Flat6Labs Tunis Graduates Six Startups during its First Demo Day
January 25 2018, Tunis, Tunisia — Flat6Labs, the leading startup accelerator and seed investor in the MENA region, hosted its very first Demo Day in Tunis at the Bardo Museum. The Demo Day witnessed the graduation of six new startups from the first Flat6Labs Tunis accelerator cycle. The Winter 2018 cycle supported a diverse range of startup businesses encompassing innovative products and services in the fields of e-commerce, aeronautics, digital sales management, transportation, food and energy.
As the very first Flat6Labs Tunis Demo Day, the event marks a significant milestone for Flat6Labs, which aims to help accelerate the growth of Tunisian startups and provide a steady pipeline to the rapidly growing Tunisian venture capital industry. The Demo Day is an opportunity for the graduating startup companies to showcase their product, traction and vision to a select audience of investors, supporters, and press, as well as network and build their business connections.
The event was the largest gathering of both local and foreign tech-focused investors in Tunisia. It was attended by private sector investment funds such as AfricInvest, UGFS, Malaz Capital (Saudi), Evolia Capital Holding, Diva Sicar and Carthage Business Angels, as well as senior members of banking institutions such as BIAT Capital Risk, Amen Capital, UBCI/BNP Paribas, and the BPFME. In addition, several key members of foreign development finance institutions (DFIs) like the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB), Proparco (France), the UK CDC Group, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) were in attendance.
“We’re thrilled to mark the successful graduation of Flat6Labs Tunis’ first batch of ambitious and innovative Tunisian entrepreneurs” said Ramez El-Serafy, CEO of Flat6Labs. “We’re very proud that through the unique Flat6Labs Tunis program and with our close partnership with Meninx, TAEF and BIAT we were able to funnel our very first six high-growth potential startups to the Tunisian entrepreneurial ecosystem with hundreds more to come” added El-Serafy.
Mr. Mehdi Tamarziste, CEO of Meninx Holding said, “An integral part of ‘Le 15’, our entrepreneurship-focused initiative, the Flat6Labs accelerator is opening up new horizons for these startups. We are very proud to support these high-potential entrepreneurs, and strongly believe that their energy, dedication and innovation will help play a part in building the future of Tunisia.”
“We were delighted to witness the growth of the first batch of Tunisian entrepreneurs that went through the Flat6Labs accelerator, and are looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for these six startups, as well as the remaining ones over the next few years,“ said Mr. Karim Ghenim, Head of Private Equity at Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT).
Mr. Bowman Cutter, Chairman of Tunisian American Enterprise Fund added, “We are extremely proud of our Flat6Labs partnership with Meninx, BIAT, and Flat6Labs. TAEF has committed to serving all parts of the Tunisian small and medium business sector and this partnership is one of our important pathways for investment. We think these first six startups have real potential and we see them as the first wave of a large number of startups to come.”
The six startups that showcased their products and services during the First Flat6Labs Tunis Demo Day:
Dabchy: a fashion marketplace for second-hand clothing which operates as a trusted third-party between buyers and sellers.
Echo: digitizing and streamlining aircraft cabin design offering seamless reconfiguration and certification for the aeronautical industry.
GST: developed a mobile management system allowing companies in the Agri-food Industry to share information in real-time with their sales forces working outside the office.
Naviacom: a machine-to-machine connectivity provider, offering hardware and software solutions for both the automotive and telematics sectors.
Vynd: a community platform that allows restaurants to increase their visibility, deepen the interaction with their clients, attract more customers, and increase revenues.
Wattnow: focuses on businesses and home owners helping them visualize their electricity consumption in real-time and identify wasteful trends to help reduce their energy bills.
Launched in June 2016 in partnership with Le15, Meninx Holding, the Tunisian American Enterprise Fund and the Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT), Flat6Labs Tunis is set to support and invest in more than 90 Tunisian startups over five years through its accelerator program and a TND 20M early-stage fund, with the aim of contributing to the creation of a thriving environment for entrepreneurship in Tunisia.