Halcyon collaborates with US, Amazon to deliver program for MENA region impact business founders

Jordan

Published: 2022-07-06 10:54

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 21:00


Halcyon collaborates with US, Amazon to deliver program for MENA region impact business founders
Halcyon collaborates with US, Amazon to deliver program for MENA region impact business founders

On June 24, Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Halcyon announced the participants in its 2022 MENA Halcyon/AWS Intensive, a new program presented in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and local partner TTi Jordan. The cohort includes 27 startup founders from eight countries across the Middle East and North Africa representing 18 of the region’s most promising impact-driven businesses.

These new Halcyon Fellows are bringing innovative solutions to market for a wide range of issues, from clean water and affordable medical devices to sustainable food systems and access to education for disabled students. They join Halcyon’s network of over 300 fellows from around the world solving 21st century challenges through impact-driven business. From June 24-30, a residency for these fellows in Amman, Jordan will offer condensed programming culminating in a showcase event.

“Halcyon Fellows across the globe are solving 21st century challenges through business, and these 18 ventures are powerful additions to that network,” said Kate Goodall, Halcyon’s co-founder and CEO, and co-manager of the Halcyon Fund. “The MENA region is building back from the COVID-19 pandemic with ingenuity, innovation, and impact, and together with our partners and collaborators at the U.S. State Department and AWS, we are proud to be supporting that work.”

Halcyon’s intensive programming is designed to bring skill-building sessions, mentorship, coaching, and other resources to specific groups of founders – in this case impact founders from the MENA region. Because all these ventures are tech or tech-enabled startups, fellows in this particular program benefit from cloud credits and access to technical assistance from Solutions Architects provided by AWS.

Highlights of the residency period in Amman include sessions from Cairo Angels on investment readiness, a reception hosted by U.S. Embassy Amman, and fireside chat with Sari Hweitat, CEO of Xina AI. A culminating showcase event on June 29 will include pitches from all 18 ventures, as well as keynote remarks from His Excellency Ahmad Hanandeh, Jordan’s Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, and Special Representative Dorothy McAuliffe, U.S. Department of State Special Representative for Global Partnerships.

Special Representative McAuliffe said her Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. State Department is “proud to support the Halcyon MENA Residency program to address the secondary economic impacts of the pandemic and help us build back better in communities across the globe.”

Among the 18 startup ventures participating in the 2022 MENA Halcyon/AWS Intensive are:

  • Tunisia-based Sghartoon, a teletherapy tool using games and data as a tool for parents to detect signs of learning differences in their children. Sghartoon is the first and only provider of Arabic-language digital tools for therapists.
  • Jordan-based SOLVillion, developing a decentralized wastewater treatment system using safe, low cost, green and high-quality standards.
  • Lebanon-based Shabab Lab, a social innovation e-learning platform with a vision to become the Coursera for Arab youth, bridging the gap between the educational system and the needs of the 21st century.
  • Jordan-based Third Eye Solution, an end-to-end solution collecting factory data and using built-in analytics to improve efficiency and profitability using existing machinery.

Details for the other 14 participating ventures and biographies for all 27 founders are available on Halcyon’s website here.