforce contracting

• Arab Youth Center:UAE,support,mentor,introduce entrepreneurs to investors 

• Expo live 2020:UAE:

  • Innovation: Make Expo 2020 Dubai an engine of global innovation that both inspires and acts as a catalyst for creative and scalable solutions

  • Partnerships: Establish a network for collaboration between nations, organizations,and innovators via shared global challenges

  • Impact: Create tangible and quantifiable impact to improve the lives of people around the world by supporting the development and transfer of new solutions

  • Engagement: Engage participants and stakeholders by ‘Connecting Minds’ to support solutions across Expo’s subthemes

• The Next Society: France:

  • An open community of changemakers engaged in innovation and economic development

  • Remove the barriers to innovation and unleash the creative potential

  • Reinforce innovation ecosystems and foster the value created by innovators

  • Push forward concrete solutions for leveraging social and development challenges

• She Entrepreneurs:Sweden:

  • The opportunity to plan and strategize for your business in an inspiring and collaborative learning environment

  • Regular support and input through sessions with expert mentors on an individual level as well as through group coaching

  • Increased self-awareness as a leader and a deepened understanding of how to build effective and motivated teams

  • Increased knowledge on topics such as business development, communication,business innovation,growing through partnerships,finance and funding

  • New perspectives on responsible and sustainable business practices from a social and an environmental perspective,as well as tangible tools for measuring your value creation

  • A strong and active network of like-minded women entrepreneurs

• IVLP (International visitors leadership program):US

• Flow Accelerator: Palestine,support,mentor,introduce entrepreneurs to investors 

• Fikra Innovation Hub:Palestine,support,mentor,introduce entrepreneurs to investors and pilots

• Current Revenue Channel 1: monthly subscription from contractors
• Current Revenue Channel 2:  Freemium for the workers
• Potential Revenue Channels 3: Targeted advertising
• Potential Revenue Channels 4: Sale real-time report about the construction/ labor market per city to shareholders

We are financially sustainable for the following: 

1. Investments/Grants from the following 

   1. Expo 2020: Achieved: Grant amount:$100k

   2. UNICEF Innovation Fund: Anticipated, Grant amount: $100k

   3. ILO skills: Anticipated, Grant amount: $50k

   4. VC funds: it’s plan B in case we didn’t get $350k as seedround 

2. Generating revenues:

   1.  Current Revenue Channel 1: monthly subscription from contractors

   2. Current Revenue Channel 2:  Freemium for the workers

   3. Potential Revenue Channels 3: Targeted advertising

   4. Potential Revenue Channels 4: Sale real-time report about the construction/ labor market per city to shareholders

We are solving the problem that exists throughout the whole of the MENA region. We initially launched in Palestine, which served as our test market, but we are in the process of partnerships within each country we enter. As such, we will launch in  KSA by the end of this year.

Partnerships with the following per country:

1. 1. Workers union’s

   2. ILO

   3. Contractors union’s

   4. Ministry of labor & employments 

   5. NGO’s and training centers

   6. Foreign affairs

   7. Municipality  

   8. Governments to do background checks

1. Find talent: you can help find the right experts that can help us shape our product throughout the community of peers, funders, and experts

1.  Accessing other markets: you support us through your connections to enter new markets throughout the community of peers, funders, and experts

2. Access into capital: you can support us to fundraise

1. Funding and revenue model: Being in Palestine trying to solve a problem that is relevant to the MENA region has limited access to capital therefore, we need your support to get the right connections to increase our value, and the same for the revenues model we are still an early stage startup, trying to figure out the right revenue model that will fit most of the region 

2. Board members or advisors: we believe that building, you need to learn from experts who build a startups, and unfortunately, they are very limited in my community 

3. Legal or regulatory matters: I’m not an expert in legal and it’s very expensive to hire a good one that understand the startups and regulation of it

4. Marketing, media, and exposure: You need your support to get to the media and get more exposure

We are working with many segmentation of workers who are the supply in our platform, that we match them to potential work in the nearby regards of the language barriers, however, one of these segmentation are the foreign workers who most of the times are refugees these days (Jordan has 1.8 million Syrian refugees)  we can help these refugees by creating a profiles to them to show their skill sets and fill the gap between them and the employers, and have full management that can be transplanted so no third part take advantage of them as we are aiming to increase the legal work. 

Our Importance to the Beneficiaries: 

• Help workers gain job offers with ease and dignity

• Workers can review and rate employers - giving them the power 

• Legalized and formalized the employment process

• No middleman - which means workers are not taken advantage of

We also provide these insights & analytics to stakeholders such as NGO's and Ministries that have aligned agenda of supporting the workers, increase the employment:

a. Find real-time data about workers (employment, unemployment, etc) in marginalized areas

b. Find missing profession and needed skill sets to design programs and training

With COVID-19 we provided our analytics to ministry of labor in Palestine to support them build a strategy to support Palestinians workers during the pandemic    

We are working on construction male a dominated industry to change it with technology through innovation of (AI and big data) with a proven business model in Palestine and getting ready to expand within the MENA, we can’t say that I’m (Rowan Alawi CEO and founder) is directly solving for women and girls, but I wanted to break all the stereotypes about females and build Hi-tech startup focused on construction within Middle East and North Africa, were 75% of the company owned by women, with 40% of the development (coders) are women, we believe in empowering women by working by example, so other women can follow our footsteps and we will guide them through this journey.

Amal aims to build a transparent construction-to-contractor digital network. Utilizing machine learning technology, Amal’s service attains bespoke, crowdsourced information to deliver reliable matches and helps users optimize the resources based on reports and management tools. Therefore, we are targeting workers (Foreign workers, the under-employed or unemployed, and construction worker), we provide them:

1. Onboarding them to the platform by doing interviews and vet them

2. Online matching and management: Create a profile to show their skill set, working style it’s more like their resume/ linkedIn, by that we benefit them:

   1. Help workers gain job offers with ease and dignity

   2. Workers can review and rate employers - giving them the power 

   3. Legalized and formalized the employment process

   4. No middleman - which means workers are not taken advantage of

Note: management: time and location tracking, payment tracking and communication channels

3. Professional Development:

Provide workshops and events for the workers to improve their professional development in the following sectors: legal, safety, soft skills and banking

4. Insights & Analytics: we provide these reports to stakeholders such as NGO's and Ministries that have aligned agenda of supporting the workers, increase the employment:

a. Find real-time data about workers (employment, unemployment, etc) in marginalized areas

b. Find missing profession and needed skill sets to design programs and training

Our ambition is to help create & sustain workers access to suitable employment opportunities & ensure that their safety & dignity are preserved in their job hunting endeavor and our value proposition, Amal aims to build a transparent construction-to-contractor digital network. Utilizing machine learning technology, Amal’s service attains bespoke, crowdsourced information to deliver reliable matches and helps users optimize the resources based on reports and management tools. The power of our application is coming from the AI and reporting engines; both can enhance the worker's and employer's working manners. Both engines are built to track and engage both of them properly and safely to maximize their efforts. The application will track the worker's behaviors like jumping or wrong actions, which can then be reported to upper management for further observation. Moreover, the AI engine works smartly to match the employer's requests with the pool of workers and provide them with the best matching with the cost estimates per worker. The workers will have the ability to open leaves and even disputes about the environment or behaviors from other team members. The rating per work will be logged for future matching and estimations from both sides, the worker and employer

Beneficiaries: Foreign workers, the under-employed or unemployed, and construction workers:

Our Importance to the Beneficiaries:

• Help workers gain job offers with ease and dignity.

• Workers can review and rate employers - giving them the power 

• Legalized and formalized the employment process.

• No middleman - which means workers are not taken advantage of.

Our importance to the Employers:

• Contractors can select workers based on their rating, wage, availability and other filters

• Contractors can better manage worker attendance, timesheets, and payroll.

• No middleman 

• Workers are vetted and onboarded after training on safety procedures and best practices.

NGO's and Ministries:

• Find real-time data about workers (employment, unemployment, etc) in marginalized areas.

Find a missing profession and needed skill sets to design programs and training.

Our ambition is to help create & sustain workers access to suitable employment opportunities & ensure that their safety & dignity are preserved in their job hunting endeavor and our value proposition, Amal aims to build a transparent construction-to-contractor digital network. Utilizing machine learning technology, Amal’s service attains bespoke, crowdsourced information to deliver reliable matches and helps users optimize the resources based on reports and management tools. Targeting Middle East and North Africa. We want to digitize one of the most outdated industries by the AI and reporting engines; both can enhance the worker's and employer's working manners. Both engines are built to track and engage both of them properly and safely to maximize their efforts. The application will track the worker's behaviors like jumping or wrong actions, which can then be reported to upper management for further observation. Moreover, the AI engine works smartly to match the employer's requests with the pool of workers and provide them with the best matching with the cost estimates per worker. The workers will have the ability to open leaves and even disputes about the environment or behaviors from other team members. The rating per work will be logged for future matching and estimations from both sides, the worker and employer

Beneficiaries: Foreign workers, the under-employed or unemployed, and construction workers:

Our Importance to the Beneficiaries:

• Help workers gain job offers with ease and dignity.

• Workers can review and rate employers - giving them the power 

• Legalized and formalized the employment process.

• No middleman - which means workers are not taken advantage of.

Our importance to the Employers:

• Contractors can select workers based on their rating, wage, availability and other filters

• Contractors can better manage worker attendance, timesheets, and payroll.

• No middleman 

• Workers are vetted and onboarded after training on safety procedures and best practices.

NGO's and Ministries:

• Find real-time data about workers (employment, unemployment, etc) in marginalized areas.

• Find a missing profession and needed skill sets to design programs and training