“Mediterranean Starts. The challenges ahead”
Mediterranean Start-up & Entrepreneurship Meeting will connect already successful companies with new establish companies, which deliver innovative ideas and new approaches.
The Mediterranean region is no exception, yet in recent years funding access has improved. Angel investment networks, venture capital funds and even several government-initiated funding programs have all come to the fore.
As the region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem gradually frees up more capital for young and growing enterprises it needs to take a more critical look at its entrepreneurs’ and investors’ specific needs to enhance investment conditions.
Mediterranean Start-ups Meeting will gather entrepreneurs, investors, and support institutions from key emerging start-ups ecosystems across the Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and experts will gather on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to share experiences, insights, techniques, methods, and know-how, dishing out how-toss for newcomers, dos-and-don’ts for the up and coming, and inspiration for the rest.
The startup and entrepreneurship culture is an encouraging development, but turning the trend into the norm could bring a series of challenges and policy questions for business, government and civil society to address.
History has revealed a strong relationship between economic development and innovators and accelerators who can seize opportunities and take risks as well as provide a helpful boost in business education.
While there are a growing number of funding opportunities and resources for entrepreneurs in Mediterranean region there are still significant constraints to obtaining capital including accessing larger funding sizes, diversifying funding sources, skills gaps and communicating with investors.
This Forum adds to the larger conversation on the barriers and pathways to scale that entrepreneurs experience as they try to grow their companies in MEDA. It is a unique opportunity connecting startups with investors and companies successful in the Mediterranean region and globally.
Mead Startups introduce a more critical assessment of funding conditions in the region’s ecosystem while also helping to highlight focus areas for improving these conditions.
The forum will provide:
- An opportunity for Mediterranean start-ups and entrepreneurs to display themselves to investors and the press.
- Access to seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and experts from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to share experiences, insights, techniques, methods, and know-how dishing out how-toss for newcomers, dos-and-don’ts for the up and coming as well as inspiration for the rest
17th November 2021
15:00 – 16:30
Mediterranean Start-up & Entrepreneurship Meeting
Opening session
Speakers confirmed
Anwar Zibaoui | General Coordinator, Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME)
H.E. Eduard Shalsi | Parliament of the Republic of Albania
Fadi Saab | Chairman & CEO of Trans Capital group of companies (UK & Lebanon)
Session 1
Mediterranean entrepreneurship on the rise as start-up scene mature
Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region is on the rise on the back of a buzzing start-up ecosystem, a number of factors that are driving the emergence of a vibrant start-up ecosystem in the region. For one, the region has a large and young population, with a relatively high level of digital connectivity. In addition, a number of initiatives have emerged in recent years to promote business and social entrepreneurship in the region.
Mediterranean’s start-up scene: These varied developments across the region have led to impressive numbers for the region’s start-up funding landscape.
Despite the availability of funding, businesses in the region report that tight spending is a barrier for start-ups to reach their true potential. Investors are reportedly risk-averse, which makes early-stage funding a less appealing option for many. Many start-up founders also report an overall shortage of infrastructure for tangible assets.
Investing in Startups: How to Benefit from an Asset Class with Exponential Growth Potential
The start-up investment landscape continues to evolve, with the tech space being harder to navigate than ever. While early-stage investment will always remain a risky proposition, the possibility of finding and nurturing a tech start-up that has the potential to achieve a massive valuation and even transform the world as we know still remains. How can retail investors navigate this tricky landscape, and is it worth investing in regional or international tech start-ups to complement an otherwise more conservative portfolio.
Speakers confirmed
Dr. Paul Doany | Chairman ICT Venture Capital & Renewables (Geothermal Power & Biogas Energy) and Vice-Chairman of the SDS Enerji A.Ş. Geothermal Energy
Ghinwa Jalloul | CEO technology, Sarl
Session 2
Start-up: a sector that generates more and more jobs
When start-ups grow, they research, develop and therefore create jobs. Start-ups are no longer those small companies that we look at with curiosity, they have become full-fledged players.
The economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has not systematically hurt start-ups. On the contrary, it is accelerating the digital transformation of companies in all sectors and has pushed hundreds of thousands of employees and executives who are engaged in video conferencing, remote collaborative work and the exchange of dematerialized documents, to telecommute. To do this, they need tools and services specifically developed by certain start-ups.
An industrial renaissance
New industries are needed to diversify Mediterranean economies away from the single track of Tourism or producing hydrocarbons. And by breeding new industries, businesses — and subsequently jobs — will presumably follow. It is here that many business leaders point to encouraging trends emerging from the region’s tech start-up and entrepreneurship scene.
Education is not enough.
The basis of education strategy must be the need for students to learn critical thinking and other skills relevant to the twenty first century, as opposed to policies that emphasize rote memorization geared toward passing national tests.
We must build the rest of the entrepreneurial infrastructure so that people can then effectively put their education to use.
For me this last point is the key takeaway. Entrepreneurship does not occur in a vacuum; rather, it emerges as part of an ecosystem of actors that include policy makers, educators, mentors, investors, incubators and foreign partners that create an environment ripe for innovation.
Speakers confirmed
Ilkay Demirdag | Head of Investor Relations at Enerjisa Enerji
Faris Alami | Founder & CEO at ISM and Connecting Dots Globally
Lamia Housni |Managing Director P-Curiosity LAB &Entrepreneur Academy – UM6P Innovation & Creativity Enthusiast|Entrepreneurship Catalyst