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Manara

YC W21

San Francisco, US · Founded 2020 · 10 employees · 4 known investors

Find your way into Manara

289 people in our graph share verified history with the Manara team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Wesley Chanunlockedknows Iliana Montauk · together at Google (overlapped)
knows the team · via Monitor Deloitte (ex Monitor Group)
×8knows the team · via Google
knows the team · via Manara
knows the team · via Upwork

Manara provides bilingual upskilling and reskilling training for teams in MENA in AI, cloud, and digital skills, partnering with governments, foundations, and organizations. The company combines global expertise with local implementation to help non-technical and technical professionals gain capabilities in emerging technologies.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingEdTechEnterprise SoftwareHR TechEducationUnited States of AmericaAmerica / CanadaFully Remote

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W21)

Manara was founded in 2020 by Iliana Montauk and Laila Abudahi.

IMIliana Montauk
Iliana Montaukin𝕏FounderIliana Montauk previously served as a senior product manager at Google and Upwork, where she worked on talent-related products. She founded and bootstrapped a startup accelerator in Gaza, where she increased women's participation in pipeline activities and coordinated a major regional crowdfunding initiative.
LALaila Abudahi
Laila Abudahiin𝕏Founder

Investors · 4

SeedcampLondon · $378K – $1.1M
Valia VenturesLondon · $50K – $50M
Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K
Stripereported

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Competitors · 2

by search overlap
Omnara5 shared keywordsOmnara provides an open-source platform for deploying, running, and managing AI agents through a unified API, available both as a self-hosted solution and managed cloud service.
Preply3 shared keywordsPreply is a language learning platform that serves corporate employees through its B2B offering Preply Business, enabling companies to provide language education to their workforce.

Companies competing with Manara for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

In the news

Texas Islamist Charter School Funded With $75 Million of State Moniestexaspolicy.com · Jul 2026Jordan Investment Fund launches Manara Ventures with $70 million to back Jordanian tech companies | Jawlahjawlah.co · May 2026The Palestine community that helps aspiring techies start a career with Google, Meta | Al Arabiya Englishenglish.alarabiya.net · Jun 2022Edtech startup Manara raises $3 million in pre-seed fundingtechloy.com · May 2022Edtech start-up ‘Manara’ raises $3mln in fundingzawya.com · May 2022Manara gets $3M to grow tech talent pool in the Middle East and North Africa – TechCrunchtechcrunch.com · May 2022

Frequently asked questions

What does Manara do?
Manara provides bilingual upskilling and reskilling training for teams in MENA in AI, cloud, and digital skills, partnering with governments, foundations, and organizations. The company combines global expertise with local implementation to help non-technical and technical professionals gain capabilities in emerging technologies.
Who founded Manara?
Manara was founded by Iliana Montauk, Laila Abudahi in 2020.
Who are Manara's investors?
Manara's investors include Seedcamp, Valia Ventures, Y Combinator, Stripe.
Where is Manara headquartered?
Manara is headquartered in San Francisco, US.