Kanari wins CX startup challenge of global consulting firm

Sia Partners and Business Incubators and Accelerators Company (BIAC) have named Dubai based start-up Kanari CX as the winner of their APIficator challenge.

The inaugural competition took place between December 2019 and July 2020, and had the aim of showcasing start-ups in the Kingdom that have the potential to disrupt the customer experience landscape. The competition was open for innovative concepts that can help companies and government entities enhance their customer and citizen journeys.

Following a rigorous review process of over a dozen start-ups, including a pitch round, three parties were announced as finalists: Kanari CX, WideBot, and Gamiphy. According to Roberto Wyszkowski, a partner at Sia Partners in the Middle East and leader of the APIficator challenge, Kanari CX came out on top as a deserved winner, standing out for its powerful digital-led approach to enhancing customer experience. 

“The challenge attracted several innovative startups and it was a tough decision to pick a winner, however Kanari CX proved to be a unique concept, embodying the digital revolution that is currently being witnessed in the Middle East region.”

Kanari CX leverages a powerful customer experience data collection, reporting and insights platform to help measure, manage and improve customer experiences. Using the tool, users can for example personalise customer onboarding processes across channels, analyse customer feedback to generate insights, and build in all kinds of KPI’s that trigger actions, such as negative experience alerts. 

The company was founded in 2013 by two MBA holders – Edmond Husseini and former management consultant Subhi Farah. Reflecting on winning the competition, the co-founders took the time on LinkedIn to give special credits to colleagues Renjith Vincent, Paul BouHaroun and Ahmed Al Sadek for “making this all possible”.

As part of winning the competition, Kanari CX will receive professional services support from Sia Studio (the firm’s start-up investment fund) spanning strategy and business model, scaling the organisation, as well as be able to tap into the firm’s global roster of contacts and clients. 

“We are looking forward to collaborating with the Sia Partners team to advance customer experience adoption in the region,” said Husseini and Farah.

Sia Partners holds similar innovation competitions globally, with previous editions held in New York, Paris and Hong Kong. Elsa Martineau, the head of Sia Studio, said that expanding into the Middle East aligns with its ambition to make a growing impact in the bustling region. “We recognise the need to invest not only internal entrepreneurship but also in external young startups that can make an impact in their regional markets.”