Algeria Venture - Afrikan Heroes

Algeria Venture Launches A New $80M Innovation Fund With A Focus On Startups

January 26, 2023

A deal to establish the “Algeria Innovation Funds”, worth 80 million dollars or 11 billion dinars, was signed on Wednesday in Algiers by the Algerian public start-up accelerator Algeria-Venture and the international fund Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF).

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Knowledge Economy, Startups, and Micro-enterprises, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid, by the CEO of Algeria-Venture, Sid Ali Zerrouki, and the Director of Investments of SEAF, Hubertus van der Vaart.

In conformity with Algeria’s legal framework, this agreement enables the creation of an Algerian Innovation Fund as an investment organisation.

Speaking on the sidelines of this agreement’s signing, Mr. Oualid stated that “SEAF is one of the most significant investment funds in the world that is particularly interested in emerging economies,” adding that “the planned investment in this agreement signed with Algeria-Venture for the creation of Algeria Innovation Funds is to the tune of 80 million dollars.”

He elaborated, mentioning that the goal of his department and of Algeria-Venture is “to capture foreign capital, in particular for the financing of companies which have a strong potential for international growth.” “60 million dollars will be reserved for the financing of startups in Algeria, while the remaining 20 million dollars will be dedicated to financing the expansion of these startups internationally,” he said.

The Minister further clarified that the goal of this agreement is “above all to access through the SEAF network, the networks of different countries and quality support, in particular from experts from the four corners of the world,” with the hope that “cooperation with the United States and with SEAF will develop further and benefit the greatest number of Algerian startups.”

Mr. Van der Vaart stated in his speech that he had observed “a growing dynamic in the Algerian entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a significant potential of talents and skills in the field of engineering and technologies, which aspires to grow rapidly to show what Algerians are capable of” for the past two years, since the establishment of the Ministry of the Knowledge Economy and Startups.

Along with expressing pride in the deal he had signed with Algeria Venture and the ministry, the president of the American fund expressed his wish that it “will continue with strong cooperation between the two sides.”

According to Mr. Zerrouki, this convention would “represent a qualitative leap to improve the role of startups in national economic development” and “a big leap forward in the operation of attracting international investment to startups in Algeria, in many fields with strong growth potential.”

Being present in more than 30 nations worldwide and having more than 32 years of expertise in the industry, SEAF is one of the biggest investment fund managers in the world.

Algeria Innovation Fund Algeria Innovation Fund

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

Over 800 Startups Accelerated By Algeria Venture One Year After Inception

November 21, 2022

Algeria’s public start-up accelerator “Algeria Venture,” founded in 2021, has supported more than 800 startups, a statement from the accelerator said.

Salaheddine Sousou, spokesman of “Algeria Venture,” stated during an entrepreneurship event at the University of Oran 2 that Aventure had sponsored over 800 firms since its inception. The accompaniment translates into a follow-up from the idea’s conception to its fulfilment. It is also feasible to receive assistance with product promotion.

Following the introduction of two schemes for young entrepreneurs, the manager underlined the relevance of the accelerator. As a result, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has established “a diploma, a startup” alongside “a diploma, an intervention patent.”

The Scientific Research Department will design an awareness programme, according to the vice-rector of the University of Oran 2. The goal is to encourage entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in the academia.

Another initiative has been established by the line ministry. It explains how to prepare an end-of-study dissertation project in order to acquire a university starting diploma. The latter will include training programmes for aspiring businesses.

The goal is to prepare students for entrepreneurship by providing them with the essential knowledge.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

Algeria Venture Launches An Acceleration Program In Partnership With Google

April 27, 2022

In the presence of Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister responsible for the knowledge economy and startups, Algeria’s national startup accelerator “Algeria Venture” officially launched a startup acceleration program in partnership with the “Google for startups MENA” network on Tuesday in Algiers.

This program, dubbed “Boost Competencies Entrepreneurship (BCEP),” which has already promoted 14 startups from seven provinces across the country, aims to accelerate the growth of these startups by training and assisting them in acquiring and developing necessary skills through courses and workshops.

Oualid highlighted during a press conference held on the sidelines of the ceremony that this program enables startups to benefit from training provided by Google executives with the goal of increasing managerial and technological abilities.

According to Sid Ali Zerrouki, Managing Director of Algeria Venture, this program, in collaboration with the Google network for MENA startups, enables the provision of “quality training and effective acceleration with the support of pioneering international skills and expertise in the formation of world-leading ecosystems.”

“Today marks the launch of the inaugural campaign, which brings together 14 entrepreneurs operating in a dozen distinct sectors. New promotions will begin shortly with the goal of achieving 100 accelerated startups before the end of the year,’’ Zerrouki stated.

Salim Abid, the representative of Google responsible for the growth of the startup ecosystem in the MENA area, emphasized the computer giant’s support for Algerian startups “for several years.”

“At the moment, we’re interested in assisting all startups, project leaders, and students. We’ve trained approximately 100,000 project leaders and Algerian students over the last two years on the most cutting-edge technologies, from artificial intelligence to clouds (virtual storage), using the Android platform, in order to transfer the Google experience to these entrepreneurs,” Abid explained.

It’s worth noting that the program’s first promotion will focus on entrepreneurs operating in ICT, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, logistics, and education.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

Algeria Launches A National Startup Accelerator, “Algeria Venture”, Few Months After It Set Up A Startup Fund

March 3, 2021

Algerian government has launched a startup accelerator, “Algeria Venture”, barely five months after launching its first ever fund for startups. Located at the Parc des Grands Vents (Dounia Parc) in Algiers, the startup accelerator will be “the showcase” of innovative Algerian projects on the international scene, according to the country’s Minister Delegate for the Knowledge Economy and Startups, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid.

*Dounia Parc will be a major gamechanger in Algeria’s quest to alter its startup ecosystem. Image credits: Dounia Parc*

Here Is What You Need To Know

The new accelerator Mr. Oualid said, will operate according to the same management model as international accelerators. The accelerator will also be part of a network that will be woven across Algeria with other projects of the kind that are in progress in the East, West and South of Algeria.

Algeria Venture will also introduce, according to him, the concept of “Open Innovation” which will allow Algerian and foreign companies to “outsource” their innovation projects by taking advantage of products and services developed by startups in the area of interest to them.

The site for the new accelerator inaugurated in the capital Algiers can accommodate up to 30 startups for a period ranging from six to 12 months, said the minister, adding that calls for demonstrations will be “periodically” launched in order to select projects having strong growth potential and which would be “interesting” to integrate into the accelerator.

Mr. Oualid also said a little more than 300 companies between startups and innovative projects have been labeled, of which around ten startups have benefited from funding from the Algeria Startup Fund (ASF). He however highlighted the “accessibility” of the ASF which, in addition to receiving applications from project leaders who request funding, contacts startups to offer them funding.

A Country Greatly Supporting Startups In Recent Times

In December 2020, Algerie Telecom, Algeria’s state-owned telecom operator, unveiled new specifications for its calls for tenders. The new specifications would facilitate access of over 2,300 technological microenterprises to public procurement.

This followed the launch of the Algeria Startup Fund in October the same year. The launch was inspired by the statement of the President of the Republic, who during the meeting of the Council of Ministers held in January 2020, ordered the development of an emergency program for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular the creation of a special fund or a bank intended for their financing. Following that, Executive Decree 20–254 of September 15, 2020 creating the national committee for the labeling of “startups”, “innovative projects” and “incubators” was published in the last issue of the Official Journal, Tunisia’s national gazette.

Labelled startups and incubators in Algeria have also been the greatest beneficiaries of the country’s newly passed finance law. The 2021 Finance Act provides for changes in taxes (Tax On Professional Activities, TAP; and Value-added Tax VAT). Under the law, companies in Algeria with a startup label will be exempt from several taxes, starting with the TAP (tax on professional activity) and the IBS (tax on corporate profits. companies) for a period of 2 years from the date of obtaining the said label.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer