EMERGING Mediterranean has announced its inaugural springboard programme to accelerate Mediterranean Tech For Good leaders at the Summit of the Two Shores, initiated by French president Emmanuel Macron.
During the “Bootcamp of the Two Shores”, organised between France and Morocco, 10 promising start-ups will come together for a seventy-two-hour-training camp. Five of them will then be selected by a jury during the EMERGING Mediterranean digital conference on December 7, 2020.
The 5 will win the support of the EMERGING Mediterranean programme and get a place on the prestigious Social Inclusive Business Camp programme (SIBC).
There will also be the EMERGING Valley international summit on April 7 and 8 at the Palais Pharo in Marseille where they will meet international digital stakeholders and investors. Mediterranean programme is part of the Digital Africa dynamic – a presidential initiative to support inclusive development with innovations designed across Africa.
EMERGING Mediterranean was created in the wake of the SIBC programme (designed and funded by the French Development Agency – AFD) to identify, accelerate and raise awareness about digital Tech For Good gems in the Mediterranean, enhance their impact, highlight their success models and, ultimately, help make their societies more resilient. The initiative is financially supported by the French Development Agency and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
The Maghreb – the land of digital innovation and resilience
“EMERGING Mediterranean builds on the history and legitimacy of EMERGING Valley between Europe and Africa and aims to enhance the impact of Tech For Good in the Mediterranean by identifying the leaders of tomorrow and providing them with solid backing. The programme will showcase entrepreneurs from northern Africa who develop positive solutions and strengthen their societies with their commitment to e-Health, territorial resilience, agritech, climate, mobility and social and financial inclusion,” explains Samir Abdelkrim.
EMERGING Mediterranean has been implemented in 5+5 countries from northern Africa (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia), is supported by a network of operational field partners who are all involved in these countries.
The Bootcamp of the Two Shores: three days of collective intelligence and a digital conference at the Stade Vélodrome to discuss Tech For Good in the Mediterranean and select the five EMERGING Mediterranean 2020 laureates.
The Bootcamp of the Two Shores will launch the first ever EMERGING Mediterranean summit from November 27 to 29, 2020, between Marseille and Morocco, in partnership with the Start-up Factory in Casablanca. The event will promote open innovation between start-ups, researchers, institutions and major accounts with a series of conferences and hybrid activities combining live webinars and off-site workshops between start-ups, a dozen mentors and highlevel experts.
It will also serve as a basis for Tech For Good and Positive Innovation advocacy that will be unveiled during the EMERGING Valley Summit on April 7 and 8, 2021.
The Bootcamp of the Two Shores will also hold unique coaching sessions between the start-ups and our experts. This intensive course will end with a pitch competition where 10 start-ups will be selected to participate in the EMERGING Mediterranean digital conference on December 7, 2020 at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille in a new format that combines face-to-face and digital presentations. Besides high-level plenary sessions and workshops, the EMERGING Mediterranean conference will host the final of the pitch competition in front of a prestigious jury made of representatives from the French Development Agency (AFD) who will select the 5 winning start-ups.
EMERGING Mediterranean is working with partners such as the Start-up Factory (Morocco), the Juinor Chamber of Commerce of Mauritania, Expertise France (Tunisia and Libya), the Algerian Confederation of Citizen Employers, Connect’Innov (Tunisia), the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and the Mauritanian incubator Hadina RimTIC.
Acceleration and scaling-up
EMERGING Mediterranean laureates will each be awarded a €7000 grant, a twoday Full Pass to EMERGING Valley, a Demo Day in front of a panel of investors and an invitation to participate in the Mediterranean Digital Dialogues.
Entrepreneurs have until November 20, 2020, to submit their application to the EMERGING Mediterranean programme at the following link: