The term ecosystem refers to the combined physical and biological components of an environment. Technology ecosystem is the combined resources, entities and people needed to advance the technology industry. ArabCrunch.NET brings the participants of the technology ecosystem in a virtual place to connect and empowersthem with free innovative applications. Our mission is to help accelerate entrepreneurship and technology innovation in the Arab world and emerging markets.

#Is ArabCrunch.NET free?

Yes, 100% free. We are still in public beta and adding more features along the line.

#Who can be a member in ArabCrunch.NET?

Anyone, individuals or company who works or invests in the technology field, study/teach one of the technology disciplines or provide a service to technology companies and anyone interested in technology advancements and entrepreneurship development.

#What are the membership types ArabCrunch.NET has?

ArabCrunch.NET membership is free,  the following are  types of members:

1.   People: entrepreneurs, investors, techies, creative, scientist, student, service provider, management and other.

2.   Companies: Technology companies and startup projects, service providers, venture funds, incubators, support organizations and open source projects.

#How can ArabCrunch.NET help me?

ArabCrunch.NET can help you in many ways for example: finding answers to problems you face, entrepreneurship and career mentorship, finding crucial resources, gaining vital knowledge, building strategic partnerships, and promoting your company/startup or service. Similarly, by being a part of this community you will assist others in achieving their goals and aspirations.

#Why do I need to fill my Profile Info?

Filling your profile info, will give you exposure and a potential to connect with other members and industry leaders, entrepreneurs and technology professionals, unfilled profiles will not be taken seriously by other members. 

#What is a Technology company/startup?

Technology companies are entities that develop, manufacture or sell software and/or hardware products and services.

They can be startups (early stage company) or established ones (entity operational for a number of years). Tech companies are the core of the technology ecosystem which ArabCurnch.NET is building in order to support them, as they are the vehicle of innovation and job creation.

#What is a Service Provider?

A service provider is a company or individual that provides services to other technology companies. Service providers are integral to the operation and success of companies.

They are key to the technology ecosystem ArabCrunch.NET is building. Examples of these services include advertising, marketing and public relations, accounting, legal services, shipping, web hosting, web development and internet service providers (ISP).

#What is a Venture Fund?

Venture Funds provide funding for startups or established companies. The type of funding they offer is different than commercial banking. Venture funds typically offer funding in return for equity.

There are different types of Venture Funds; Venture Capitalist (VC), Private Equity (PE) and Angel or Angel? Network. Venture Funds make money when the company is part of a merger/acquisition or when there is an initial public offering (IPO) at a stock exchange.

#What is an Incubator?

Incubators run programs designed to accelerate the development of start-ups. They nurture young companies through their vulnerable startup phase via different services and methods. Incubators typically provide free or low cost access to important resources, such as office space, legal and accounting and other support services, counseling and funding.

#What is a Support Organization?

Organizations are entities that are considered supporting pillars for the technology ecosystem. Organizations help accelerate the advancement in technology by helping entrepreneurs, investors, scientists and students through funding, research facilities, counseling, community events and lobbying. Organizations can be governmental entities or Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or Islamic Waqef.

#What is an Open Source project?

Open Source projects profiles on ArabCrunch.NET are projects developed by people from the Arab world and emerging markets that meet the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Open Source Definition and distribution terms.

#How to add my tech company/startup/service provider or open source project profile?

Register your account and fill your profile or login if you have an account, click "add company" or "add open source" and fill up the profile fields, upload your company or project logo and hit save. Make sure you choose the right profile type, please read the description of each business profile type before adding your company.

#How to add my Incubator or Support Organization profile?

Incubator or support organization are considered partners for ArabCrunch.NET we provide them and their members with tools and applications that empower them to achieve their goals.

Register your account and fill your profile or login if you have an account, click “add my company”  on the sidebar and choose" add a support organization" or "Incubator profile". Once finished filling, your organization profile will not be active unless ArabCrunch.NET admin activate it. Please connect support@arabcrunch.com to make sure your profile is active.

Note: Organizations profiles are is Only Non Private sector entities that support entrepreneurs or technology professionals.

Startup Q&A:

#What is Startup Q&A?

A place to ask questions, get and find answers and post polls about startups, entrepreneurship and the business of technology, specially in the Arab world.

The application is crowed sourced where users can vote questions and answers up (Crunch up) or down (Crunch down.) and bookmark them for later retrieval.

#What are the filtering capabilities Startup Q&A currently has?

·      Recent: list recent questions.

·      Popular: list the most popular questions.

·      Unanswered: list of unanswered questions, you can help others and answer what you know.

·      My matches: Questions that match your experience and what you know. Questions are matched if their tags match your personal profile tags. If you did not add your profile tags please add them now to get macthes.

#What are "Tags"?

TAGS are keywords that user can assign to personal profiles, companies, investors, organizations and service providers and questions to help organize & find what you need on ArabCrunch.NET. (Bigger font tags = more popular tag.)

Mentorship:

#What is Mentorship?

A free service from ArabCrunch.NET. Mentorship is the process of providing guidance and help to take entrepreneurs and technology professional (ie;: developers/engineers) to the next level via matching them with key experienced individuals (mentors) in the industry where knowledge, skills, and experiences are shared. 

#What is a Mentor?

#What is a Mentee?

A mentee is the person who seeks guidance from more experienced professionals in one filed or more. You can be a mentor in one field and a mentee in another or the same field depending on your experience and the type help you need.

By becoming a mentee we give you the opportunity to:

·      Develop skills and build knowledge.

·      Make better decisions about the critical issues facing your company or help you if you were a developer/engineer achieve technical excellence.

·      Enhance your professional development and build a circle of friends and professional contacts.

·      Provide the opportunity to participate in a strong networking experience.

#How does the Mentorship Matchmaking work?

The mentor matching process is very thorough. We look at the current applications from both mentor and mentee.

Prior to matching a mentor with a mentee, ArabCrunch.NET looks at the goals and interests of entrepreneurs and techies and matches them with the interests and qualification of a mentor. In order for the process to become a success; ArabCrunch.NET makes sure that the criteria outlined for both the roles of Mentor and Mentee match.

The process is as follows:

·      Filling an application: Both mentors and mentees will be required to fill up an application found on our mentorship app. The information added in the application should be accurate so that it would help the ArabCrunch.NET team to gather the information needed for the matching process.

·      ArabCrunch.NET will review all the mentor profiles applications to see their background and experiences.

·      ArabCrunch.NET will search for the mentor whose areas of expertise matches with the mentees requirements.

·      ArabCrunch.NET will then match the mentees applications to the mentors.

·     The mentor is the only one who can decide which mentee to mentor. The mentor can choose one or more mentees.

·      After the mentor choose his/her mentee/s the mentorship process starts via an introduction from ArabCrunch.NET team.

NOTE: To respect the members’ privacy, ArabCrunch.NET will keep all mentorship applications (mentors and mentees) confidential unless we get a consent from the mentors or the mentees.

#Is my mentorship application public?

Mentors applications are not public, the same for mentee applications. However mentee applications are shared with matched mentors in order to do the match it self!

#How to apply for a mentor?

Register your account and fill your profile -if you did not do so, then go to mentorship age and click on become a mentee.

#How do I become a mentor?

Register your account and fill your profile -if you did not do so, then go to Mentorship page and click on become a mentor.

Dashboard:

#What is a Dashboard? 

A section that lists your personal professional profile -or your company profile if you have one- and where you can manage your account and notifications settings.

Privacy:

#Is my registration email shared?

No, we do not share the email that you have registered your account with.. However you can make your email public if you add it to your personal profile under contact me.

#Why follow unfollow rather than friendship?

Establishing one-way relationships with users of interest is a better alternative than to force Friendship on you. Until both users follow each other. NOTE: ArabCrunch.NET is still in public beta, soon you will be able to get updates from people you follow, only.

#How do I block someone?

Go to his/her profile and choose options and then block.

#How do I report an in appropriate profile?

Go to the user profile choose option and then click on report.