Tunisia's New “Arab Spring” Blossoms: … An Exciting Time for Startups

As a guy who travels the world, training startups and the people who coach and train them, I’ve sensed this before—a nation awakening to the opportunities entrepreneurship brings to their under-employed youth. I’ve seen it in Colombia, Mexico, Russia, Bulgaria, and much of Latin America, and was excited to see at least as much enthusiasm and a blossoming startup ecosystem on mission to, of all places, Tunisia, where I'm returning for "round two" soon.

 Even more exciting, things are rocking there…and they’ve asked me to come back next week and train 60 more coaches, mentors and educators, to continue spreading the tools, tactics, and tricks-of-the-trade in making the Customer Development method core to Tunisia’s growing, exciting early stage startup ecosystem.

 A few short years ago, Tunisia was reeling and from a horrible terrorist attack that led to the “Arab Spring.” That uprising brought fomented what has today become a thriving, democratic republic with an elected president. It’s ruled by two houses of Congress, with more than 20% female legislators—quite remarkable. 

 The first entrepreneurial spark seems to trace back only as far as 2013 when Cogite, the nation’s first co-working space, opened its small doors. When I visited “Startup Weekend Carthage,” in Tunis last year, I was thrilled to encounter nearly 200 young, bright-eyed engineers exploring Artificial Intelligence startups. Cogite is eerily housed in the former Iraqi embassy, complete with ballrooms, chandeliers and an outdoor swimming pool. Today it’s the first of many more co-working or incubator spaces. 

 Another great sign of “spring,” Flat6Labs, is itself a metaphor for what’s happening in Tunisia: the ground floor is a coffee shop/meeting space where teams can form and ideas can grow; co-working spaces fill the second floor, with many ideas formed below rising literally to the next step. Flat6’s incubator is on the third floor, with the fourth reserved for angels, VCs, and other investor and management offices. It’s truly the entire startup life-cycle, illustrated vertically, close to Tunis’ main train station and less than an hour away from more than a third of the entire Tunisian population! New incubators are opening almost every month, all over Tunis and beyond. It’s also the home of Columbia University’s Global Center. 

 Much of the startup propulsion is powered by Tunisia’s leading national bank, the privately-held BIAT (Arab International Bank of Tunisia), whose visionary CEO, Mohamed Agrebi, sets a bold example of startup ledership for other Tunisian institutions (and the government) will soon follow. It’s an ambitious, comprehensive program driven by the relentless team headed by Houda Ghozzi, Noomane Fehri, and a many more.

 BIAT provides financial, staff, and facilities support, including magnificent Incubator and meeting space housed in its new high-rise headquarters. BIAT also hosts offices for the powerful Endeavor accelerator, which last year opened its doors in Tunisia. BIAT and its B@ Incubator employs several extraordinary program leaders directed by bank VP Malek Ellouze, whose enthusiasm and energy to build the startup ecosystem is unstoppable.

 The next Giant Step Forward:

I’m heading back to Tunis to train more educators, mentors and coaches for the kickoff of “OST3,” or Open Startup Tunisia, the country’s nationwide startup competition. Columbia University’s Business and Engineering Schools together partner in helping drive the ecosystem and the competition, providing MBA mentors and educators to coach and advise the Tunisian startups. MBA coaches start work in Tunis later this fall, then head to Tunis to work directly with their teams in January, as they prep for the final competition. Along with them are Ivy Schultz, a leader from Engineering, and native Tunisian, Dr. Kamel Jedidi, Chair of the Business School’s Marketing Department and Director of the Columbia/Tunisia program.

 Crucial to any startup ecosystem is an investor base, and Tunisia is blessed to be AfricInvest’s home base. The 13 year-old multi-fund firm manages $1-billion invested in more than 135 companies throughout Africa, and is a prominent, ambitious supporter of Tunisian entrepreneurs. Last fall, AfricInvest and other investing leaders spent literally the entire weekend in the training program, led by their inspirational Senior Partner Khaled Ben Jilani.

Launching a Startup in Tunisia isn’t easy, and in fact is far more challenging than launching in Brooklyn, Menlo Park, or Moscow. The market is small. Currency restrictions make international business challenging, as do strict (but hopefully soon loosening) government regulations which are being adjusted quickly with passage of the nation’s startup friendly “Startup Act.” Digital marketing skills are relatively new to Tunisia, where 80+% of the country is wired for internet access. So there are no guarantees of future success in this startup of a startup ecosystem, just as there are no guarantees for the hottest startup in Menlo Park.

But there are lots of reasons to bet on the Tunisian “startup startup” success: the powerful emerging ecosystem, the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and people willing to help them, dedicated supporters like the BIAT Foundation and many more, and a team leading the ecosystem with the energy and drive of the finest Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Watch out, world…here comes Tunisia!