Flat6Labs and PwC will Expand Mentorship for Regional Startups

Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm, and PwC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide support to start-ups with high growth potential in the region.

“Flat6Labs has a proven track record in carefully vetting out and investing in promising start-ups, and thereby enabling thousands of passionate founders to achieve their daring ambitions, while supporting the region’s flourishing entrepreneurship ecosystem,” said Yehia Houry, Chief Program Officer at Flat6Labs. “Our partnership with PwC plays to the strengths of both our organisations, with the end result being significant value to our portfolio start-ups, as well as to enterprises across the region that will stand to benefit from the disruptive innovations they bring to market.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Flat6Labs will work to identify and position start-ups from its portfolio as potential solution providers under PwC. Initially, the focus of this endeavour will be on startups that operate across the rapidly evolving financial services and telco sectors. The companies will also set up a joint working group that will engage with prospective enterprises and priority clients to develop corporate innovation programs and innovation challenges.

World-class mentorship is a defining element of Flat6Labs’ incubator programs across the region, and the MoU seeks to strengthen the company’s value propositions in this area as well. PwC’s sector and industry experts will participate as coaches, mentors, and trainers in various Flat6Labs programs, thereby giving start-ups unrivalled access to some of the industry’s foremost advisors and thought leaders. PwC Middle East will also extend its unparalleled expertise to Flat6Labs start-ups in preparing for and navigating the later stage funding rounds, from Series A, all the way up to IPO preparedness, having worked with over 20 global unicorns.

Mark Stanley, Financial Services Partner at PwC Middle East said, “Our strategic partnership with Flat6Labs is part of PwC’s Ventures strategy and indicative of our commitment to growing capabilities beyond our own, empowering start-ups and building a world-class regional ecosystem. We believe there is untapped talent and disruptive capabilities in start-ups that lack access to the established industry incumbents that PwC proudly serves. The established VCs operating in this region are a really effective route to source, qualify and partner with these emerging startups. Together with Flat6Labs, we will mobilise our strategy through execution capabilities, to help our clients design, build and scale new ventures, powered by the market’s leading startups.”

To date, Flat6Labs has invested in 355 start-ups through its various programs across the MENA region. Collectively, these firms have gone on to raise over US$180million in funding and many of these organisations are today enterprise-scale businesses that continue to pioneer advancements in their respective sectors.