Orange Corners and Flow Accelerator along with a group of enablers and actors in the Palestinian entrepreneurship ecosystem celebrated the official launch of Orange Corners Palestinian territories, to be the initiative’s 16th location in Africa and the Middle East powered by Flow Accelerator in Ramallah. Orange Corners Palestinian Territories is an initiative of the Kingdom of The Netherlands that provides young entrepreneurs with training, networks, and facilities to start and grow innovative businesses, which includes an integrated incubation programme that assist entrepreneurs in investment readiness through business development support, masterclasses and mentoring. The opening ceremony came under the patronage of H.E Usama Sadawi,
The Chemistry Engineer, Suna had a passion for her study, but after working as a teacher for a while, Suna realized that teaching theoretical chemistry wasn’t fulfilling her love for the field. Suna then took a career shift, and started working as a product manager. But Suna always wanted to have an impact, she knew she had the capabilities to make a change with the goal to build a 100% Palestinian company.
The pain point which ultimately articulated her “why” emerged from noticing a variety of emotional resilience among Palestinians who face similar challenges and context,
By the end of December, Flow Accelerated had completed its journey of assisting five Palestinian startups in the early stages of purchasing business development services, for which it had been compensated 70% by the World Bank-funded F4J through EE-MG. Using this grant model, each startup met specific milestones, bringing them closer to investor readiness.
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Matching Grants (EE-MG) is a grant fund which supports innovative Palestinian small businesses to increase revenue, attract investment, and create jobs. Through the EE-MG, F4J works with Palestinian investment funds and enablers to identify and build the capacity of local start-ups.
During the “Lift as you climb in Arts & Crafts” session; Dalia Shurrab – a social entrepreneur discussed with our uprising guest artists, Noor Totah, a 21-year-old ambitious artist who had stated her online crafts shop 3altakeh, and Cedar Hussein, a 27-year-old who discovered her talent later in life and opened the Cedar Macrame online shop.
Noor Totah has been into arts since a young age. She would participate in exhibitions all around Jerusalem. Yet, after going to university, she drifted away from the world of arts as she was studying Business Administration.
On December 15th, Flow Accelerator launched the Startup Ground Base Pre-Incubation Program, with 16 entrepreneurs from various fields taking part in a series of sessions and workshops aim to get entrepreneurs with innovative ideas ready to be developed for implementation.
Startup Ground Base is a mentorship driven program Providing mentorship, experience & advices on entrepreneurial competencies, business and technical aspects, and offering guidance in market research, tuning & shaping their business concept, as well as identifying the risks and opportunities. Therefore, the pre-incubation acts as a pipeline transfer- through helping startups complete the ideating and concepting stages- for the eligibility of participating in the next phase,
To celebrate the completion of the Innovation Power Box program for the year 2021. Alongside our partner, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, we gathered with entrepreneurs and enablers from the Palestinian innovation ecosystem for the “End of Year Reflection” event.
Majd Khalifeh, the CEO of Flow Accelerator, kicked off the event by briefing the audience on the journey Flow Accelerator has gone through since the beginning to the day; the growth, the programs, and the people that have benefited from our efforts throughout the years. Majd has also revealed our upcoming program in collaboration with the Orange Corners and a couple more programs that are waiting for us at the beginning of next year.
The jury chose three ideas for financial technology solutions to participate in the integrated incubation program launched by the National Bank in collaboration with the Flow Accelerator, with the goal of providing them with the necessary development support. The selection was made from among 18 entrepreneurs from the West Bank and Gaza Strip who had received intensive training from experts and specialists over the previous two days.
The jury included a number of specialists and experts in the field in addition to official and regulatory authorities that included the Executive Director of the Financial Stability Group at the Palestinian Monetary Authority,
Hosted by Abeer Abu Ghaith – CEO of MENA Alliances that helps businesses scale their in-house teams by building remote teams of MENA’s top talent as needed. This session focused on team building, discussing its importance, and providing advice and tips as part of a framework that startups can use for an effective hiring process.
The significance of hiring
Human capital, according to Abeer, is the foundation of a successful startup. The team members represent the startup’s concept, vision, and mission. She emphasizes the significance of selecting candidates who are a good fit for the team.
In the “Lift as you Climb by Professional Mothers” session, and with the slogan “Courage is a Heart Word,” Walaa Samara – CEO and Founder of Walaa Samara Coaching LLC, and Program Manager at the Palestine Techno Park – dived deeply into the details of what made three mothers the great tech founders they are today through challenging both motherhood and entrepreneurship.
Ayah Dajani, a Computer Systems Engineering graduate who has had a passion for working with young students since she was in college, is currently working full time in her second startup,
As part of its social responsibility, the National Bank and Flow Accelerator announced their cooperation to support financial technology startups in Palestine. This collaboration is a result of the two parties’ previously signed agreement, and it is consistent with the National Bank’s approach of launching responsible banking products and services linked to its sustainable social responsibility program. This initiative was linked to the launch of its electronic services (online and mobile) this year, as well as the remote bank account opening service through (Onboarding).
With the lack of quantitative data for early-stage startups, obtaining accurate findings that can assist with taking the next step in your entrepreneurial path or making the best investment decision becomes challenging! But what if there was a simple way for startups and investors to achieve reliable pre-money valuations simply by describing a startup’s qualitative elements?
Mr. Ameed Awad presented to our bright entrepreneurs an in-depth 4-hour training in digital marketing for platform-based startups. Deelzat, EzPilot, GIL, Sook.ps, Amal Work, Dokan Plus, Swift and Shabikni all joined along for a trip around the digital forms and tools used to achieve platform sustainability, guiding their transition from product to platform and the tips and tricks for surviving in this digital age.
