Our Story
It was 2012 and Egypt was rising from the ashes of a revolution that was swiping across the Arab world. Yet, instead of finding the violence and radicalism that blasted through the tv screens back home, I found something I’d never seen before: the relentless, unstoppable grit of entrepreneurs re-building their nations, fuelled by nothing but the power of their ideas.
It was a revolution of hope. Inspired by their ingenuity and driven by curiosity, I began interviewing them and traveling across the region, from the Syrian border to the bustling capital of Lebanon, from the heart of Turkey to the hills of Palestine’s divided nation.
It was through these travels that I discovered an untold nascent startup scene that was springing beyond the Middle East; a scene made up of thousands of valiant entrepreneurs who were defying all odds to build businesses, all the while starting a new life.
They were migrants, they were refugees;
They were legends in the making.
Why was there no ecosystem where they could connect? Soon, what was initially an idea written on Facebook in 2018 became a platform supported by 35 volunteers from countries as far as Czech Republic, Lebanon, Iraq – most of them refugees and migrants who wanted to take the reins of the narrative around them. We didn’t want to give them an opportunity;
WE BELIEVE THEY ARE THE OPPORTUNITY.
In 2019, I migrated (for the third time) and relocated to Italy, in an effort to further our mission in Europe, a continent where migrants represent an untapped opportunity, a new market, and an entirely new narrative.
Because, while there is an unspoken hierarchy of passports, we believe that talent doesn’t have a passport.And we’re on a mission to unlock those talents, whose ideas hold the promise of a new innovative scene.
In 5 years since our launch, we’ve been fortunate to partner with some of the world’s leading tech companies and international organizations who share our mission, such as Facebook, GoDaddy, UNDP and UNHCR, and our Startups Without Borders Summit was selected as one of the world’s Top 60 Startup Events to follow.
Today, we work across Europe, the Middle East, and North America, to build a transnational, diverse startup ecosystem where entrepreneurs are not limited by their passports. A true ecosystem without borders.