500 Startups announces call for second cohort of Misk 500 Accelerator Program

North African startups looking for assistance from an acceleration programme are in for a treat, with the announcement of a second accelerator call in just days.

This, after Silicon Valley based incubator 500 Startups yesterday announced a call for applications to startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the second cohort of the Misk 500 Accelerator Program.

The 14-week programme, which is run in partnership with Misk Innovation (which falls under the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz’s Misk Foundation) kicks off in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on 1 September, with a demo day set for 3 December.

The US incubator’s regional fund, 500 Falcons, will invest $50 000 into each participating startup in exchange for seven-percent equity, 500 Startups said.

The 500 Startups accelerator will take on between 15 and 20 early-stage startups from the MENA region for the cohort.

Applications close on 26 July.

500 Startups will invest $50k in each startup that takes part in the Misk 500 Accelerator Program

The programme will offer mentorship and workshops that will have an emphasis on growth hacking techniques, product design, and fundraising.

To qualify applicants must be pre-seed and seed-stage tech startups based in the MENA region, with a product or service (MVP) or live beta.

Second call by Misk backed accelerator

It’s the second call for an acceleration programme in recent days.

Earlier this week Misk Innovation launched a call for a second Riyadh-based acceleration programme. Those startups selected for that programme will each score $100 000 in investment (see this story)

The US-based startup incubator said in a statement yesterday that the first cohort of the Misk 500 Accelerator Program consisted of 19 startups that took part in the 16-week programme in Riyadh.

It said participants included startups from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In all 37% of these companies had at least one female founder.

Startups interested in can apply here.

Read more: New Riyadh based Misk Innovation accelerator in call to North African startups

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