The Startups Without Borders Summit 2020, which will take place on November 14th, is setting off to connect entrepreneurs on the move to startup ecosystems from 3 continents. The hybrid summit will be broadcast all over the world from three separate stages in Amsterdam, Cairo, and San Francisco, featuring high-profile speakers including The Netherland’s Prince Constantijn van Oranje, who is also an Envoy at techleap.nl.
The summit, launched in partnership with Facebook, GoDaddy, GIZ Egypt, the University of Nyenrode, Hult International Business School, and AUC Venture Lab, will highlight the tools, strategies, and success stories for entrepreneurs to take the lead on digitalisation and adapt to “the new normal.”
“Nyenrode Business Universiteit was founded on entrepreneurship and the promotion of international business, that is why we strongly associate with the purpose of Startups Without Borders. Nyenrode was set up by renowned Dutch companies (including KLM, Shell, Unilever, Philips and AkzoNobel) right after WWII, to help rebuild the Netherlands. We also embrace the theme “Brave new world”, particularly in these unprecedented times with corona, strengthening our commitment to entrepreneurship by empowering ambitious refugee and migrant entrepreneurs with resources to grow their business. The joint purpose connects, the collaborative effort energizes!”, said Job Andreoli, Head of the Nyenrode Incubator in Amsterdam.
“The Startups Without Borders Summit recognizes that the way we live, work and shop has changed exponentially in 2020, paving the way for rapid digital growth and highlighting the importance of having a digital footprint for all businesses, large and small. We are excited to be participating in this Summit, as GoDaddy supports small business owners and entrepreneurs around the world to launch, build and grow their online brand presence, with easy to use and affordable tools and solutions.”, said Selina Bieber, Senior Regional Director, MENA and Turkey.
The summit also includes a never-before-seen feature: The Startup Country Tours. Through a series of immersive workshops, experts from around the world will guide summit attendees on how to have a more borderless experience starting and registering startups in four counties: USA, The Netherlands, Cyprus, and Estonia.
Each of these tours will see industry leaders, CEOs and strategist join the summit to offer a unique perspective on starting up across ecosystems that offer fertile grounds for startups. For example, Anett Numa, Digital Transformation Adviser at the e-Estonia Briefing Centre, will offer a virtual tour for entrepreneurs who want to become e-citizens and launch a businesses in the European country. The summit will feature Chris Neumann, Founder and CEO of Commonwealth Ventures, for a talk titled: “How to fundraise and extract expertise from Silicon Valley without actually moving here.”
Another often-overlooked European country that is a startup community secret is Cyprus, an affordable, safe, and idyllic business destination for companies operating in the MENA region and Mediterranean. Changelabs’ founder Karim Samra will be taking to the stage for this tour. The impact-centered startup accelerator Changelabs he has founded – and which operates out of Cyprus – has launched a one-of-a-kind startup registration package in partnership with local attorney and entrepreneur Demos Katsis.
Alongside talks, workshops, and panels with all-star speakers, the event will also host the Investors Room, in partnership with GIZ, Berkeley SkyDeck, Cairo Angels, AUC Angels and MedAngels. The Investors Room becomes a truly unique experience for any hopeful startup to have quality one-on-one conversations with investors, get feedback and insights.
Andreas Ruepp, Head of Project Access to Financial Services for SMEs, at GIZ Egypt said, “We believe promoting access-to-finance for aspiring entrepreneurs can address several issues facing refugees and migrants in Egypt. Through a holistic approach we aim to significantly increase financial inclusion especially during the current pandemic and the unprecedented times we live in.“ He went on to say, “We are happy to partner up with SWB on their great mission, and we hope this will contribute to the creation of better social and economic prospects for the Egyptian people in line with the Egyptian Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030.”
“AUC Venture Lab has gladly supported Startups Without Borders since the very beginning. Migrants are resilient and entrepreneurial by necessity and in this new normal, their resilience is what will help them survive and prosper as they create their new ventures. We are committed to work with those entrepreneurs to share the knowledge and support they really need.”, says Ayman Ismail, Director of AUC Venture Lab.
Among the speakers, the summit is featuring key figures in the startup and corporate landscape, including Ramez T. Shehadi, Managing Director of Facebook MENA, Lauren Maillian, CEO of digitalundivided, Christie Pitts, General Partner at Backstage Capital, Anja Monrad, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Dell Technologies, Roberto Croci, Managing Director of Microsoft for Startups MEA, and Tey El-Rjula, blockchain entrepreneur and author of The Invisible Son.
