Mena Economy to Support Startups
This article is written by Clinton James, a Contributor Author at Startup Istanbul.
Ramez Mohamed is the CEO of Flat6Labs. He is responsible for building and managing mobile application devices at Sarmady, a Vodafone company. Previously, he initiated and led the eSpace product design team, the leading software house in Alexandria. Ramez has a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Alexandria.
The acceleration of entrepreneurship in the MENA region has become an important factor, especially for startups. Flat6Labs, a regional starter acceleration program in the Mena region, is operated by Ramez Mohamed. It began in 2011 in Cairo and started their first project 3.5 years ago. Since then, the company has grown to more locations and has added more business to the program. He currently has seats in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and will find a new place in Abu Dhabi.
The idea to expand Flat6Labs, and not only to remain in Egypt, is to strengthen the startup community by opening more "Flat6Labs" accelerators, increasing capital flows in the region, sharing best practices in the region, and providing targeted training for Entrepreneurship training to creating cross-border transportation, business opportunities, building a strong mentoring network and increasing cross-border talent recruitment.
57 companies were supported in this way and at the time had more than 80 mentors. More than 50% of these companies received accelerator funding and have created more than 500 jobs in Egypt over the past three years. Flat6Labs is a member of the GAN network, helping them build credible accelerators throughout the region, making their first launch in 2011, the second in Saudi Arabia, and the third in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi's accelerator platform is special because it is an international route recommended for many applications.
Why MENA ecosystem? Why is this place so good, rich in business success? This region consists of Arab countries and offers many possibilities. This has a collective GDP of more than $ 2.3 trillion. More than 50% of the population is under 25 years old. There are more than 120 million Internet users and more than 70 million users of social networks in the region. Not to mention 70 million people who use the Internet on their cellphones.
It is clear that marketing here must reap a deal or start a big prize. For beginners who are looking for investors in this region, they must first consider risky capitalists, corporate capitalists, internet groups, fishing groups, and even accelerators, because MENA succeeds with them. Let's focus on this area and get a piece of cake. Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Dubai, Silicon Valley and others. There are investors who can invest flexibly in other areas.
On the other hand, Flat6Labs recommends investment and cross-border development. As a result, Flat6Labs provides a network to further expand their business by providing funds and implementing funding programs twice a year, each year supporting more than 60 new companies with funds of around $ 50,000. The target group for entrepreneurs and mentors, provides a network that has been very successful in the first 3 years.
https://youtu.be/kCJVg8yVMv0