500 Startups and Misk Innovation recently hosted an invite-only Demo Day event at the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Conference Center to mark the conclusion of the second edition of the Misk500 Accelerator program. A total of 18 companies had the opportunity to pitch their business concepts to more than 300 investors, government representatives, delegates and members of the media.
The Batch 2 companies came from across the MENA region including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt. They represented a variety of sectors including recruitment, retail and e-commerce, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, food, fashion, professional services, construction, payments, education and beauty.
Osama Alraee, executive manager at Misk Innovation, said: “At Misk, we’re on a mission to empower young people across the world to activate their entrepreneurial ambitions and achieve real impact. The quality of the startups taking part is testament to the depth of talent and ambition in the MENA region, and the success of this Demo Day is a testament to our partnership with 500 Startups, part of our commitment to working with sector-leaders to empower young people.”
“We are delighted to host the Demo Day for Batch 2 in partnership with Misk Innovation. Our partnership has fostered a collaborative environment that will continue to spur innovations and investments that contribute to the robust and highly innovative MENA ecosystem,” said Sharif El-Badawi, managing partner at 500 Startups MENA. “Misk500 Accelerator is a key element of our strategy to back the region’s most talented founders, help them create successful companies at scale. We are impressed with the quality of the tech startups present in this batch that are helping to solve real-world challenges.”
As part of the program, the participating companies underwent extensive training by 500 Startups’ global team of experts, covering multiple topics including: Fundraising strategy, growth strategy, marketing strategy and ways to target and attract customers. They also received one-on-one mentoring with notable tech founders, pitch coaching, investment readiness training, investor introductions, and access to investment from 500 Falcons, which is dedicated to fostering the growth and development of diverse pre-seed and seed tech startups in the MENA region.
The Batch 2 Demo Day built on the success of the Batch 1 Demo Day held in May. Also held at the KAFD Conference Center, 19 tech startup companies pitched to more than 300 investors, invited guests and representatives of both local and international media.
Applications are open for the Batch 3 of the Misk500 Accelerator until Dec. 14. Pre-seed and seed tech startups based in the MENA region are eligible to submit applications at: https://www.misk.500.co
