Dan Bedi, Omar Abdel-Rahman and James Owen co-founded JAFA (Just A Fan’s Analysis), an app for football fans to get the latest news and views, during their MBA at Cranfield University.
The trio built on Dan’s initial idea and developed it into a functioning business.
The free app, which aims to ‘put football back in the hands of the fans,’ enables users to personalise their experience based on how they engage with it. Dan believes this addresses the downsides of other alternatives currently available.
- Pictured: Dan Bedi (left) and Omar Abdel-Rahman.
“It was frustrating that users had to switch between several apps to obtain sports news and had nowhere to discuss debate and engage digitally,” he says.
“With JAFA, we connect fans with fans, fans with content and fans with business. Using our algorithms, machine learning and some psychology, we provide a personalised and engaging experience for users.”
The Most Enterprising Business of the Year category looks for business owners to demonstrate a willingness to undertake new projects by showing initiative by constantly moving forward in the world of business.
The three took a six-month tenancy at Cranfield University Incubation Centre after completing their studies “to get our heads down and begin our business journey”. Now JAFA has been accepted into a competitive accelerator programme in London and is looking to recruit new staff to its ranks.
Cranfield’s senior lecturer in entrepreneurship Dr Stephanie Hussels mentored the budding businessmen during their studies.
“I am very proud of the team behind JAFA,” she says. “They developed their idea as a result of a frustration they faced themselves, identified how they could build it to be something that wasn’t available on the market and turned it into a viable business – and all within 12 months.”
Find out more about JAFA and their story at www.jafaapp.com
