With High Contributions of
The largest competition for Startups and SMES in the Middle East
Application is closed.
Welcome to the World’s Largest Competition for Syrian & Host Community Entrepreneurs
The Startup Roadshow is calling on Founders in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq to participate in our Virtual Incubator, and have the chance to be trained, incubated, funded, and mentored by leading experts in the field. Jusoor Virtual Incubator is a 3-month program.
50 Startups and Small-Businesses will be enrolled as part of our Roadshow Incubator 2021 cohort, which includes 12-weeks of advanced training, incubation and mentorship. The 50 entrepreneurs will then compete to pitch at the final Roadshow Demo Day, where the top 6 companies will receive cash prizes of $15,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place winners.
Eligibility
lebanon
Jordan
NOW Fully online!
Open for Syrians and local entrepreneurs in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.
Turkey
IRAQ
Incubator Eligibility
• Have a team of Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian, or Turkish founders, aged 18 and up. Must be based in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon or Iraq.
• Pre-established (existing) businesses, Older than 6 months.
• Both registered and unregistered businesses are able to join the program.
• Applications can be in any industry with a focus on social and economic development impact.
• Have the needed computer and internet skills, as well as an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Be able to commit for 10 Hours a week between March-June to be part of an intensive 3-month program.
• Business founders must have expertise and knowledge in their industry and show the motivation and skills needed to grow their business.
• Businesses must be dealing with legally allowed goods and/or services.
• Business must already have an existent product/service (or MVP) which provides a solution to the community's needs.
• For tech startups, the project has to be innovative in its field and present a novel solution to an existing problem. It has to be scalable and the team should be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of their revenue and profit model.
• For SMEs, have a pre-established business (anywhere from 6 months to 2 years old) that is based in one of the 4 focus countries.
Selection Criteria
Selection will focus on Startups and SMEs that have the greatest chance of delivering value in their respective markets, and the greatest commitment to the business. Both the owner’s skill set and their company will be rated in this round in various aspects:
• Economic Impact
○ Potential viability of the business model
○ Potentially profitable business
○ Connectivity to the local needs and context
○ Commercial and market perspectives
• Innovation
○ Does the business idea bring something new to the Jordanian market?
○ How feasible is the innovation
• Entrepreneur
○ Knowledge of the market
○Commitment and willingness to take risks
○ Ambition and grounded potential to grow their business in Jordan
○ Relevant expertise with entrepreneurship and/or sector of the business idea
• Business Model
○ Clarity; SME and Start-Ups which promote clear and simple business models can better communicate their needs and adjust their business during our program.
○ Stability; Is this a business that addresses a genuine need or customer demand? Does the idea have some market stability over time?
○ Scalability; Are the SME & Start-Ups capable of being scaled? Can it be duplicated with consistency, meet continuous standards, and be replicated in such a way that it can be produced and produced again without constantly being reinvented or adjusted?
○ Profitability; Does the SME or Start-Up have a profit/cost structure with potential and revenue opportunities to grow?
Why Participate?
The Prizes
Those who completed the intensive 3-month Incubation, are invited to join a demo day, where selected businesses will battle it out for $60,000 in cash prizes.
Startup Track
First Place
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Second Place
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USD
Third Place
$
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SME Track
First Place
$
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USD
Second Place
$
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USD
Third Place
$
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USD
About the Startup Roadshow
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ENTREPRENEURS TRAINED
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STARTUPS SUPPORTED
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JOBS CREATED
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INVESTED IN STARTUPS
Launched for the first time in 2018, the Startup Roadshow is the largest competition for Syrian and host country entrepreneurs based in the Middle East.
This year the Startup Roadshow includes a new online Entrepreneurship Bootcamp and Roadshow Incubation. Up for grabs is the chance to win business grants up to $15,000 each, intensive technical assistance, and to pitch your business to the region’s most important investors. Organized by Jusoor and SPARK, with the support of The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), entrepreneurs in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq, will be admitted to new online entrepreneurship trainings. The Startup roadshow is divided into 2 Phases. The first phase was the Entrepreneurship 101 Bootcamp (Jan-Feb, 2021) where 1000+ Entrepreneurs from across the Middle East participated in an online Bootcamp that prepared future founders with a comprehensive set of skills and techniques to launch a business in the region.
For the second stage, we will select 50 teams for a virtual incubation program with 3-months of training, mentorship and direct business services worth $60,000.
|CLOSED| Phase ONE: Incubation for 50 Startups and SMEs
Entrepreneurship 101 & Business Modeling
Customer Development and Validation
Marketing Sizing
Financial Planning: Cost, Income & Growth
Pitch Deck & Pitching
|Currently Open| Phase Two: Incubation for 50 Startups and SMEs
Legal and business registration support
Focusing on a team’s biggest challenges
Business developments and growth
Establishing clear priorities and a roadmap
Building investors pipelines
Pitch coaching and crafting a team’s story
Accessing new markets in a COVID-19 context
Innovative business solutions
Previous Participants
Shiffer
First winner at the Amsterdam bootcamp, won the first place at MIT’s Pan Arab Award for the Best Refugees Startup
Sharqi Shop
Won the first place for an EU Youth Award, and operates an online store selling handicrafts to customers around the world.
Q&A
Who is eligible to participate?
Entrepreneurs from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as Syrians living in those 4 countries, are eligible to participate.
Which online platform is going to be used for attending training?
Zoom. Participants will receive invite links after their admission to the program.
What if I get disconnected from a training due to internet connection issues? Would I have access to the training content afterwards?
Yes. Training sessions will be recorded and later uploaded to a dedicated YouTube channel.