Jobedu

Jobedu is a Jordanian lifestyle brand, producing and selling streetwear and accessories blending Arab culture with global popular culture. Founded as a startup in 2007, the company grew through a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign.[1][2][3] Jobedu has become the center of a creative movement gathering artists, writers, musicians, and especially the street artists of Amman.[4] It supports and promotes Jordanian alternative music and film industry.[5]

Jobedu
TypePrivate
Founded2007
Founders
  • Tamer AlMasri
  • Michael Makdah
Headquarters
Amman
,
Jordan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Tamer AlMasri (CEO)
Products
SubsidiariesMerchmallow
Websitewww.jobedu.com

History

Jobedu was founded in 2007 by Tamer AlMasri and Michael Makdah, who decided to start a brand inspired by the Arab pop culture. They printed 6 designs on 600 T-shirts and started selling in Souk Jara, a popular street market in Amman.[6] Beginning with just $4,000, they received their first seed fund from a friend. AlMasri and Makdah returned in 2008 with a brand identity and a stock of 4,000 T-shirts.[1] They opened their first community store in 2009 and the second in 2012. In 2011, the company established an online store.[6]

In 2014, Jobedu ran a campaign through the crowdfunding platform Eureeca. The company's pre-fundraising valuation was $2 million. They exceeded their target of $100,000 in four days from launching and raised $119,000 from 28 different investors, most of them from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The campaign was a record for Eureeca.[1][2][3]

Jobedu regularly sells its products through Virgin Megastores in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain. Jobedu has its own merchandise company called Merchmallow. Producing merchandise for companies, Merchmallow now accounts for around 40 percent of Jobedu's revenue.[1]

Profile and products

Jobedu curates the works of Arab designers on various products including T-shirts, hoodies, posters, and other accessories, with the aim of creating a sustainable brand that embodies Arab culture. The name "Jobedu" refers to Jordan's Bedouins, seen as "masters of resourcefulness in the face of adversity" and "natural-born entrepreneurs". To appeal to a global market, the Arab designs are combined with global film, television and pop-cultural icons.[7][1]

The T-shirts include texts in English, Arabic and 3arabeezy, Arabic Internet slang written in Latin script,[8] with wordplays such as "Free-Dom" (in Arabic, "dom" means "blood")[4] or "Wadi Rum and Coke".[9] They have been promoted by celebrities such as Basil Khalil and Alaa Wardi.[6]

The Jobedu apparel range includes onesies and hoodies. The accessories include key rings, bookmarks, posters, artistic household items, laptop cases, stickers, mugs, notebooks, sketchbooks and bags.[1][10][8] Jobedu has worked with designers that include Mothanna Hussein, Hadi Alaeddin, Warsheh, Lutfi Zayed, Dina Fawakhiri, ABNO, and others.[1][8]

In March 2018, Jobedu inked a deal with Warner Bros Consumer products to give an Arab twist to iconic characters such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.[11][12]

Other activities

Jobedu has become the center of a creative movement gathering artists, writers, illustrators and musicians. It has played a pivotal role in the development of the new street art of Amman.[4]

In 2010, Jobedu became involved in the region's alternative music scene by producing albums, supporting musicians, printing their merchandise, and selling their music. The company established the "Jobedu Film Shop", a pop-up shop at the Royal Film Commission in Amman in 2016. Twenty percent of all sales from the Film Shop went to supporting Jordanian films.[7] Jobedu was a partner of Dubai International Film Festival from 2014-2015.[5]

The company is a supporter of Feed The Artists, a communal art grant that builds community through food gifting. Jobedu teams up with Jordan River Foundation and Jabel Amman Residence Association for charitable promotions and events.[13]

References
  1. Rebecca Irvine (31 December 2015). "Jobedu: The Little T-shirt Company That Could". Venture. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. Elisa Oddone (June 2014). "Crowdfunding Comes of Age". Venture. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  3. Omar Aysha (3 June 2014). "Tech news from the Middle East: What you need to know from the past month". The Next Web. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. Stefano Milano (5 April 2013). "L'altra faccia della primavera araba: la street art di Amman" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  5. Chris Newbould (7 December 2015). "How to make the most of Diff 2015". The National. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  6. E. Nina Rothe (3 October 2016). "Fits Me to a Tee: Falling in Love with Jordanian Brand Jobedu". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  7. Leen Hajjar (24 February 2016). "Jordanian clothing store Jobedu spotlights Arab pop culture". Al Arabiya. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. Sakhr Al Makhadi (24 September 2011). "Climb into Amman's artsy heart". The National. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  9. BBC (22 August 2012). "World's oldest inhabited cities". Joy Online. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  10. Tafline Laylin (28 May 2014). "Wheeling and Dealing Ottoman Stools". Majalla. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  11. "Jobedu Launches Merchandise Collaboration with Disney and Warner Bros". Venture Magazine. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  12. "MidEast firm inks deal with Warner Bros to launch original DC Comics collection". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  13. Laurie Balbo (22 January 2013). "Amman Shirt Shops Serve Up Green Tees". Green Prophet. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
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