Flat6Labs Celebrates Seven Years of Accelerating Entrepreneurship in MENA
10 October, 2018 - Cairo, Egypt — Flat6Labs, a regional startup accelerator program and seed investment company, celebrates seven years of accelerating entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Launched in Cairo in 2011 by the founders of Sawari Ventures, Flat6Labs has since expanded to Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Tunis, Beirut and Bahrain and manages four seed funds across the MENA Region with a total value accumulating to USD $50M.
“Today marks the 7th anniversary of the launch of the first-ever Flat6Labs cycle in Cairo. I am thrilled for the exciting times ahead of us as we embark on the next chapter of Flat6Labs’ journey by building and activating one of the strongest entrepreneurial platforms in the region that inspires, invests, connects and supports entrepreneurs,” said Ramez El-Serafy, CEO of Flat6Labs.
Since 2011, Flat6Labs has received more than 15,000 startup applications from across the MENA region and beyond. The regional Flat6Labs network encompasses 180+ portfolio companies, 400+ local and international mentors and coaches and 100+ corporate, governmental and ecosystem partners. Flat6Labs portfolio companies have thus far raised USD $15M in follow-on funding and directly and indirectly helped create more than 1,200 jobs. With four established seed funds in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Bahrain, Flat6Labs has over 20 institutional investors including The International Finance Corporation (IFC), Tunisian American Enterprise Fund (TAEF), twofour54 and BLOM Bank.
During its seventh year of existence, Flat6Labs launched its sixth accelerator in Bahrain (March 7) and hosted five Demo Days in Cairo (May 14), Tunis (July 5), Beirut (February 21 & September 13) and Bahrain (October 3), graduating 33 tech-enabled startups that offer innovative products in spaces ranging from FinTech, gaming and solar energy to digital health, augmented reality education and real estate. Flat6Labs Cairo is actively working on revamping its program content with the aim of driving innovation and ultimately helping to build Egypt’s pipeline of high-impact entrepreneurs. Flat6Labs Bahrain continues to enjoy unparallelled startup support from Tamkeen, which sent three Flat6Labs Bahrain startups to Silicon Valley in September to get exposed to the ecosystem, exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt, tour at some of the world’s biggest companies like Google and Salesforce and meet with mentors.
Flat6Labs Tunis is building a diverse, extensive network of mentors from across the region and the globe dedicated to sharing knowledge and insights to help Tunisian entrepreneurs grow their business. Flat6Labs Beirut supports entrepreneurs with funding at both the seed and early stages, offering up to $50K in cash seed funding and follow-on funding opportunities ranging from US $150K to $500K.
Three Flat6Labs portfolio companies, Collectionair (Abu Dhabi), Instabug (Cairo) and Washmen (Abu Dhabi), were listed on Forbes Middle East’s ‘Top 100 Startups In The Middle East – 2018’ and Flat6Labs was ranked sixth on the list of ‘The 50 Most Active Investors In The Arab World.’