The up-to-now very discreet Startup Factory, a Tunisian accelerator launched a few years ago by telecommunications operator Ooredoo (then known as Tunisiana), will be the talk of the town in the upcoming months.
After the establishment of a partnership with the Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) – a Qatari fund that has invested so far a total of $100 million USD in organizations working to develop entrepreneurial culture in Tunisia – the accelerator has so far received 26 million TND (corresponding to $16 million USD) from the Qatari fund. Under the name Intilaq (‘start’ in Arabic), the accelerator may well turn into an entrepreneurial hub. Here is what you can expect.
Right after the 2011 revolution, driven by the desire to solve the problem of massive unemployment among young people, especially young university graduates, telecommunications operator Tunisiana decided to establish a process to help Tunisians create jobs for themselves by launching sustainable businesses. This structure is the Startup Factory.
Khaled Ben Younes, the director general of Intilaq, estimated that it was the first time that such ‘end-to-end’ support has been offered in Tunisia, explaining that the program assists startups from the concept stage to the fundraising stage.
Each quarter, Tunisians of all ages who have technological ideas are invited to present their projects to the in-house investment committee at a pitch session. But even before these sessions, the accelerator provides free coaching to a group of ten startups per quarter, in order to improve their chances at convincing investors.
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Strengthened with a 16M investment, Intilaq stands to transform the Tunisian startup ecosystem
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