Misk Accelerator powered by Plug and Play Graduates Cohort 2 Startups

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, June 29, 2022 - Misk Accelerator, powered by Plug and Play, hosted their Demo Day as part of Cohort 2 Startups at their new location housed in the City Hub located in Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City.

The Misk Accelerator received more than 700 applications from across the MENA region since the launch of Cohort 2 in early March. Twenty startups from a variety of sectors including fintech, health, and e-commerce were shortlisted by the Misk and Plug and Play teams to participate in a 12-week non-equity-based seed-stage accelerator that offered mentorship, resources, and business-building tools to support their growth plans in Saudi Arabia.

“Misk Accelerator Demo Day,” the official finale, welcomed over 300 attendees to witness the 20 Cohort 2 Startups pitches. The program included keynote addresses by the Misk Foundation – Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Badr AlBadr and Chief Program Officer, Eng. Omar Najjar – and “Building a Unicorn,” a fireside chat by Maximilian Tayenthal, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of European fintech startup “N26” as well as Mohammed Aldossary, Co-Founder & CEO at Sary,one of the Kingdom’s leading B2B platforms.

“It has been an amazing journey with our friends from Plug and Play,” said Eng. Omar Najjar, Chief Program Officer of Misk Foundation. “We believe our ongoing partnership will only strengthen the bridge between Riyadh and Silicon Valley to the benefit of our startup ecosystem, and will ultimately be a catalyst for our economy. We are excited and proud to see our local ecosystem flourish and grow through programs like the Misk Accelerator powered by Plug and Play.”

Henrik Baerentsen, Program Manager at Plug and Play Middle East was also enthusiastic about the success: “We are extremely excited and humbled to be here in Saudi Arabia,” said Baerentsen. “The excitement, energy, and potential are second to none. Our incredible partnership with Misk Foundation has seen the Misk Accelerator powered by Plug and Play become one of the leading programs not only in Saudi but in the region. The impact and empowerment created through the program are perfectly exemplified by our first batch of 20 startups that were a part of the first cohort that ended in early December 2021. They were able to hire more than 600 employees in less than 6 months post-graduation. We truly look forward to continuing supporting the ecosystem and our local startups in their journey.”

With the Cohort 2 cycle coming to an end, the Misk Accelerator powered by Plug and Play will welcome the 20 Cohort 2 startups into their alumni network to further support their growth plans locally and globally.

To apply for the Cohort 3 of the Misk Accelerator powered by Plug and Play, visit https://hub.misk.org.sa/programs/entrepreneurship/misk-accelerator/ for more information.