Meet the Entrepreneurs
alKhawarizmy Language Software November 2013
Access to Markets
alkhawarizmy language software
Arabic-speaking search engine that simplifies the way users interact with electronic content
CONTACT INFORMATION Cairo, Egypt
+20 226349912
hemahgoub@alkhawarizmy.com
www.alkhawarizmy.com
Dr. Hossam Mahgoub, President and CEO, Egypt
CHALLENGE Though the internet may seem to some as the great anonymous equalizer, that sentiment might not ring true to users who navigate in foreign languages. Speakers of languages like Arabic, whose sentence structure and alphabet differ greatly from the Latin languages, face a disadvantage when attempting even basic searches. Looking things up in Arabic is often very difficult, time consuming, and generates limited success. This is mainly because the tools used on either Arabic websites or traditional search engines have not included the intricacies of Arabic into their algorithms. As a result, there was a real need in the market for a tool that provided comprehensive and accurate search results in Arabic in order to make the internet as resourceful for its speakers as for everyone else.
IDEA AlKhawarizmy Software was specifically designed for searches in Arabic, and developed through a two-step methodology. First, an Arabic morphological analyzer was created, and then a semantic word identifier was developed. The search engine is an embedded technology, making it easy to incorporate into any web page, company site, and other applications. This idea has received very positive feedback, and won the 3rd prize in the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s Business Plan Competition in 2007, as a result of going through a 3-year incubation period. In 2011, the company won infoDev’s Top 20 SMEs contest. Following the Top 20 activity, alKhawarizmy has been able to reach additional users and strategic clients of Arabic websites and enterprises from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.
BUSINESS MODEL The key to the business model is the technology, which was designed to easily integrate into any third-party web page or application. The search engine can be implemented on a series of digital platforms such as web pages, e-books, portals, and also includes a spell checker. The software is currently sold through both direct and indirect channels. Direct sales target Arabic websites and companies, and revenue is generated through a license fee. Direct sales target four pre-identified customer segments: Media, Educational Entities, Large Corporations, and Government. Indirect sales are carried out through partnerships with strategic partners such as software developers who wish to add this feature to their existing products. Currently, the company is in an internationalization phase and searching for customers throughout the Middle East / North Africa (MENA) region. The potential for selling these solutions has received very positive feedback from the international market, and shows high growth potential if the necessary funds are raised.
“OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE THE ARABIC USER WITH AFFORDABLE, HIGH QUALITY, AND PRECISE SEARCH TOOLS WITH A SUPERIOR LEVEL OF AFTER-SALE SERVICE.”
“THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE ARABIC LANGUAGE TO BE AT THE LEADING EDGE OF FAST COMPUTER PROCESSING.”
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