SHAPING CURIOSITY TO FIT THE SCROLL

How a 21-year-old Emirati quietly built a mobile learning app from his bedroom

- BY NIVETHA DAYANAND

Hamad Almheiri does not describe himself as a typical tech founder.

There was no pitch deck, no early investor interest and no launch buzz when he started building BrainScroller. What he had instead was time, curiosity to work without reassurance that anyone would ever use what he was building.

Growing up in the UAE shaped that mindset. Almheiri says watching the country evolve left a strong impression on him.

"I grew up seeing how strong execution and long-term thinking can transform a nation," he said. That belief stayed with him as he learned to code on his own, late at night, mostly through YouTube videos and trial and error.

Attention as an asset

The idea for BrainScroller came from observing habits rather than chasing trends. Almheiri belongs to a generation that spends hours on phones, often scrolling without intention. Instead of seeing that behaviour as a problem, he saw an opportunity.

"That made me think about technology and attention, not as something negative, but as something powerful," he said.

"If people naturally engage with their phones, why not use that behaviour to make learning more accessible?"

Six months, zero feedback