Orange Ventures Launches the MEA Seed Challenge to Finance Entrepreneurs and Startups in the Middle East and Africa

Orange Ventures announced MEA Seed Challenge targeting entrepreneurs in Africa and the Middle East. It aims to give entrepreneurs the means to launch and develop their business.

Orange Ventures is an international 350 million euro multi-stage technology investment fund. It finances innovative startups in the areas of strategic interest of Orange (Networks & IT, Digital Business, Cybersecurity, and Fintech) and beyond (Consumer platforms, E-gaming, Edtech, Health etc). Also, it launches initiatives for impact investments and African and Middle East region. Supported by the Orange Group, the fund offers startups in which it invests access to the Group's expertise and potential synergies with its numerous business units and 253 million customers in 26 countries.

The MEA Seed Challenge targets seed ventures with high growth potential and predominantly new technologies driven. Entrepreneurs in MEA region often face challenges in accessing financing because of the low number of active investors, especially for seed investments. Investing in and supporting these entrepreneurs is key to the continent’s development and an important issue for Orange, which wishes to increase its co-operation with these innovation players.

“As a major player in supporting the digital ecosystem in our territories, it is important for Orange to provide a financing solution in addition to our training and support activities for entrepreneurs in Africa and the Middle East,” says Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East.

Orange Ventures plans to invest a total of €500,000 in the MEA start-up ecosystem as a result of this challenge, with up to seven seed stage start-ups benefitting from an investment of between €50,000 and €150,000.

The Orange Ventures MEA Seed Challenge is open to start-ups in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. It targets start-ups at the seed stage, with high growth potential and new technologies at the core of their business. These start-ups will be able to apply from 1 June until 19 July, 2020, at:
https://digitalventures.orange.com/mea-seed-challenge

The beneficiaries will be announced next September. The top beneficiary will receive an investment of €150,000 as well as three months of support from challenge partner, Seedstars.

 “With the Orange Ventures team we are proud to launch this first initiative which aims to identify, help and promote exceptional entrepreneurs, who have the courage and drive to launch new projects and who, like us, believe in the potential of this continent. This is the first step before strengthening our investment activities in Middle East and Africa, aiming to support the future digital champions throughout their different maturity and growth stages,” adds Jérôme Berger, CEO of Orange Ventures.