Viaka Newsletter: Pitch event held by Viaka and Flat6Labs Tunisia deemed a success!
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Hi everyone! This week, we’re highlighting an event co-hosted by Flat6Labs Tunisia and Viaka. Enjoy!
On October 19th, Flat6Labs Tunisia and Viaka co-hosted an exclusive 2-hour virtual pitch event that put 8 promising, early-stage Tunisian startups in front of five investors from Viaka’s network.
Flat6Labs is MENA’s leading seed stage VC platform, and manager of the most renowned startup programs in the region. Flat6labs launched in Tunisia back in 2017 to provide Tunisian entrepreneurs with all the resources they need to develop, grow, and scale regionally globally.
The eight participating startups - Kumulus, WeMove, Kinko, Konnect, Evadam, Wantotrip, Kamioun, Fabskill - work in a wide range of exciting industries, including climate tech, fitness, payments, security, travel, retail, and talent. All were accelerated as part of Flat6Labs Tunis Seed Program, which has supported more than 70 startups in the past 5 years.
Souhail, the co-founder and CEO Evadam, shared afterwards that "the Pitch Night event was smooth - The investors were familiar with every business, and the feedback on how to do better was valuable. From our side, it was a win."
Viaka is a network-access platform connecting MENA startups to capital, expertise, and talent in the “West,” paired with a digital network for global startup professionals to connect with each other & promising MENA startups.
The investors, sourced from Viaka’s digital network, ranged from successful founders-turned-angel investors, to venture capitalists. Saad Hasan, a Principal with Sturgeon Capital had some positive feelings about the startups after the event. "I think there are some real gems that can really build out great regional businesses."
The event captured the potential that both Flat6Labs and Viaka see in Tunisia’s startup ecosystem. Tunisia is ranked 19th out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s Starting a Business Index, plus the country’s ICT sector, which represents 7.5% of its GDP, has created over 100,000 jobs (with over 7,500 jobs created per year).
Faten Aissi, the Associate Director of Flat6Labs Tunisia said:
"Our first collaboration with Viaka was extremely valuable; the diversity of the feedback of the investors was extremely insightful for the entrepreneurs.
The fact that Viaka's network of investors are diaspora brings the level of engagement and the willingness to support and help the founders to another level and we are sure at Flat6labs that this is just the beginning of a fruitful and long-lasting collaboration."
Promising Opportunities from Our MENA Partners
Click here to view list of opportunities curated from the Viaka’s MENA partners.
If you would like to get involved with any of the opportunities, please fill out the form below and indicate what opportunity you are interested in in the “Reason for Joining” section.
Exciting Announcements From Our Network
Below is a list of updates, wins, and asks emanating from members of the Viaka Network in the “West.”
TechWadi is hosting their for Annual Forum. The day-long event will take place on November 12th in San Francisco. Viaka Network members get discounted tickets. Sign up for our network below and ask for the code!
Al-Kindi Club is hosting Hisham Al-Falih, Co-Founder & CEO, Lean Technologies on Tuesday, 8 November, from 19:00-20:30 at The Mosaic Rooms in London.
If you’re a member of our Network and would like to share your own update next week, email info.viaka@gmail.com or submit an update via this form.
That’s it for this week. Thank you!
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