EMERGING Mediterranean : launch of the 3rd year of its programme with three major new features

Supported by the French Development Agency and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, EMERGING Mediterranean is a key tool for leveraging societal resilience and Tech For Good impact between the south and north shore of the Mediterranean and is hereby announcing the launch of the 3rd year of its programme. It is kicking off with a call for applications from April 11 to May 15, 2022 for start-ups from the south shore of the Mediterranean that are committed to positive innovation.

By the editorial staff

EMERGING Mediterranean has three major new features this year: a sixth programme winner who will be awarded a prize for female entrepreneurship, an
enhanced component of tailor-made mentoring for all 6 winners, and its highlight from the south shore – the Bootcamp of the two shores – which will be held for the first time at The Dot incubator in Tunis.

EMERGING Mediterranean, the unmissable programme for Tech for Good Leaders in the Mediterranean

In 2020, EMERGING Mediterranean started its acceleration programme for entrepreneurs on the south shore of the Mediterranean (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya) who have strong social and environmental impacts and who work in e-health, agritech, mobility, edutech, the environment, social economy and financial inclusion and female entrepreneurship.
This programme combines networking and visibility with financial and educational support and offers entrepreneurs many benefits such as bespoke mentoring, help with fundraising, scaling-up readiness, acceleration of social and inclusive innovation, networking, sharing best practices, leadership awareness, etc.
“EMERGING Mediterranean was designed to identify, accelerate and nurture the advocacy of Mediterranean ‘Tech For Good’ start-ups. Its ambition is to create a community of high-impact digital talents and showcase a positive Mediterranean narrative. Since day one, it has become a key programme for regional stakeholders. This was clear in the 2021 edition of EMERGING Mediterranean as its call was highly successful with 305 applications, 31% of which were submitted by women – a 34% increase over 2020! This success shows how dynamic the region is with so many young people on the move who have a strong interest in the entrepreneurial ecosystem”, explains Samir Abdelkrim, founder of EMERGING Mediterranean.
This third year of EMERGING Mediterranean is starting off with a call for applications from April 11 to May 15, 2022. Start-ups that want to participate can submit their applications by clicking on the following link: http://emergingmediterranean.co/candidater/

The 30 most promising start-ups will then participate in the Bootcamp of the two shores, the highlight of the programme on the south bank, with three days of intensive coaching from expert mentors which, this year, is being held in Tunis from June 24 to 26, 2022. The 12 stars of the programme will be chosen: two per country, and two start-ups selected for the “Female Entrepreneurship” category which is new to the 2022 edition. In July, these 12 finalists will then pitch to a final jury who will select the winner from each country and the winner of the “Female Entrepreneurship” category.
The winners will be awarded a package which includes personalised technical support through individual mentoring sessions, which are being significantly ramped up this year, a visibility and media support boost, a place on the Social & Inclusive Business Camp programme, support to come visit Marseille to participate in the EMERGING Valley 2022 summit next November, a full pass for the summit, a 5000 euro seed fund grant, and they will also benefit from the continued advocacy for Tech For Good that EMERGING Mediterranean promotes with its ongoing “do-tank” strategy.
Since 2020, EMERGING Mediterranean has built a rich and dense network of country partners and ecosystem experts who are committed to impact, with the Mauritanian Youth Chamber of Commerce and the Hadina RimTIC incubator for Mauritania; the Technopark, LaStartupFactory and the P-Curiosity OCP LAB for Morocco; the Algerian Confederation of Citizen Employers (CAPC) and Tek2Hub for Algeria; Connect’Innov and TheDot for Tunisia; Expertise France for Libya and, last but not least, the Association of Francophone Universities.

EMERGING Mediterranean 2022: new features to help the programme blast off

After three successful years, EMERGING Mediterranean is ramping things up with a number of new features in its 2022 edition. The main new feature at the heart of EMERGING Mediterranean’s DNA is the Female Entrepreneurship prize which aims to promote the role of Mediterranean women and female entrepreneurship in the
Mediterranean. “This prize will be awarded to a male or female project leader who has shown a particularly strong commitment to Mediterranean women or female entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean. At the end of the Bootcamp of the two shores, we will choose 12 finalists then pick 6 winners: one for each country – Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya – and one Female Entrepreneurship prize winner. We can’t wait!”, explains Julie Lanckriet-Goerig, Director of Operations at EMERGING Mediterranean.
In addition, this year, the Bootcamp will be held at the Tunisian incubator “The Dot” in Tunis for the first time. “The Dot is a long-standing partner of EMERGING Mediterranean that sees itself as the nerve centre of the Tunisian tech ecosystem. It is an attractive, lively and rich space for entrepreneurs who want to transform their ecosystem and have a positive impact on their communities. We are delighted to be holding the Bootcamp of the two shores at The Dot as I am sure everyone will benefit from its highly stimulating energy”, adds Julie Lanckriet-Goerig.

Lastly, the winners’ packages have also been enhanced. Start-ups will be provided with even better technical support, more mentoring, and one-to-one expert coaching to create genuine tailor-made support to help our future digital champions.

Aida KANDIL, 2020 Moroccan winner, with MY TINDY: “Winning this programme boosted my confidence by acknowledging all my efforts. It was very rewarding and provided a lot of opportunities for collaboration. For me, initiatives like EMERGING Mediterranean are an essential component of advancing the world of start-ups in the Mediterranean basin.”