This is definitely good news for budding startups and entrepreneurs, as Wamda X, the grant-based fellowship programme for budding entrepreneurs and early-stage startups, is now accepting applications for its second cohort. The four-month programme aims to identify and support the Middle East and North Africa’s (Mena) most promising entrepreneurs and founding teams in their early stages. The second cohort will start in January and will be based at the Wamda X space in Dubai.
“Recent research suggests that globally, investors’ focus has started to shift to later-stage investments. In the Mena region, investors’ appetite has increased since the Souq.com and Careem exits, which have each marked turning points in the tech ecosystem. The influx of global tech giants such as Amazon and Uber setting up in Mena over the past five years has also accelerated the region’s overall tech infrastructure.We see that individuals are increasingly looking to leave their jobs and launch their own venture, but there is a growing mismatch between these aspiring founders and the number of investors willing to support them,” says says Wamda Capital Investment Principal Sarah Abu Risheh, who is leading the programme.
