Ibrahim Manna (BRKZ) on Lessons from Careem, Founder Grit & Disrupting Saudi Construction

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 04:00 - Ibrahim's Early Entrepreneurial Endeavours 12:31 - Oasis 500 & Early Funding in Jordan 14:40 - Wheels Express Team & Shutdown 20:23 - Moving to Dubai & Joining Careem 24:54 - Leadership and Culture at Careem 31:50 - Stories from Careem 38:31 - Identifying Gaps in the Construction Industry 47:29 - Building a Simple Product for a Complex Industry 50:55 - Embedded Financing & Underwriting 55:39 - Building Stickiness & Seven Powers Framework 1:01:00 - Future Vision for BRKZ 1:04:20 - Regional Tech Ecosystem & Careem's Legacy 1:07:29 - 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 to be eligible for a $200 bonus when you fund $5,000 across your Sarwa accounts within three months of signing up: https://www.sarwa.co/register?promoCo... Promo code: FWDSTART Sarwa is regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. All investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results. • Hubpay – A fully digital, ADGM-regulated fintech platform that gives UAE businesses instant access to multi-currency accounts with named IBAN in 30+ currencies, payment links, payroll and more. No hidden fees, no minimum balance, and no waiting. 👉 Open your Hubpay business account today and get 30-day free trial at https://wearehubpay.com/pricing and scale your UAE business with confidence. ----------------------------------------------- Transcript: ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GxkYxN... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Subscribe on Anghami: https://open.anghami.com/mjWOJeeJ2Yb Follow Jamie Lane on LinkedIn:   / jamienlane   Follow Jamie Lane on X: https://x.com/jamienlane Follow Ibrahim Manna on LinkedIn:   / ibrahimmanna   Follow FWDstart on Instagram:   / fwdstart   Follow FWDstart on TikTok:   / fwdstart   Visit our Website: https://www.fwdstart.me/ Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.fwdstart.me/subscribe ----------------------------------------------- #fwdstart #jamielane #ibrahimmanna #investor #brkz #Saudi #careem #mena #GCC #CEO #UAE #VC #venturecapital #contech #saudiarabia #ipo #uber