The Algerian Startup Financing Fund, which has been operational for a year and was officially launched during the National Conference of Startups “Algeria Disrupt 2020,” has raised DA1 billion ($7.2 million) to fund innovative startups.
On the sidelines of the National Conference on Startups in Constantine, Algeria’s commercial nerve center, Yacine El Mahdi Walid, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in Charge of the Knowledge Economy and Startups, said the fund will be “increased upwards according to needs and requests.”
Walid further stated that additional funding for “prototyping activities” will be forthcoming.
The funding is aimed at “founders who have not yet created their Startups,” Walid said, adding that “the Algerian state, through various support measures dedicated to the promotion of Startups, aims to develop financial inclusion for a better mobilization of financial resources.”
“Building a knowledge economy necessitates the transfer of a material economy to an intangible economy,” the Minister Delegate emphasized, noting, however, that the fund “does not” follow the traditional approach of employment assistance schemes, but instead goes to startups by way of equity investments.
According to Walid, easing access to funding for innovative startups will allow these businesses to take advantage of financing options other than the usual ones.
He, while referring to “co-financing (funds and banks) as a method of supporting innovative enterprises,” added that “facilities have been offered in partnership with the Central Bank for the export of startup services, notably in the sector of the digital economy.”
