{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"FWDstart","title":"Ibrahim Manna (BRKZ) on Lessons from Careem, Founder Grit & Disrupting Saudi Construction","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3736,"description":"Ibrahim Manna is the Founder and CEO of BRKZ, a Saudi construction tech startup built to address inefficiencies in construction procurement: fragmented supply chains, manual processes, and cash flow gaps faced by contractors and factories. Before founding BRKZ, Ibrahim spent eight years at Careem as one of the core architects of its expansion, launching 11 out of 15 markets ahead of the company's $3.1 billion acquisition by Uber in 2019. BRKZ has raised over $50 million in equity and debt financing, and serves 850+ contractors across major giga-projects including NEOM, King Salman Park, and Red Sea.He joins the podcast to discuss how buying a house during the pandemic revealed a broken industry, why Saudi's 7-8 layer supply chain creates massive inefficiency, what Careem taught him about building culture and empowering operators as founders, and how BRKZ is using technology to work with — not against — entrenched contractor behaviours.-----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction to Ibrahim Manana and BRKZ04:02 – Ibrahim's Early Entrepreneurial Endeavours07:35 – Lessons from Kareem11:11 – Challenges in Market Expansion22:37 – Leadership and Culture at Careem26:23 – Navigating Legal and Operational Hurdles28:59 – Stories from Iraq32:16 – Launching and Learning from Careem Cash34:58 – Transition to BRKZ36:27 – Identifying Gaps in the Construction Industry40:21 – Challenges and Innovations in Construction47:09 – The AI Story51:09 – Building Relationships and Customer Trust58:12 – Regional Tech Ecosystem and Entrepreneurship01:01:24 – Future Prospects and Final Thoughts-----------------------------------------------Thank you to the partners who make this possible:• Sarwa – An all-in-one investing and money-management platform. It brings together do-it-yourself trading in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and options with Sarwa Trade, hands-off investing with Sarwa Invest, and high-yield estimated returns with Sarwa Save.👉 Register using this link...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/rw5tuXzSlVVTIYGhONUr8fUF7P47ZEBy7HgU8S4OYCc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iY2M5/ZDg1NjgwNzY2YzM0/ODcxOTc5MGEzOWMw/Mzk0OS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}