MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA • ECOSYSTEM ENABLER & INVESTMENT
Seedstars Global
SEPT. 20, 2019
The Misk Foundation has launched its Growth Accelerator for MENA tech startups in partnership with Seedstars and Vision Ventures. The accelerator, targeted at startups with product/market fit that are looking to scale, kicked off on Sunday, September 8th, and will last until December 4th 2019.
Seedstars, the preeminent emerging market startup community and investor, and Vision Ventures, a renowned venture capital firm investing across MENA, will co-invest up to US$100,000 in the participating startups and consider follow-on investments of up to $1 million. With a clear focus on startups in their growth stage, three on-site bootcamps and a demo-day in Riyadh, the hybrid (virtual/on-site) program allows startups to stay close to their customers while benefiting from constant coaching from in-house and external growth experts.
“We’re delighted to have kicked off the first ever MENA batch of the Growth Accelerator. The program is filling a void in the ecosystem by working with slightly later stage startups and focusing on growth. I’m confident the knowledge and support delivered by Seedstars, Vision Ventures and all the mentors will give a real boost to the teams.”
A total of 11 tech startups from MENA region were selected, originally from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Egypt. The participating startups are:
“We are very excited to bring these 11 great companies from Saudi Arabia and the MENA region to the program. Each startup has a great product that we expect to see grow into a major player. They will benefit from the support from three renowned entities, Misk Innovation, Seedstars and Vision Ventures.”
The focus of the Growth Program is on helping startups with product/market fit to implement a process to deliver consistent high growth. The program participants will also receive coaching on other key topics such as talent management, leadership and fundraising strategy.
“With over 450 applications, we filtered down to 11 startups each with the key ingredients we need for the program: a quality team, product/market fit and a high growth opportunity. We aim to have all the teams adopt a growth process and a data driven culture of experimentation. Growth doesn’t come easily and the program will equip the teams with techniques and knowledge to crack this challenge.”
Find more details about the Growth Accelerator on the official program website https://miskinnovation.org.sa/web/services/misk-growth-accelerator/