MENACatalyst’s 5th Startup Cohort Take London During London Tech Week
For its 5th startup cohort, nine MENACatalyst (MC) startups attended London Tech Week (LTW), one of the world’s leading startup and technology events, which took place between June 10-15. MC’s startup delegation included leading tech startups from across Palestine and the diaspora, which came in from San Francisco and New York City. MC’s 5th startup cohort included tech startups Safra, Coinbits, Arab Millionaire, Autiapp, Sebana Medical, and Quala.
The opportunity for startups to meet outside of Palestine, in an environment unique to them and their startup verticals offered them insights into the work that each are undertaking, but also paved the way for discussions around potential peer-to-peer collaboration, partnerships and a platform for knowledge-sharing that is normally hard to come by for startups operating within Palestine. Further, the amount of dedication and interest among US-based Palestinian-led startups to work with local startups to help them further reach their business goals proved equally noteworthy.
The events kicked-off with the first workshop tailored to the exploration of startup access to the UK market. The workshop involved discussions on the UK government's avenues for startups interested in setting up shop in the UK - highlighting different visa avenues, taxation, and other issues. The event followed with a practical fine-tuning startup pitch session with leading startup gurus from UK MENA Hub’s MENA Fund, who offered the startups insights on what a perfect pitch entails, whilst providing them with invaluable feedback on their business models and scalability potential.
The 2nd day for MC startups proved equally beneficial, with the first LTW event offering them the opportunity to meet with visiting Tech Crunch editor, Mike Butcher. Butcher previously met with tech startups from Palestine during his last visit to Ramallah years ago; during the recent meeting he noted how much the ecosystem has evolved since then. Later that day, startups participated in workshops dedicated to understanding how to do business in the UK, from proper advertising techniques geared to the UK market, to cultural differences startups could face while doing business in the UK: workshops also highlighted challenges they could face when doing business in the UK.
The next day, startups had the chance to strut their stuff at the Global Ecosystems Summit at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in London, which hosted tech startups from around the world. Startup exhibitions and attendance from corporates, startups, and investors meant that startups had the opportunity to meet with a range of potential business partners. Each startup was also had the opportunity to meet with potential investors interested in their work in GES’s one-on-one investor matchmaking sessions. Following the matchmaking sessions, startups went up on the event’s main stage to pitch their businesses to an audience of investors, and potential business partners who they subsequently met with during the evening’s networking session.
Startups also visited Level 39, one of the leading startup accelerators, in the heart of London’s financial district. This was followed by a meeting with UK MP Afzal Khan, who was excited to learn more about their ventures and the issues they face operating under dynamic political conditions.
The final day of the startup’s journey entailed a diaspora networking event hosted by the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. The event was featured on media outlets such as Al Arabiya and the Middle East Monitor. Finally, the last stop of the trip took the startups to West London where they met with Ambassador Hussam Zumlot to discuss their work and ways in which the Representative Office can cooperate with startups to create more room for business opportunities and linkages.
Overall, the events were a huge success, and full of invaluable networking opportunities, learning experiences and fruitful discussions with a range of stakeholders from the UK startup scene and beyond. The connections forged between participating startups will undoubtedly lead to enhanced peer-to-peer collaboration and life-long friendships.