We Build.
We Train.
We Partner.

Organizations partner with us to run programs that deliver. Companies hire us to build e-commerce that sells. Same senior team, both sides.

Programs we run Products we build
As featured on Euronews · Inspire Middle East 5:36
Saleem Najjar and Noora Shanak being recognized at the European Commission in Brussels, 2019
Hello, Brussels
— that's us. Saleem & Noora at the European Commission.
A working session with business owners during the refugee entrepreneurs program in Amman
Amman
— a working session on the World Bank program, Amman.
Saleem Najjar moderating the refugee entrepreneur panel at SPARK Ignite, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
— leading the refugee-entrepreneur panel at SPARK Ignite.
Saleem Najjar profiled by Euronews Inspire Middle East at iPark Amman
On camera
— filming with Euronews Inspire Middle East at iPark, Amman.
— Section 01 / Organizations

Fororganizations.

Curriculum, funding structures, trainers, on-the-ground delivery. We build the whole program and we're there when it runs.

  • NGOs
  • Governments
  • Development orgs
  • Funders

Our work in Jordan is documented in a published World Bank report, co-authored by our co-founder.

6,500+ SMEs and entrepreneurs trained across Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

Programs & advisory

Training & people

See all services for organizations
— Section 02 / Companies

Forcompanies.

We measure the work in sales, revenue and growth. Built by people who have run the business on the other side of the checkout.

  • Enterprise retail
  • Multi-brand catalogues
  • B2B + D2C
  • Multi-currency
  • Field operations

1M+ orders processed on a marketplace we scaled, 72% of them on a phone.

9,000 products, bilingual, in a single catalogue — and 45,000 orders carried in load testing.

Digital & E-Commerce

Employee Training

See all services for companies
— Selected case studies

Stories
from the field.

A working session with business owners during the refugee entrepreneurs program in Amman01 · World Bank · Featured
A SPARK refugee-entrepreneur session — the network the bilingual e-commerce curriculum was designed for02 · SPARK · Curriculum
The SPARK Innovation Hub sign-up screen beside a panel reading "Your next opportunity starts with who you meet"03 · SPARK · Green Forward
Illustrative mockup of a Makani storefront for a Saudi home-based business, showing an Arabic-first product grid04 · Social Development Bank
Saleem Najjar profiled by Euronews Inspire Middle East at iPark Amman05 · Euronews
Four screens of the Waqtee storefront — category browse, a watch product page, the cart, and checkout with cash on delivery06 · Waqtee
Noora Shanak, smiling, outdoors in front of a colonnaded building
— Woman of the people
07 · Parachute16
Organizations · For The World Bank · 2017—2020

Creating market opportunities for refugee entrepreneurs.

The brief was blunt: refugee-owned businesses were selling to whoever walked past the door. Three years and 1,500 businesses later — catalogues photographed, payments connected, delivery arranged, and the owner trained to run all of it after we left.

1,500Businesses digitized
JD 217KB2B price offers
6,214Clicks on their products
Organizations · SPARK · Türkiye

Turning refugee entrepreneurs into online store owners.

SPARK needed a curriculum that produced working businesses, not certificates. Ten weeks of design, thirteen modules in two languages, and 381 live storefronts later.

1,315Refugees certified
381Live stores launched
100%Client satisfaction
Organizations · SPARK · Green Forward · in delivery

Delivering Green Forward, the green-economy program SPARK leads

Four years of cohort delivery across the region. The Innovation Hub is the platform built inside the programme — led by SPARK, funded by the European Union, and open to entrepreneurs, NGOs and donors across the region.

Organizations · Social Development Bank · Masar 3500 · 2023—2024

Home-based businesses across Saudi Arabia, online.

With the Social Development Bank: home businesses given a storefront, a payment method and a first customer.

3,525Stores launched
Organizations · Euronews · Inspire Middle East · 2019

"E-commerce can lift entire communities."

Inspire Middle East profiles the work bridging founders in the region with global markets.

05:36On film · EU
Companies · Waqtee · branded watch retail

Built the store, then rebuilt it when they outgrew it

GulfExpanded from Jordan
Organizations · Parachute16 Podcast · Episode 6 · 2021

Building e-commerce for people, not just platforms

Parachute16 profiles Noora Shanak on the twenty years she has spent moving between the technical and the human sides of e-commerce — consulting, then co-founding ShopGo, and the programmes she runs now. The through-line: understanding the person on the other end of a transaction is the harder half of building a store.

34 minIn conversation

Five of the engagements we can name publicly. The rest — enterprise storefronts, marketplaces and internal platforms — sit under NDA.

— Selected work / Platform

Spark Networking and Community Hub.

A social platform built for SPARK's entrepreneur network — community infrastructure, knowledge sharing and events, in one place.

SPARK entrepreneur community session — the network Spark Hub was built to connect

Spark Hub. Built for SPARK.

Community infrastructure · knowledge sharing · event integration
Social platform
The challenge

SPARK's entrepreneur network had no central platform — organizations, entrepreneurs, and professionals were connecting ad hoc, with no shared space to exchange ideas, resources, or partnerships.

Our approach

We designed and built Spark Hub, a social platform purpose-built for business networking — combining community infrastructure, knowledge sharing, and event integration in one place.

Social platformCommunity infrastructureKnowledge sharingEvent integration
Read the case study
— In their words

Every word,
unedited.

Umbrella500’s approach was both strategic and practical—bridging vision with execution. The program created real, measurable outcomes for our beneficiaries.
Giacomo de GiorgiSenior Consultant, World Bank
Umbrella500 went beyond the brief. They understood our mission, moved fast, and delivered a platform that brings our community together like never before.
Samer HaffarCreative Manager, SPARK
My experience working with Umbrella500 on launching my first online store was a valuable step toward growth and success. I was genuinely impressed by the results, to the extent that I decided to hire them again to revamp and upgrade my website. Once again, the Umbrella500 team exceeded expectations and delivered outstanding results.
Baha AbdeenCEO, Waqtee
Our collaboration with Umbrella500 significantly contributed to the growth of Alissar’s online store, leading to a truly integrated success. Their team stood out for dedicating time to deeply understand our customer needs and thoroughly analyze data to ensure we remained ahead of the competition.
Leen NabulsiE-commerce Manager, Alissar
It was a great honor for us at Nafeeseh to collaborate with Umbrella500. They were unmatched in their professionalism and deep dedication to their work. Throughout the entire project, they were exceptional in meeting deadlines and consistently providing timely feedback and input.
Mahmouad SafiCOO, Sally Marketing & Nafeeseh
Throughout the collaborative process, Umbrella500 has demonstrated a keen understanding of the unique needs and requirements of SPARK’s young entrepreneurs. Their receptiveness to feedback and their proactive approach to incorporating suggestions have been instrumental in refining the curriculum to align perfectly with the goals and objectives of our program.
Halil Can EmreProject Manager, SPARK Türkiye Office
In my capacity as Impact Program Manager at beVisioneers, leading the grant-making efforts, I worked closely with Saleem. Saleem and the Umbrella team produced Pitching Masterclass videos covering every element of the pitch deck, led live group and one-on-one coaching sessions, and provided detailed, actionable reviews of our Fellows’ decks to prepare them for the demo days.
Ibrahem Ashraf AhmadSenior Impact Program Manager, BeVisioneers
Thank you, Saleem, It was an honor to have you join us on this incredible journey to support artisans across the Kingdom through the Nama Accelerators. 🙏🚀
Muhammad AlHashmiDirector of Innovation, TAM
01 / 08
— Two regions, one team

Across Europe and the Middle East.

We work between two ecosystems — the Middle East's growth and Europe's standards. That bridge shapes what we build, who we train, and the programs we lead.

Amman officeLuxembourg officeSaudi ArabiaIraqLebanonTurkeyGermany
EUROPEMIDDLE EASTBERLINGERMANYISTANBULTURKEYBEIRUTLEBANONBAGHDADIRAQRIYADHSAUDI ARABIALuxembourg49.61° N · 6.13° EAmman31.95° N · 35.93° EEUROPE · MIDDLE EAST · 2026
— Open now

Awards and
opportunities.

Awards you can enter, and programmes you can join. If it says open, it's open.

The three Impact Awards →
Open now

Green Forward — join the community

Join the Innovation Community to access green-economy programmes, resources and open calls across the region — and to enter the Umbrella500 Impact Awards.

Who
Founders, startups and green innovators across MENA
Where
Online · English and Arabic
Cost
Free to join
Join the community
Open now

Impact Startup Award — 2026

Cash and expert support for one founder building a business with real environmental or social impact, anywhere in the wider MENA region. Idea stage to fully operating — all of it welcome.

Who
Founders and co-founders building a business around environmental or social impact.
Closes
10 September 2026
See the award
Open now

Green Community Initiative Award — 2026

Cash and expert support for one initiative already creating real green impact where it operates. Open to an individual, a group of community members, a local association, a charity or a small NGO.

Who
Anyone running a real, community-based green initiative that is already operating and has already created green impact.
Closes
10 September 2026
See the award
Open now

Green Content Creator Award — 2026

Two cash prizes for the video that makes people care about a green topic. No startup, no organisation, no track record.

Who
Anyone.
Closes
10 September 2026
See the award
More awards and calls opening through 2026.Running a program and need a delivery partner? Talk to us →  ·  Or tell me when the next call opens →

Latest from the studio

Impact Awards 2026
Open call

Applications are open for the Umbrella500 Impact Awards 2026.

Three awards — for a startup, a community initiative and a content creator — open to the wider MENA region, with cash and expert support behind each one. Applications close 10 September 2026 and winners are announced in late October.

See the three awards
Shipped

The SPARK Innovation Hub, explained.

Who the community is for, what membership gets you, and where the awards fit — the page we send people to before they join.

Read the page
— Contact

Let's keep in touch.

Most of our work starts with a conversation. Tell us what you're working on — or just introduce yourself and we'll do the same. We answer in a day, usually less.

saleem.najjar@umbrella500.com

No form, no funnel — that address reaches us directly.

Request the company profile
— The dispatch

One email a month: what we shipped, what worked, and the numbers behind it.

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You're on the list.First dispatch lands at the start of next month. Nothing until then.