Month: October 2021

Organon and Flat6Labs launch the Femtech Accelerator Program to help female-founded digital health start-ups, across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), succeed by providing support to build products, test market fit, and improve business models.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 26 October 2021: A global healthcare company with the vision of creating a better and healthier every day for every woman around the world, Organon, in partnership with Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm, launched the Femtech Accelerator Program to support female-led start-ups operating in the digital healthcare space in MENA. The partnership was signed in the Expo 2020, USA Pavilion, marking the launch of Organon in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. The partnership is the kickoff of the company’s vision to work closely with partners in the region to empower innovative women’s healthcare programs.

Commenting on the program, Susanne Fiedler, Chief Commercial Officer of Organon, said, “As a new regional healthcare entity with a commitment to advancing the health of women in this region, we are very excited to launch this program supporting female entrepreneurs. We know that investing in women has far-reaching benefits, reaping dividends for families, local and national communities, and economies. We will continue to listen to women’s needs to better understand the gaps and identify the right solutions for a better and healthier every day for her.”

Ramy Koussa, Associate Vice President at Organon MENAT, added: “COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation across industries, including healthcare. Due to restrictions on our movements and the strain on healthcare services globally, digital transformation has served as an important tool to enable both management of the coronavirus, as well as maintaining essential healthcare services. The future of healthcare is digital, and this accelerator program has been created to help facilitate that transformation in our region by delivering new and innovative digital tools to improve women’s healthcare. Organon is committed to building a company based on Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles and today’s announcement represents an important milestone in our commitment to working in partnership with key stakeholders across MENAT to advance women’s health”

 

 

 

Dina El-Shenoufy, Chief Investment Officer at Flat6labs, added, “Globally, both the current start-up landscape as well as the healthcare industry are male-dominated spaces. If we are to achieve greater gender equity, while supporting economic development across MENA, we need to do more to support female entrepreneurs and advance women’s healthcare. Our newly launched Femtech accelerator will meet this need and that of greater digital innovation in the healthcare space while demonstrating the importance of cross-industry collaboration to further the goals of female economic empowerment.”

Those start-ups selected to participate in the accelerator program will be female-founded and demonstrate that they can address unmet women’s needs in line with Organon’s mission to advance women’s health. Ten of the best start-ups will be invited to join the two-month intensive accelerator program following a selection process and receive support in turning their idea into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and securing venture funding.

Flat6labs will provide business and technical training and access to their local and regional partner networks. Participating start-ups will be connected to businesses, local and international experts, and access big data and new opportunities. Organon, meanwhile, will mentor participants, connect them with global industry experts, and provide access to their entire business network, including internal teams and external partners.

Cairo, Egypt. 11th of October, 2021.

Flat6Labs, MENA’s leading seed and early-stage VC firm and the manager of the most renowned startup programs in the region, celebrates 10 years of supporting startups and empowering entrepreneurs all over the region. Launched in Cairo in 2011 by the founders of Sawari Ventures, Flat6Labs has since expanded to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia, Beirut, Bahrain, and most recently Jordan. The firm is currently managing 8 seed funds across the MENA region with a total value amounting to USD 85 million, with over 25 institutional investors and limited partners.

“Since day one, Flat6Labs has been there to enable thousands of ambitious entrepreneurs to pursue their startups’ journey towards growth, by giving them an unparalleled opportunity to work with an expansive network that includes hundreds of business mentors, investors, and corporates. said Ramez El-Serafy, Flat6Labs’ CEO. “We’re extremely proud to be celebrating 10 years as we look back to our fruitful work with our institutional investors, partners, startups, and community. It’s only onwards and upwards from here.”

In the past decade, Flat6Labs has funded over 1,000 startups that have been vetted from over 23,000 applications, and more than 2,000 founders supported, 36% of them being female founders.

The firm’s regional network has more than 1000 mentors and coaches from all over the world, and 300+ corporate, governmental, and ecosystem partners. Currently, the Flat6Labs portfolio companies have thus far raised over USD 70 million in follow-on funding, and directly helped create more than 4,000 new jobs.

This milestone was marked with a grand ceremony that took place in Manial Palace last night. The event saw presence from all Flat6Labs offices across MENA, partners, startups, and mentors. The activities included panels with regional key opinion leaders, talks by Flat6Labs’ Limited Partners, and a celebration of Flat6Labs’ portfolio and achievements over the last decade.