500 Startups and Misk Innovation Launch Second Edition of MENA Accelerator Program

500 Startups, through a continued partnership with Misk Innovation, has launched the second edition of the Misk 500 Accelerator Program for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Over the course of 14 weeks, the program will focus on bringing growth hacking techniques and providing Silicon Valley expertise to emerging companies in MENA.

500 Startups regional fund, 500 Falcons, will invest USD $50,000 into each participating startup in exchange for 7% equity.

The program is targeting founders who are building technologies and products to impact B2B, B2C, E-Commerce, FinTech, EdTech, HealthTech, IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence, SaaS and messaging services.

15-20 technology startups that have a working product and demonstrable initial traction will be selected to participate in the program.

The accepted startups will be given the opportunity to meet with some of MENA’s leading corporations and investors and pitch their product or service to the audience during a Demo Day.

Batch 1 of the Misk 500 Accelerator Program consisted of 19 startups from across the region and 37% of these companies had at least one female founder. The program concluded with a Demo Day where startups pitched their business concepts to more than 200 attendees including investors and corporations.

500 Startups is well-known for its global accelerator programs, having held similar programs in Japan, Russia, Uruguay and more. 500’s mission is to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems.

To know more details about the program, click here, and to apply, click here. The deadline for applications is July 26, 2019.