500 Startups and Misk Innovation Launch Second Edition Of Its MENA Accelerator Program The second edition of the Misk 500 Accelerator Program for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has launched through a continued partnership of 500 Startups with the Misk Innovation.
By Junaid Seraj Edited by Pamella de Leon
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Fresh from the success of the inaugural batch of the Misk 500 Accelerator program, 500 Startups and Misk Innovation are continuing to partner up for the launch of the initiative's second edition. With the goal of empowering regional and local startups by raising the level of training standards for young entrepreneurs in MENA, the program is a 14-week course which will focus on bringing Silicon Valley expertise to emerging companies in the region. The 500 Startups regional fund, 500 Falcons, are to invest US$50,000 into each participating startup in exchange for 7% equity, as well as additional investment from its affiliates.
Set to kick off in September in Riyadh, the program is on the lookout for founders who are building technologies and products to impact B2B, B2C, e-commerce, fintech, edtech, healthtech, IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence, SaaS, and messaging services. To apply, startups must be in their pre-seed or seed stage technology companies based in the MENA region, with an existing working product and initial traction beforehand. Founders are expected to fully participate in all aspects of the program, and a maximum of two additional team members per company will be allowed to participate at any given time.
With its previous batch consisting of 19 startups, around 15-20 technology startups from across the MENA region are expected to be enrolled in the program's second batch. Participating startups would get access to mentors from the 500 Startups global network, as well as opportunities for one-on-one meetings with mentors, plus lectures from the 500 team and industry leaders on marketing, monetization, product design and more. Besides being able to be a part of the 500 Startups community, the program will also help in setting up your company in Saudi. Winning applications will have the opportunity to meet with some of MENA'S leading corporations and investors during the program run and demo day and will be pitching their startup to the audience.
Applications are now open until July 26; head on over to the website here for more information.
Related: 500 Startups And Misk Innovation Team Up To Launch Accelerator Program In MENA
