500 Startups, a venture capital firm, and Misk Innovation, a non-profit philanthropic foundation, have launched their flagship early-stage accelerator programme for the Middle East and North Africa region (Mena).
500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems.
Mohammed bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Foundation (Misk Foundation) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation established by HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discover, develop and empower Saudi youth to become active participants in the knowledge economy.
The programme is a 16-week course which will focus on bringing growth hacking techniques and Silicon Valley expertise to emerging companies in the region, said a statement from the organisations.
The programme received 500 applications from 15 Mena countries. A total of 21 startups were selected, among them 30 per cent are female founders. They will spend the next 4 months working with some of the best mentors from 500 Startups Silicon Valley and global network.
Deemah Al Yahya, chief executive of Misk Innovation, said: “The programme is a real beginning to discover promising young talent that can lead companies capable of strengthening the economy of the future.”
“Many experts from Silicon Valley and the region will offer ongoing guidance to startups who are part of the accelerator,” she said.
“The programme will provide advanced training in significant areas of growth and scalability, including marketing, communications and sales, customer service, data analysis, recruitment, finance and products, and system building,” he added.
500 Startups has been an active investor in the Mena region since 2012. Having launched the 500 Falcons fund in 2017, 500’s Mena-based fund has been consistently ranked as the most active investor in seed-stage companies throughout the Arab world.
Misk Innovation is one of the initiatives of the Misk Foundation, which aims to raise the level of training qualifications for youth and enable them to achieve the highest international standards for training in the areas of technology and innovation.
Sharif El Badawi, managing partner of 500 Startups' Mena fund, said: “We are extremely pleased with the quality of applicants we received for the inaugural cohort.”
“From a pool of nearly 500 applicants, approximately 23 per cent received phone or in-person interviews, before we made the difficult decision to invest in the top 21 promising companies, representing a less than 5 per cent acceptance rate,” he added.
Supporting the programme as a strategic partner is The General Authority of small and medium enterprises “Monshaat”.
Essam bin Saleh Al Dhokair, “Monshaat’s” vice governor of entrepreneurship, said: “At SMEA (Monshaat) we are committed to prepare, implement and support programs and projects to promote the culture and mindset of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovation.”
“We provide administrative and technical support to enterprises and support them in developing their administrative, marketing, human resources and technical and financial capabilities and others,” he added.
Almosafer, the Saudi-based online travel platform that caters to the discerned needs of Arab travellers with a simple-to-use website and mobile applications, has also signed on to support the accelerator as a travel partner.
The partnership between 500 Startups and MiSK aims to create a lasting impact on the Middle East region.
Vera Futorjanski, innovation director at 500 Startups, said: “Today marks a significant step forward in our joint mission of building entrepreneurial ecosystems in the region and continuing to support founders and technological innovation.”
“We are looking forward to the thriving partnership with MiSK and will be together working on accelerating innovation in the region,” he added.
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