11 later-stage tech startups selected for Misk Growth Accelerator
The Misk Foundation was established to empower Saudi youth to play a more active role in the economy. Now, it has partnered with Vision Ventures and Seedstars to launch its own growth accelerator for tech startups in MENA.
The twelve-week programme has already begun and will run until the 4th of December 2019, culminating in a Demo Day. The programme has selected 11 startups from the MENA region who are slightly more later stage, have a strong team, a good product/market fit and are looking to scale.
Each startup will receive a $100,000 co-investment from Seedstars and Vision Ventures, along with the potential of up to $1 million in follow-on funding.
The program is filling a void in the ecosystem by working with slightly later stage startups and focusing on growth.Osama AlRaee, Entrepreneurship Director at Misk Foundation.
Following are the 11 tech startups selected for the programme, that hail from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Egypt:
Caramella: a platform to easily publish pages, blogs and websites online with full Arabic support.
Geeks: a managed IT services provider that links businesses' devices, gives users instant access to IT professionals and decreases maintenance costs.
Mntrni: a platform that connects businesses with experts and specialists in various fields for digital mentoring sessions.
Munjz: an online, on-demand marketplace for home services and related equipment.
MyU: an app that creates a safe environment for school communities to connect, communicate and engage.
Nakheel: an Internet of Things based solution to enable early detection of red palm weevil in palm trees.
POSRocket: a modernised system to provide business owners with an intuitive, user-friendly, cloud-based point-of-sale (POS).
Qidz: the first mobile platform in the Middle East to connect parents with vendors for children related fun, education and entertainment products and services.
Shezlong: an online psychotherapy platform for Arab people to connect with licenced and qualified therapists in a private and anonymous way.
Shroo7: an online learning platform with on-demand video courses created by teachers, for university students.
Taskty: a leading online marketplace for home services.
The programme will allow startups to mostly remain in the markets where they are established to continue running operations. To do so the programme will provide online trainings through webinars, one-on-one sessions with mentors and more; while having 3 bootcamps in Riyadh to support the startups.
In addition to gaining access to the bootcamps, the investment, demo day and trainings to grow in the market, the startups will also receive online coaching on other key topics such as talent management, leadership and fundraising strategy.
At least four out of the eleven are social impact startups that are looking to benefit the community. This instance along with many others in the recent past show that social-impact investments in the region are increasingly gaining traction.
