In order to strengthen the employability of young people and support them in the development of entrepreneurship and the creation of startups, Wiki Startup (1) organized the closing ceremony of its Startup Nest program (2) on December 15, 2022. : Demo Day.
Result of the collaboration between Wiki Start Up, the NGO Spark (3), and UGFS NA, โStartup Nestโ is an acceleration and personalized support program for young project leaders in the structuring and management of their projects, training their teams, technical support, and mentoring. This program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After a rich and uplifting 2021 edition where 14 selected startups went through a sectoral incubation phase through comprehensive and personalized support oriented around various training courses and activities, the program has now moved up a gear. From an incubation program, we have now moved on to a pre-acceleration phase.
For its new 2022 edition, the program is renewing itself and integrating new components into its offer, in order to best meet the specific needs of ambitious young entrepreneurs who intend to seize this rare opportunity to find their way to success.
Thus, as part of the program for this 2022 edition, 14 startups out of 206 applications received were selected by a rigorous and competent jury of experts. The winning startups demonstrated their projects in the presence of the main investors and program partners.
Eight sectors of activity concerned
While only 2 domains were concerned by the previous edition, this year the program has been extended to 8 sectors of activity with solutions based on technology. Namely Healthtech, Mobility, Agritech, Travel Technology, GIG Economy, Art, Booking, and SaaS.
Startup Nest offers a pre-acceleration program totally dedicated to technological development in all sectors combined and provides winners with numerous advantages.
The selected startups thus benefit from the training provided by some thirty experts commissioned by Wiki Startup. Each pre-acceleration cycle lasts 4 months and consists of 19 common training sessions, 10 individual support sessions per startup, and 2 expert challenge events.
Even better, startups can offer more targeted training themselves. And can even bring experts to provide their training, with exclusive funding from Wiki Startup.
Note that among the 14 selected startups, seven will be chosen by the UGFS-NA investment committee (4) and will benefit from an investment ticket of 50 to 150 thousand dinars.
There are many other advantages, including the logistical support of projects from the regions, the promotion of women entrepreneurs, accelerated one-to-one support with a common part for cross-cutting themes, a business voucher of 2500 DT per startup (exhibitions, purchase of equipment, services), 5000 dollars in AWS credits valid for 2 years, one year of AWS technical assistance for an amount of 1500 dollars, not including support for labeling and certifiedโฆ
Ultimately, this program contributes, without a doubt, to reduce the unemployment rate among young Tunisians and encourages the development of the private sector through targeted support and better access to financing and markets, pledges for the creation of promising SMEs.
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(1) The first private incubator launched in Tunisia, Wiki Startup has been offering services for entrepreneurs and investors since 2011. It promotes the creation of innovative start-ups by offering a complete innovation-oriented ecosystem and by facilitating their access to expertise, specific business development tools, financing, and an international professional network.
WSU offers a range of services ranging from support in setting up spin-offs and project management to the promotion of research results, including the incubation and acceleration of startups. WSU is responsible for implementing these essential elements: structuring and managing projects, training teams, technical support and personalized mentoring, assistance with fundraising, etc.
(2) Startup Nest is a pre-acceleration program dedicated to accompanying and supporting innovative project leaders. For its new edition, the program is Tech-oriented and targets project leaders for a specific and personalized pre-acceleration.
(3) Spark contributes to the development of higher education and entrepreneurship to empower ambitious young people, and give them the means to guide their societies toward prosperity. Spark Tunisia works to reduce unemployment among young Tunisians by encouraging private sector development through entrepreneurship training and support for SMEs.
(4) Created in November 2008, UGFS-NA (United Gulf Financial Services-North Africa), a subsidiary of the Kuwaiti group Kuwait Projects Company, is an asset management company. It is a leader in the financing of Tunisian startups and contributes to a large extent to the promotion of the ecosystem of startups and innovation. The total assets under the management of UGFS-NA exceed 150 million dinars. To date, the company has financed more than 110 projects in different sectors.