Open Startup

🌍 Explore our Impact Report | Celebrating a Journey of Growth & Innovation! ✨ We’re thrilled to reflect on Open Startup’s incredible journey over the past three years. What began in 2016 as a local initiative to empower youth-led ventures has evolved into a pan-African force, offering programs that prepare #startups for markets and #investment, strengthen ecosystems, and bridge continents through #innovation and global networks. 🚀 Together, we’ve achieved: ✅ Supported 426 startups across 15 African countries (66% female-led!) ✅ 175 startups raised funds, accelerating their growth ✅ Created 900+ jobs in emerging economies ✅ Built a thriving community: 3,000+ alumni, 30+ global partners, 200+ trained coaches ✅ Fostered global connections: 15+ international immersion visits and 250+ engaged ecosystem leaders None of this would be possible without our partners, mentors, and community. Thank you for believing in our mission and driving change with us. 🌍✨ 📊 And this is just the beginning! Dive into our full report for deeper insights, stories, and the numbers behind our journey. 📖 Explore our 3-year milestones here: https://lnkd.in/dYMmhUmV #OpenStartup #ImpactReport #AfricanInnovation #BridgingEcosystems

Happy International Women's Day to all the incredible women in our network—partners, entrepreneurs, supporters, community, and friends! 🌍✨ As a women-led organization, OST is proud to celebrate the power of female leadership and innovation. We’d like to highlight that, over the past three years, we have supported more than 400 startups, 66% of which were female-led, recognizing the impact of women in entrepreneurship and their contribution to a thriving African and global ecosystems. Here’s to breaking barriers, leading boldly, and inspiring the next generation! 💙 #FemaleEntrepreneurs #WomenLeadership #Empowerment #OpenStartup

Scaling Beyond: Real Startup Journeys into the Qatari Market Learn from those who made it! Are you an African startup looking to expand into the Qatari market? Join us for an exclusive webinar where successful entrepreneurs will share their real-life journeys, challenges, and key insights on scaling beyond their home markets. 📅 Date: March 13, 2025 📍 Online Webinar ⏰ Time: 11:00 AM (GMT+1) What to Expect? 🔹 Inspiring success stories from startups that successfully entered Qatar. 🔹 Lessons learned, best practices, and key milestones in their expansion journey. 🔹 A deep dive into the Paper Plane Program & Global Immersion Week (GIW)—enablers for international market entry. 🔹 Two interactive Q&A sessions to get your questions answered! Whether you're exploring opportunities in Qatar or actively preparing for expansion, this session will provide valuable insights and practical steps to navigate the market. Register now and take the first step toward scaling your startup beyond borders! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/en_xxwqG 🌍Paper Plane is supported by Open Startup's inception partners: Africagrow, Columbia Engineering, Columbia Business School, the U.S. Embassy Tunis, AfricInvest Group, and The Dot. Along with the program and anchor program partner: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). #OpenStartup #BridgeAfricaGCC #ScaleWithPaperPlane #GIW25 #AfricanStartups

🟣 Paper Plane | Call For African Startups 🌍 Are you an African startup ready to expand to Qatar? Join Paper Plane, a 6-week hybrid program for tech-enabled African startups in the pre-seed or seed stage. Access essential resources, strategic opportunities, and global exposure to fuel your growth. What You Gain: ✅Global Readiness – Access the knowledge and tools needed for successful international expansion. ✅ Market Expansion – Benefit from soft-landing support and insights into Qatar’s regulatory landscape. ✅Investor Access – Pitch your startup to international VCs and regional funding bodies. ✅ Business Matchmaking – Connect with corporate partners, government agencies, and leading accelerators. ✅ Networking & Market Exposure – Build relationships with a global network and key players in the Qatari ecosystem. 📅 Applications close March 20! 🔗 Apply now: https://lnkd.in/gFdpnsSy Visit this link for more details: https://lnkd.in/ghbszypF 🌍Paper Plane is supported by Open Startup's inception partners: Africagrow, Columbia Engineering, Columbia Business School, the U.S. Embassy Tunis, AfricInvest Group, and The Dot. Along with the program and anchor program partner: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). #OpenStartup #BridgeAfricaGCC #ScaleWithPaperPlane #GIW25 #AfricanStartups

At #OpenStartup, we’re steadily expanding our global reach and platform through our collaboration with KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) on the #KAUSTScaleX program. KAUST is renowned for world-class research and innovation, and, in partnership with SAB, the KAUST ScaleX Program brings global tech startups into the dynamic Saudi ecosystem. The program offers market entry support, access to KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)’s cutting-edge infrastructure, and opportunities to connect with key industry players. We’re proud to continue this collaboration and help startups grow, scale, and expand in one of the fastest-growing markets—#SaudiArabia. Learn more about the KAUST ScaleX program: https://lnkd.in/gHHRkkP2 #OpenStartup #KAUSTScaleX #TechStartups #GlobalExpansion #BuildingBridges

🔴BRAIN Bootcamp Wrap-Up | A Journey of Growth & Collaboration 🚀✨ We are incredibly proud of our 10 African startups from 6 countries and 4 different industries that joined us in South Africa for an intensive 5-day training bootcamp. Throughout the program, they connected, learned, and fine-tuned their projects with candid feedback and valuable insights from our experts and partners. On the final day, hosted by our partner CERI - Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation BMRI, the energy reached new heights as we wrapped up with impactful sessions designed to prepare startups for global market entry and investment: 🔹 Fundraising Panel: Thaheer MULLINS from Savant led an insightful discussion on fundraising strategies, sharing real-life case studies to help startups understand how to position themselves for investment. The panel also featured two startups, PhagoFlux and AI Diagnostics who shared their firsthand experiences in securing funding. 🔹 Pitch Deck Refinement & Frienldly VC Clinics: Startups had dedicated time to work on their pitch decks before presenting in the VC Clinics, where a panel of AfricInvest Group, Digital Africa, Invenfin, Paladin Africa, AfricaRising GmbH, Knife Capital, and Savant provided key insights and advice to help startups navigate investment challenges. A special thank you to CERI - Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation BMRI for hosting us and to Tulio de Oliveira for his insightful keynote. Your support helped make this journey impactful for our startups! This is just the beginning—exciting opportunities lie ahead as our startups move forward in the BRAIN Accelerator program. Stay tuned! South Africa, thank you! 🇿🇦 🌍 The BRAIN Program is run by Open Startup and powered by AfricaGrow, Digital Africa, and Sanofi’s Global Health Unit for sustainable impact, in partnership with MIT-Africa, the MIT Executive MBA Program, AfricInvest Group, InstaDeep, and Bpifrance. BRAIN Regional Bootcamp is hosted by Stellenbosch University, LaunchLab, CERI - Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, and Fluorobiotech (PTY) Ltd, sponsored by Octoco, Technopark Stellenbosch, Workshack, and locally supported by Wesgro, Innovation City Cape Town. #DeepTech #StartupAccelerator #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #AfricaTech #HealthTech #Investment #BRAIN_Bootcamp

🟠 OSTX Ideation Program | Senegal Applications Now Open! 🇸🇳 Calling all aspiring entrepreneurs in #Senegal! This is your chance to transform your startup ideas into reality with OSTX! This #online program kicks off with a 4-day bootcamp, followed by 3 weeks of home assignments, providing the tools and mentorship to get your entrepreneurial journey started. 📣 Choose a bootcamp date that works for you—flexibility is yours! 📍 All sessions are online. What you’ll gain: 🔸 Insights to refine your startup idea 🔸 Support and guidance from expert mentors 🔸 Interactive Workshops 🔸 Personnalized mentorship 🔸 Access to the Regional OST Community Whether you’re just starting out or refining your concept, #OSTX equips you with the right tools, expert guidance, and a strong community to support your success. Apply now and take the first step toward building your startup! 🔗 Registration Link: https://lnkd.in/d89Q6Pfd 📅 Applications close March 27! 🌍OSTX Ideation Program is made possible with Open Startup's inception partners: AfricaGrow, Columbia Engineering, Columbia Business School, U.S. Embassy Tunis, AfricInvest Group, and The Dot. And our local partners in Senegal: La Délégation Générale à l'Entreprenariat Rapide des Femmes et des Jeunes - DER/FJ, Ignite.E, Concree, Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST), and Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique de Dakar. #OSTX #OpenStartup #Entrepreneurship #Ideation #Senegal

🔴Day 2 - Bootcamp Update | Harnessing #AI & Disciplined Entrepreneurship 🚀🤖 As we continue our regional bootcamp journey, hosted by our partner Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, our recent sessions have focused on transforming ideas into market realities and harnessing AI to drive innovation. Richard Rabbat guided us on taking a product from 0 to 1, while he and Younes Bensouda Mourri demonstrated how AI is reshaping startup building—with practical tool recommendations. We also received inspiring insights on disciplined entrepreneurship from Prof. Bill Aulet and learned essential strategies for building a healthy, complementary team from Prof. Ben Shields (MIT). But of course, our startups had the chance to engage in one-to-one sessions—pitching their value propositions, receiving expert feedback, and refining their strategies through focused work sessions based on recent reflections. 🤝💡 The sessions and insights reinforce our strategic focus on accelerating market readiness and building a resilient deeptech ecosystem across Africa. 🌍✨ The you to all the experts, partners, startups, and contributors. 🌍 The BRAIN Program is run by Open Startup and powered by AfricaGrow, Digital Africa, and Sanofi’s Global Health Unit for sustainable impact, in partnership with MIT-Africa, the MIT Executive MBA Program, AfricInvest Group, InstaDeep, and Bpifrance. BRAIN Regional Bootcamp is hosted by Stellenbosch University, LaunchLab, CERI - Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, and Fluorobiotech (PTY) Ltd, sponsored by Octoco, Technopark Stellenbosch, Workshack, and locally supported by Wesgro, Innovation City Cape Town. #OpenStartup #BRAIN #DeepTech #StartupAccelerator #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #AfricaTech #HealthTech #Investment #SouthAfrica

🔴 Scaling HealthTech Innovation in Africa! At BRAIN Regional Bootcamp, hosted in collaboration with Octoco, industry leaders from Sanofi, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Healthcare Accelerator, and key South African stakeholders explored emerging healthtech trends, investment opportunities, and the role of partnerships & regulation in driving Africa’s healthcare future. From AI & digital health to cutting-edge innovations, this session sparked powerful discussions on scaling impactful solutions across the continent. #HealthTech #Innovation #AfricaTech #BRAIN #DeepTech

At Open Startup, we remain committed to building bridges for global innovation, empowering startups to reach new markets. This time, we're thrilled to expand our cross-continental platform through KAUST ScaleX! Led by KAUST in partnership with SAB and in collaboration with Open Startup, #ScaleX is a soft-landing program that connects global tech startups with one of the world’s fastest-growing innovation ecosystems: Saudi Arabia. Why join ScaleX? ✅ Market entry support in Saudi Arabia ✅ Access to KAUST’s world-class infrastructure and resources ✅ Direct connections to key industry players and corporate partnerships If you’re a #SeriesB startup looking to expand, this is your opportunity! 🔗 Apply now: https://lnkd.in/gHHRkkP2 #OpenStartup #KAUST #ScaleX #TechStartups #GlobalExpansion KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)