12 MENA Startup Accelerators Cluster To Improve The Investment Ecosystem
This is the first network of its kind in the region.
A dozen of startup accelerators and incubators from 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have joined forces, creating a new network of support and resources for their portfolio companies. This collaboration promises to improve the investment ecosystem through strong regional relationships, opening many doors for startups that need support outside their home country.
This is the first network of its kind in the region, showing maturity in the MENA investment and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and that it is rich with resources to those who seek them. Before the partnership, it was difficult for early-stage seed investment funds to meet and build strong relationships with startups in neighboring countries. Similarly, a deal was sealed a few weeks ago with over 20 Middle Eastern VCs under Saudi Arabia's "Venture Investment" initiative.
"The idea behind this initiative is to bring the region together by capitalizing on the success of each Accelerator/Incubator in their respective countries," said the Head of Programmes of Falak Startups, Farah Ehsan. "We aim to work together on pooling our resources and facilities to bridge regional expansions and help all our startups grow faster."
These startups include Falak Startups, EFG-EV Fintech, Enara Ventures from Cairo, Egypt, La Factory from Casablanca, Morocco, Level 1 from Tunis, Tunisia, Tec.ly from Benghazi, Libya, Gaza Sky Geeks from Gaza, Palestine, IncubMe from Algiers, Algeria, Badir Program from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Womena from Dubai, UAE, Oasis500 from Amman, Jordan, and Brilliant Lab based in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Together, the 12 accelerators and incubators intend to provide each other with access to relevant resources, such as service provider perks. They will also be providing a soft-landing platform for all the startups in the accelerators’ networks. Moreover, with an average of 100 mentors and speakers per accelerator, the partners will support each other in terms of program content and speakers to provide a first class curriculum.
With travel and international expansion becoming more common for growing startups, the accelerators have also opened their doors to their co-working spaces for partners’ startups when they are overseas. Amongst the future plans, the partners will be working together on a collaboration to fund and deliver networking events.
