About Us
We envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions, regardless of their passport. We invest in this future by inspiring, connecting, and backing some of the most overlooked founders today: newcomer entrepreneurs.
By supporting early-stage founders, strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems, and creating direct pathways to capital and markets, we turn untapped potential into scalable businesses that generate economic growth and drive innovation in host communities.
Driven by partnerships with 500+ world class corporations, investors and international organizations, our ecosystem brings together capacity-building, an investment network, world-class events, and educational media to drive job creation, foster economic resilience, and promote inclusive growth in 15 countries.
Our work goes beyond individual founders. We shift the systems that determine who can access capital and opportunity, bridging the private and public sectors to create durable pathways for globally experienced entrepreneurs. The impact compounds as founders scale, create jobs, and contribute to shared prosperity across both newcomer and host communities.
WHY CHOOOSE US?
A UNIQUE CROSS-BORDER NETWORK
With over 20,000 entrepreneurs, 700 mentors and investors, and 500 partners from the private and public sector in 15+ countries, our network functions as market infrastructure, enabling founders to access funding, partnerships, supply chains, and international markets. By bridging fragmented ecosystems, we reduce information asymmetries and accelerate the integration of underrepresented entrepreneurs into mainstream economic systems.
OUR SYSTEMS CHANGE APPROACH
Our multi-layered ecosystem integrates capacity building, capital access, network activation, localized engagement, and information dissemination into a coherent infrastructure model. Rather than delivering isolated interventions, our 5 interconnected platforms reinforce one another and generate compounding value over time, enabling newcomer entrepreneurs to access capital, markets, and opportunity.
AN EVIDENCE-BASED MODEL
Evidence shows that migrants and refugees are highly entrepreneurial yet face disproportionate barriers to capital, markets, and institutions. By enabling access to these systems, our model converts entrepreneurial activity into measurable economic outcomes aligned with international durable solutions frameworks, driving revenue growth, job creation, and long term resilience for communities and economies alike.
The Story behind Startups Without Borders
In case you don’t know me, I’m Valentina Primo, founder and CEO. I’m Argentinian, a journalist, and a migrant.
Growing up in Argentina, the world felt too large and too far for me to take on. It was through newspapers and movies that I got to learn about the Middle East, a region that, in the distance filtered by mainstream media, appears as a land where there is only desert, camels, and war.
Founder Stories
Hadeel Galal
Hadeel Galal was 23 years old when war broke out in her home country of Sudan. Having to leave her promising path in banking, she resettled in Cairo and decided to start over supporting her mother’s sewing project. Through the Refugee Launchpad Program, she launched an e-commerce platform for her business Hadeel Designs, expanding her reach and increasing profits by 1,513%. Today, Hadeel is growing her brand with the support of our network of mentors and partners, aiming to grow her brand.
Khaled Megahed
Khaled moved from Egypt to Italy 10 years ago but, despite having many entrepreneurial ideas, he never found the opportunity to turn them into a business. After taking part in the Diversity Innovation Days program, he launched Parko, a startup that leverages AI and IoT to transform urban mobility. Today, he has started partnerships in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, signed agreements with 5 Italian universities, completed a PoC with Enjoy, Italy’s largest car-sharing platform, and is planning Parko’s implementation with the Rome city council.
Yasmeen Darwish (Lebanon)
Inspired by electricity cuts in Lebanon, Yasmine Darwish founded DonaLeb, a startup that unites people, businesses, and nonprofits through virtual fitness challenges to drive collective social impact. After taking part in the Startups on the Move Incubation Program, she engaged over 140,000 users and 52 companies, won the World Summit Awards 2022, and secured $500,000 in investment. She has also been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 for Social Impact.
Our Program Champions
Digital Skills training for 1,500 Entrepreneurs with Meta
In partnership with Facebook, we launched the Boost With Facebook program, an intensive training program designed to support 1,500 migrant and refugee entrepreneurs in MENA and Europe through teaching them how they can boost their business and reach more customers through Facebook.
Incubation program: 130 Startups On The Move with Google
In partnership with Spark and Google, in 2022 we launched the Startups on the Move Incubation program, training 130 refugee and local entrepreneurs to go from idea to business in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. As part of the program, we held 3 networking events in Ramallah, Beirut and Erbil, gathering over 250 entrepreneurs, ecosystem players and investors and a final Pitching event in Amsterdam with a $1o,000 final cash prize.
Advancing Impact Investment with UNDP
Leveraging on Startups Without Borders’ focus on impact-driven business, a multi-year partnership with UNDP Egypt was established, aiming to increasing awareness and advocacy on the SDGs, as well as the importance of impact investment and impact management in the context of the startup landscape. The partnership involved with thought leadership instances and capacity building with intermediary organizations, investors, and stakeholders.
Hackathons for refugee and local entrepreneurs in Italy
In partnership with the American Embassy in Rome, we hosted the “Diversity Innovation Days” program. The initiative aims to foster entrepreneurship and innovation among young migrants in Rome through a series of hackathons to equip 200 migrants, refugees, and local Italians with the skills to build their entrepreneurial projects.
Digital Skills training for 500 entrepreneurs with GoDaddy
Start & Grow Online with GoDaddy program is an intensive training designed to support migrant and refugee entrepreneurs from the MENA region through teaching them how they can boost their business online by building their websites. The training aims to take entrepreneurs, as well as aspiring entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities, through a journey to start, improve and expand their business
Mobile-First Skills for African Diaspora Entrepreneurs with Meta
In September 2021, we hosted the event “Boost with Facebook bil Mobile, Diaspora edition,” in partnership with Boost with Facebook. The event was streamed live from London and trained Arabic-speaking entrepreneurs in the diaspora on digital skills.
Boosting Female Entrepreneurship with Hivos
Driven by the effort to effectively support female entrepreneurs in the MENA region, we partnered with Hivos to design the Female Founders Track at the Startups Without Borders Summit, featuring panels and worshops with some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the region.
Mentorship & Awards for EdTech Startups in MENA
In September 2021, we partnered with Spark to host the Edtech Startup Competition in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. The competition gathered 660 applications, and supported 50 startups by refugees and locals with a mentorship program, connecting them to mentors from Europe, North America, and MENA for 3 months.
MEET THE TEAM
Valentina Primo
Hussein Mehanna
Evelyn Pereira
Ramona Bajema
Farah Rehan
Nader Aljorf
Mary Sherif
Abdallah Adel
Rokaya Abdel Rahim
Farah Khalil
Amr Mohsen
Ameer Elsherif
OUR CORE VALUES
Optimism
Because we believe there are new realities in the making. And we want to support those shaping them.
Empathy, not Sympathy
Because we don’t want to give them an opportunity; we believe that they are the opportunity.
Respect
Because we want to change perceptions. Because it’s time migrants are seen not as job seekers but job creators; not at technology consumers but innovators.
Diversity and Innovation
Because if we all think the same way, then no one is thinking.
OUR international PARTNERS
