The Forum aims to bring local and international organizations/companies, policymakers, government officials, entrepreneurs, experts, investors, VCs, businesspeople, CEOs of top corporations together to discuss how to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Azerbaijan, Eurasia and in all OIC Region and how to develop a new vision to support youth entrepreneurship. 

The two-day Forum will contain a series of fairs, panels, cultural events, exhibitions, networking sessions, round table discussions and workshops. The panel discussions will be based on the startup investment, youth entrepreneurship and development of the startup ecosystem.  

Startups will be selected from the following verticals:  

• Food & Agri-Tech 
• Green Industry 
• Fintech 
• Games and Applications 
• Environment & Renewable Energy 

• Smart Tech 
• Aviation & Space Tech 
• Logistic & Smart City 
• Robotics and AI 

In the context of the Forum, leading innovative international startups and SMEs will showcase their innovations for two days for high-level participants and will present their pitch decks to the global investors.  

Closed roundtable discussions are also planned with local & international investors, government officials and representatives of the youth focusing on economic empowerment of the youth in Eurasia, in OIC region and beyond for reaching sustainable development.  

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 

• Azerbaijan Investment and Youth Entrepreneurship Forum application is open to startups of the OIC Member States and Muslim minorities in Non-OIC Countries. 
• Aged between 18-35 

• Ability to communicate in English 

*Visa support, travel expenses, accommodation, and meals will be provided by the Organizing Committee 

 Important! Only selected participants will be informed. 

Deadline: October 25,2022

Apply Now: https://icyfdigital.com/EventF2/37

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The International Incubation Center produces quality and competitive entrepreneurs by using innovative global trends to adapt them to the digital age. The center focuses on enhancing youth empowerment, innovation, training, startup and entrepreneurial opportunities, and engagement in startup ecosystem building in OIC and beyond. IIC offers innovative solutions, distinguishing start-ups with two different programs as Pre-Incubation and Incubation.

Calls are made twice a year for training programs lasting 6 months. During this period, successful entrepreneurs will be provided with training and these training sessions will be supported by relevant events and summits. While entrepreneurs can benefit from International Incubation Center’s technological infrastructure and laboratories, they will also access the wide global network.

The services offered are:

• Fully enabled dedicated office space
• Workshops and training
• Consultancy services
• Mentorship and coaching
• Global networking
• International programs and the opportunity to attend investment summits
• Global funding and industry access

International Incubation Center will provide the start-ups with the opportunity to open up to the global market in the following verticals.

• Fintech
• Micro Mobility
• Sportstech
• Remote Working
• Games & Applications
• Robotic Delivery
• Cloudtech & DevOps
• Aggrotech
• Cybersecurity
• Edtech
• Big Data
• Smart Cities
• Spacetech
• Healthtech
• E-commerce
• Mobility Tech
• Nanotech
• Foodtech
• Insurtech
• Climate Tech
• Food Delivery
• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Biotech
• Smart Logistics
• Internet of Things (IoT)

Eligibility Criteria

• Entrepreneurs/Startups may be an individual or groups of individuals working towards the development of innovative products/ processes/ services and must have a scalable business model with a high potential for employment generation or wealth creation.
• Product/service can be developed or at the prototype stage (past ideation stage).
• The developed technology should be innovative and/or address existing market needs.
• Applicants clearly demonstrate business case, value proposition, and competitive advantage.
• Applicants should be self-driven, resilient, committed, and coachable.

Who Can Apply?

• Entrepreneurs/Startups who live in OIC countries will be the priority of the International Incubation Center (IIC) applicants.
• Applicants must obtain a minimum of six months of valid residence permit in Türkiye.
• Application is open to those between the ages of 18-35.
• Applicants cannot be members of more than one incubation center. Applications of those who have a membership in another incubation center will be rejected.

Important! Only selected participants will be informed.

This call ends on the 10th of July 2022 and invites all OIC youth to grab this opportunity.

For more information; incubation@icyforum.org

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H.E. Khandker Anwarul Islam, Cabinet Secretary, Cabinet Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. and H.E. Md. Akhter Hossain, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth & Sports, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was also present as the Special Guests at this programme and highlighted the role of digitalisation and knowledge exchange in fueling the development of OIC member states and observers.

The Ceremony was chaired by  H.E. Md. Azharul Islam Khan, Director General, Department of Youth Development of Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Government of The people’s Republic of Bangladesh who appreciated the selection of Dhaka as the youth capital of 2020 in the year that Bangladesh is celebrating the centenary of its founding father and the Golden Jubilee of its independence.

His excellency the chair speaker explained the aims of Dhaka ESEC. Dhaka Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp aims to create a platform to bring together successful IT start-ups from Bangladesh and other OIC Member States, investors, mentors, founders, governmental authorities, international institutions, ecosystem influencer, and sectoral partners within OIC global network. By training pre-seed/seed/early-stage startups, ESEC will increase their knowledge on the market, business model, and enhance their presentation, management and networking skills.

Furthermore, the training will build the capacity of start-ups, provide professional guidance, create global connections, improve decision making skills, and provide necessary training to improve employability skills.

Several stakeholders put huge effort in organizing this camp, the primary ones including OIC, ICYF, and several Ministries of Bangladesh: Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Department of Youth Development. Priority areas were distinguished as Smart Cities & Clean Tech, FarmTech, Smart Logistics (Micromobility & Delivery), EdTech, TravelTech and Cross Border.

More Information: Click here

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Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp Held at NSC

11 March 2021 | Thursday

The Opening Ceremony and Media Briefing of the Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp under Dhaka OIC Youth Capital 2020 was held on 11 March 2021 at the National Sports Council Auditorium. State Minister for the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Md. Zahid Ahsan Russel MP was present as the chief guest at the program. President of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) Taha Ayhan virtually joined the event as the guest of Honor. Cabinet Secretary of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Khandker Anwarul Islam and Md. Akhter Hossain, Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Government of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh were present as Special Guest. The event was chaired by the Director-General of the Department of Youth Development of Ministry of Youth and Sports, Government of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh Mr. Md. Azharul Islam Khan.  

Md. Zahid Ahsan Russel, MP announced the inauguration of the Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp which will be organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and said in his Chief Guest speech, “Bangladesh first joined the OIC under the visionary leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”.

“Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, the symbol of Bangladesh’s independence, was born in this historic month of March. It is our great pleasure as we are inaugurating this nice event Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp in this month” he added.

The Guest of Honor of the occasion, President of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) Taha Ayhan said, “The camp will provide young people with the training they need, professional guidance, global connectivity, decision-making skills, and performance development skills”.

Speaking as the special guest, Mr. Khandker Anwarul Islam, Cabinet Secretary, Cabinet Division, said, “The more advanced the nation is in the IT sector, the higher they are in today’s world.  In order to accelerate the ongoing trend of socio-economic development of our country, we need to involve more of our young people in the field of information technology”.

Speaking on the occasion, as special guest of the program, Md Akhter Hossain, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports said, “We are proud and happy to be able to organize this mega event on the joyous occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”.

The chair of the program was Mr. Md. Azharul Islam Khan, Director General, Department of Youth Development, he said in his speech that “By this competition, we want to engage youth with decision-making, ideas and innovations to build a resilient and sustainable future”.

The Muslim youths from OIC Member States and beyond will be eligible to participate in the “Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp”.  The competition will take place in two layers: Regional and International.  The Camp aims to create a platform to bring together successful IT startups, potential youth for job market from Bangladesh and other OIC Member States, investors, mentors, founders, governmental authorities, international institutions, ecosystem influencer, and sectoral partners within OIC global network. By training pre-seed/seed/early-stage startups, Entrepreneurship, Skills & Employment Camp will increase their knowledge on the market, business model, and enhance their presentation, management and networking skills.

Interested youths can register and find more information at: https://dhaka.oicyouthcapital.com/esec

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Bootcamp, a training camp for learning various types of skills. Bootcamps are short term, intense training sessions designed to prepare students for the practical reality of development. You can find full-stack boot camps, or those built for front-end or back-end development specifically. You can find UX/UI boot camps, data science boot camps, and a host of other intense trainings.

Startup Bootcamp

Startup bootcamp is a global network of industry-focused startup accelerators that provides investment and mentorship services. Startup bootcamp facilitates this mentorship-driven model by providing startups with essential tools during a 3-month accelerator program.

It was founded in 2010 and now operates globally with 20+ industry-focused programs in key locations including San Francisco, Amsterdam, Cape Town, Chengdu, Berlin, Dubai, Hartford, Istanbul, Rome, London, Melbourne, Miami, Mumbai, Mexico City, New York, and Singapore. The co-founders are Alex Farcet, Carsten Kolbeck, Patrick de Zeeuw, and Ruud Hendriks. Since launching, Startupbootcamp has accelerated over 600 startups of which 78% went on to receive funding. Startupbootcamp startups received an average of €582,438 in investment.

Development

Each Startupbootcamp accelerator programme selects 10 startups from more than 500 global applicants to receive mentorship from 150 entrepreneurs, investors and partners, €15,000 for living expenses, free co-working space and over €450,000 worth of partner deals. 

Programmes are primarily mentorship-driven. The volunteering mentors drive the startup acceleration over three months and often for months or years afterwards. Most of the volunteering mentors drop off however, so that there is a high turnover of mentors. This gives startups direct access to an international network of relevant partners, investors and mentors in their industry.

Alumni Growth Programme

Startupbootcamp continues to help the startups with intensive mentorship and finding new investors between 12 and 18 months after the end of the programme with their Alumni Growth Programme. Within the Alumni Growth Programme are the yearly Alumni Summit and Alumni CEO Summit where all 150+ alumni are invited to meet new investors, partners and share knowledge with each other.

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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Citi Foundation have co-created Youth Co:Lab as a platform for young entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through innovative business solutions.

The closing event of “Youth Co:Lab Bangladesh National Springboard Programme 3.0”, was organised by UNDP and Citi Foundation in association with the ICT Division on Thursday over a virtual conference to share the ideas of youths accelerating the implementation of SDGs through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship.

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Chairman, Board of Directors, Startup Bangladesh Ltd. NM Zeaul Alam, PAA, Resident Representative of UNDP Sudipto Mukherjee, Youth Co:Lab Bangladesh Govt. Focal and Managing Director Startup Bangladesh Ltd. Tina Jabeen and Citi Country Officer, Bangladesh N. Rajashekaran (Shekar) were present at the virtual ceremony along with other guests.

For the third consecutive year, Youth Co:Lab is working continuously in order to further the agenda of development and tackling SDGs.

This year the global pandemic has caused an unforeseen rise of unemployment in Bangladesh and entrepreneurship is key to tackling unemployment. During the event, top five teams were awarded in the event for their innovations as startup ecosystems from the 13 social enterprises. These startups participated in a 3-day virtual bootcamp, which was conducted by the experts from UNDP.

This year Amar Lab, Kotha, Liter of Light Bangladesh, Mechanic Koi and Releaf were awarded in the national dialogue event. These teams came up with excellent solutions with significant social impact at the community level for attaining the SDGs.

AmarLab is a health-tech startup, providing end-to-end diagnostic test service in Bangladesh, while Kotha is a feminist organisation tackling the culture of gender-based violence (GBV) through primary interventions, Liter of Light Bangladesh is a research-oriented social enterprise working on renewable energy lighting solutions. Mechanic Koi is an online platform that provides 360-degree vehicle solutions while ReLeaf is an urban gardening-oriented social business and platform.

“We’ve had an amazing journey with Youth Co:Lab. The learning was immensely important for us for that reason. AmarLab is so thankful for this remarkable event,” said Dr Shazzat Rahat Hossain, Chief Clinical Officer, AmarLab.

Prasenjjit Biswas (Munna), Co-founder and Chief Communication Officer, Mechanic Koi said, “In the last two days, we’ve learned so many insightful thoughts from our fellow mentors and participants about social enterprising, which will surely help us accelerate our start-up in a new path in this tough time.”

Team Kotha stated, “Kotha’s significant takeaway from the Youth CoLab Springboard Programme is entering the Startup Ecosystem of Bangladesh in such an incredible manner. Undoubtedly, it was an amazing opportunity of learning from the respected mentors as well as fellow entrepreneurs.”

N. Rajashekaran (Shekar), Citi County Officer, Bangladesh said, “We are constantly impressed by the innovation of our young Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and their endeavors in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenges.

Through Youth Co:Lab, we are working closely with the startups in order to harness their spirit and inspire them to reach new heights every day. Citi Foundation is proud to join this movement and work on solving some of the most crucial social and economic challenges.”

Sudipto Mukerjee said one cannot help but take note of the rapidly increasing numbers of youth led start-ups in Bangladesh, catalysed by Digital Bangladesh.

“To my mind, this is a clear signal that a large part of both the Covid response and recovery will be youth led and that if systematically supported with a more enabling ecosystem, will feed further into meeting the other development aspirations of Bangladesh such as LDC graduation and successful achievement of Agenda 2030.”

In the national dialogue, Citi and UNDP brought together government officials, private sector participants, NGOs, academia, social incubators, entrepreneurs and young business leaders, and youth participants to advance discussions and identify solutions for startup financing, business-to-business opportunities and actions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The post Citi, UNDP support young entrepreneurs to achieve SDGs in Bangladesh first appeared on Young Business Hub.

Startups Without Borders is pleased to launch its first summit, themed “Think Global, inside out,” which will be held at the American University in Cairo (Egypt) on the 8th and 9th of November.

Running under the theme “Building an international team for a global market”, the summit will host 3 tracks: Tech to Scale, Female Leadership, and Creative Economies, bringing international actors in the startup scene to the heart of Cairo, while gathering newcomer and Egyptian upcoming entrepreneurs to meet, network and hack their way to scale globally.

The summit is organized in partnership with AUC V-Lab, UNDP, and Facebook, and co-hosted by the Telling the Real Story Project – Facilitated by UNHCR to enhance intra-community dialogue, and will shed light on technologies to scale, female leadership, and impact investment, placing particular emphasis on refugee-lens investing and diversity as an asset for startups.

“If we look at unicorns in Silicon Valley, 55% of those $1 billion startups were created by at least one immigrant. 43% of Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants and their children. On the other hand, the tech ecosystem is missing out on a huge opportunity: it’s been reported that the tech industry today is losing an opportunity worth $400 billion due to its lack of diversity. As Egypt’s startups set off to scale globally, it’s time to build a strong ecosystem that capitalizes on diversity as an opportunity,” says Valentina Primo, founder and CEO of Startups Without Borders.

Held at the American University in Cairo (AUC)’s main campus, in front of the iconic Tahrir square, the summit will feature prominent international speakers, including Tim Docking, Managing Director of the Refugee Investment Network, (RIN), Anulika Ajufo, Investment Associate Principal at the Soros Economic Development Fund, and Hazami Barmada, founder of Humanity Lab and the Global People’s Summit.

Aside from inspirational speakers and international key players, the summit will get the entrepreneurs working hands-on, with a wide array of workshops for startups to refine their businesses, such as “The FinTech Toolkit: How can FinTech help a business go international?” that will be delivered by Startup Bootcamp.

The summit is not only calling on entrepreneurs, but also young talents looking to entering the gig economy. In partnership with the UNHCR-facilitated Telling the Real Story, the event will feature an immersive series of workshops on access to the creative industry, storytelling, content creation and branding, including “What makes a good startup video?” “How to create your own podcast” and “how to do storytelling that matters in 2020.”

The summit will also shed light on one of the main challenges migrant entrepreneurs face: funding. In partnership with UNDP, the summit will host a panel on Impact investment, as well as a discussion on Alternative Finance for startups, featuring Hassan Hijazi, who will land from San Francisco to showcase how crowd-lending platform Kiva is pioneering peer-to-peer lending at a massive scale, globally.

In partnership with MedAngels and AUC Angels, the Mediterranean Business Angel Investment Network, the summit will feature an Investment Track, for investors and the business community who are interested in the Impact Investment sector, featuring participants from angel investment networks from across the Mediterranean.

Besides, the Startups Without Borders Summit competition calling for impact-driven early-stage startups that are creating the future of the Middle East. The competition, run in partnership with AUC V-Labs, Falak Startups, Fekretak Sherketak, and PyramidBits, will select the most promising startups to pitch in front of the jury. Startups with migrant founders in the team are encouraged to apply.

Find out more and get tickets here: https://startupswb.com/summit/

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Adana hosted one of the most promising and inspiring events we’ve seen in Turkey – Startup Weekend For All: Leave No One Behind – a tiring but rewarding 54-hour marathon where aspiring entrepreneurs got to learn the ins and outs of starting their own companies. The event was organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Ministry of Industry and Technology and held as part of the EU-funded Turkey Resilience Project (TRP) in response to the Syrian crisis.
The two-year project, which has a 50 million-euro budget, aims to contribute to the economic and social resilience of Syrians and their host communities, and bolster national and local institutions struggling under the strain of stretched resources from overcrowdedness. The end goal of the “job creation” component of the project, which this startup weekend is a part of, is to create 2,000 jobs – 50% of which will be for Syrians and at least 40% for women.
The concept of startup weekends is nothing new, and gatherings have been held around the world since 2007; however, what made this particular event special was that it also brought together people of different nationalities, ethnicities and cultures – including Turks, Syrians and a Nigerian, to name a few. The participants spoke different languages and maybe even held different beliefs, but they united under one purpose and worked together to bring their business ideas to life.
Many confessed that they had prejudices about some of their teammates before they started working together but quickly realized these preconceptions were incorrect and were thankful to have the shared experience together.
By Sunday, the UNDP counted over 300 participants and 28 final teams who produced 68 new business ideas in the fields of marketing, accounting, health care, programming, environment, human rights, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as social cohesion, employment and refugee-related issues.
The range of problems the young entrepreneurs aimed to address, as well as the sheer number of brilliant ideas and projects the participants dreamed up, shattered even the organizers’ expectations – so much so that the jury decided to give out six awards instead of three.
Augmented Team, AkiTech, Data’s, Cashier, FreeKnees and the 7th Continent teams were awarded laptops and tablets for coming up with smart, innovative and affordable solutions to some of the globe’s most pressing problems. The 7th Continent team, whose members were all under the age of 13, earned the praise of attendees for being so environmentally conscious at a young age. FreeKnees, an AI-backed prosthetics project for war victims and the disabled, was also commended by the jury and lauded by other participants for its story of perseverance and strength.
Meanwhile, three other projects – 3S, TDEVR and DIA-BET – will receive crowdfunding, mentoring and networking support from Turkcell’s Arıkovanı (Beehive) initiative. 3S is a “smart shower system” that promises to reduce household water consumption and reuse wastewater; TDEVR is a VR headset and program designed to teach autistic kids in a more immersive environment and help them conquer their fears, and DIA-BET could become Turkey’s first domestically produced insulin pump for diabetics.
All of the teams who participated in the weekend-long event have been accepted into Bootcamp, which will be organized by the Adana Innovation Center. The 28 teams that made it to the finals will also be given the opportunity to hold one-on-one meetings with the KOSGEB Adana Provincial Directorate and benefit from the incentives and support it has to offer.
The program was attended by 18 prestigious mentors, who not only motivated the students but also asked a lot of tough questions to challenge them to exceed their goals.
Two names took the helm in training. Adana Entrepreneurship Center Manager Serap Urunga gave participants business model training while Patrick Bosteels, a certified instructor and mentor with Google Startup Weekend and the co-founder of Stage Co., provided mentoring and pitching and process management training to participants, mentors and jury members.
The selection of panelists for “Inspiring Speeches” was also spot-on. IBM Executive Vice President İhsan Müderrisoğlu, StartersHub Partnership and Mentorship Relations Manager Günce Onur and Boğaziçi University Businesspeople Alumni Association Chairman Murat Ülman shared with the audience their experiences with technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, while the head of the Productivity Applications Department of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Mustafa Kemal Akgül, and Keiretsu Forum Turkey General Manager Duygu Eren gave guidance and advice to participants on how to become true entrepreneurs.

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Tech companies are not slowing down their ecosystem activities because of the Covid-19 induced lockdown and restrictions. Western Digital joins the list of companies in India helping startups working during these times to solve niche problems. “Data innovation programme is Western Digital India’s idea of enabling a confluence of data, entrepreneurship, and innovation. This edition of Data Innovation Bazaar focused on three different themes across sectors, for which we received 963 applications,” says Supria Dhanda, vice president and country manager, Western Digital India.

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The program was designed for attendees who wanted to take their business to the next level and for those with a business idea who needed to develop a business plan. The program was structured with pre-work assignments for each session and included a series of lectures and discussions with breakout rooms facilitated by the instructors. Ten instructors – some with extensive corporate backgrounds and some entrepreneurs – included Penn State Lehigh Valley faculty members, LaunchBox Advisory Board members and a representative from Penn State Entrepreneur Law Clinic.

All participants were encouraged to apply for Penn State Lehigh Valley LaunchBox grants which will be awarded during Factory’s StartUp Lehigh Valley Virtual Pitch competition on Nov. 18.

“Our first bootcamp program was exciting because many of the participants that completed the program garnered enough information so they could confidently pitch their business to investors. We intend to continue offering this free program annually, and possibly twice a year, as part of the resources the LVLB can bring to entrepreneurs in our community,” said Annette Durnack, director of business development, Penn State Lehigh Valley.

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