The Journey of Orange Corners Baghdad 2nd Cohort
More than 20 Startups have joined the Orange Corners Baghdad Incubation Program in late September 2020, the program had some series of intensive training sessions that are tailor-made to fit the startups needs with various subjects including what the startup needs when it comes to establishing their own business.
The program included training about Business Model Canvas, Finance for startups and Accounting Sessions, Market Research and Market Fit, Branding and communication, People management as well as other important topics.
It also contained 1 on 1 mentoring sessions with experienced mentors that followed up with the startups to measure their progress and help them with their needs and suggest improvements that could develop the startup and make it penetrate the market. Masterclasses were another part of the program as they aimed to develop the startups and became a window through which the incubatees could see the real market. It's an opportunity to widen the scope of vision for the incubatees, by organizing masterclasses to discuss some very critical episodes.
The program also had a few events where general audience were invited as well as the OC startups themselves alongside some key speakers from large Iraqi corporates to discuss the role of large corporates in supporting startups and SMEs, those events always host +50 attendees at KAPITA large space outdoor where people from various background or institution (Local or International) join to be a part of this discussion.
One of the most important topics that the OC program seeks to improve and communicate through its channels is female entrepreneurship and female inclusion. An event was held online in Mid-March 2021 where it discussed a few important points related to females’ role in the Iraqi society and how they can become entrepreneurs with successful projects that aimed to improve the Iraqi ecosystem in general; this comes hand in hand with the Orange Corners main goal to incubate almost %50 of females to join the program. The event also discussed the following in depth:
The current support available to recent female graduates who would like to start their own business and how to encourage females to start their own projects.
The different forms of support given to women working in rural areas and especially in the agriculture sector.
How programs like Orange Corners Baghdad can facilitate and encourage women to start their business and to overcome the obstacles in our environment.
About Orange Corners Baghdad:
Orange Corner’s Baghdad is an initiative of the Dutch Embassy in Baghdad. The economic priorities of the Netherlands in Iraq are agriculture, water and entrepreneurship. KAPITA supports the community of young entrepreneurs in Baghdad by building youth capacity, and developing successful businesses. We incubate 20 startups for six months: starting with providing a co-working space, training and developing their business, events and masterclasses, a positive environment and an opportunity for investment.