Eric Reidy -Wamda – 28 April 2014

In recent years, the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan has generatedheadlines for its relative stability and booming oil-based economy. But so far, the economic boom has not been accompanied by the cultivation of a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. Amed Latif Omar and Banu Ibrahim Ali, the two Iraqi-Kurdish co-founders of ifrosh, are looking to change that.

ifrosh is one of the first startups in Iraqi Kurdistan and, like many entrepreneurial ventures, it was inspired by a need in the community.

Omar and Ali are from Sulamaini, one of the economic centers of Iraq’s Kurdish region. Shopping in the city is largely done in traditional markets that fulfill most, but not all, consumer needs. “I needed to buy and sell things I couldn’t find in the bazaar,” says Omar, ifrosh’s CEO.

To help fill this gap, Omar and Ali came up with the idea for an online, community-based marketplace to connect merchants and consumers. The name, ifrosh, comes from the Kurdish word ‘to sell’, and is currently running a test period on the American University of Iraq, Sulamaini (AUIS) campus before launching in beta at the end of the summer…

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