ABSIX.0 developed KPIXO, a platform for industrial manufacturers that enables them through data capture and analysis to identify and exploit all opportunities for improving their performance. ABSIX.0 provides this platform to its customers and additionally provides them with data processing and analytics services.

Their main organizational goals are to:

• Increase market shares and revenues from KPIXO by partnering with consultants to offer their products to industrial organizations and build an effective communication campaign through social media;
• Build a high performing team by retaining team members and attracting other talented employees, improve the team’s skillsets and management’s leadership; and
• Innovate and improve KPIXO through developing new features and integrating artificial intelligence (AI).

ABSIX.0 joined CEED Morocco in December 2020 to participate in one of the programs, and then in January of 2022, they decided to join CEED Morocco’s Tangier Chapter. “As young entrepreneurs,” Amellah and Bourouayel noted, “we have personally been able to integrate into a community of peers and benefit from useful and effective mentoring thanks to CEED. For the sake of our company, the support of CEED was decisive for access to financing and aid from state agencies.”

For ABSIX.0, the most significant part of the CEED programing and their chapter involvement is connecting with experts and experienced entrepreneurs, giving them access to informed advice and helping them gain new clients.

As with so many entrepreneurs around the world over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic affected ABSIX.0, as their target customers had to delay their investments plans, slowing down development, as ABSIX.0’s financial resources were insufficient to cover costs.  ABSIX.0 had to severely limit recruitment and rely on temporary resources and interns. CEED supported them during this time by accompanying them when applying for aid and grants, which were dedicated to business support from local governmental agencies.

ABSIX.0 has always sought to have a flexible organization with agile and flexible processes, and the pandemic prompted them to systematize this flexibility: “the processes are simple, and the structure of the company is not rigid, which makes it possible to make decisions quickly and thus to adapt quickly.”

After navigating the effects of the pandemic, ABSIX.0 has crafted a reliable solution and has won its first customers and is now looking to grow. “We plan to integrate acceleration programs for start-ups,” Amellah and Bourouayel said, “and we would like to raise funds to continue our development (product, sales & marketing internationally).”

When asked what is one thing that entrepreneurs need to know right now, they stated, “They must confront their idea with reality! Start by talking about it… And not just to friends and acquaintances, who will always find everything we do ‘very interesting.’ Before investing too much time and money, we need feedback, opinions, and opportunities for improvement from outsiders: networks of entrepreneurs and future users who do not know us.”

By providing knowledge, tools, and networks, CEED fosters such a robust sharing culture for our entrepreneurs, built on openness and trust, resulting in the revenue growth of businesses, employment generation, and international reach.

The post CEED Morocco Entrepreneur Spotlight: Tangier Tech Firm ABSIX.0 appeared first on CEED.

This event featured CEED Slovenia members who are practicing the principles of sustainability on a daily basis. The speakers included:

• Matej Čer, a founder of Avantcar, a pioneer of electric mobility in Slovenia and Croatia;
• Tilen Travnik, a founder and CEO of Juicy Marbles, a venture-capital-backed startup and a YCombinator alumni, that develops and produces plant-based gourmet steaks;
• Matej Feguš, a founder of Donar, a sustainable furniture company and one of the first companies in Slovenia with a sustainable strategy integrated into their business; and
• Martin Hladnik, a founder and CEO of IQWood, a company developing and producing sustainable wooden structures for eco-friendly houses without adhesives, chemicals, or metals.

Matej Čer pointed out that “entrepreneurs need to understand sustainability to an even greater degree, because we are the ones who can transform our society. Sustainability is more than just behavior; it is also our defence—so everything does not collapse overnight. It’s important to integrate sustainability into everything we do: sales, distribution, how we operate, as well as into the business model.”

Tilen Travnik agreed, noting that “sustainability for me has two levels. The first one is an external one—sustainability integrated into our products, principles, and business models. The second one is internal sustainability—how to organize a company in a way that prevents employees from burning out.”

For Matej Feguš “sustainability means developing for the long-term. As a company we are zero-waste, carbon neutral; we are a good example of a circular economy and have a 6-hour workday. There are many guidelines and solutions for how to make your company more sustainable, but it all starts with you.”

During the conversation, Martin Hladnik brought up that “one thing is developing a sustainable product. But the second one is as important: what kind of materials, resources, and processes are integrated into the company. How can I educate my customers; how can I educate my suppliers? All these together bring a sustainable story. Any founder can look into what kind of mistakes he’s making and think about how to correct them in a more sustainable way. This could be your first starting point to a more sustainable path.”

The speakers all agreed that if we can transform the industries that are polluting the most—transportation, agriculture, and construction—then we can move together faster towards a better future!

They also gave recommendations on how a business can become more sustainable:

• Small steps every day: it is so much easier to be unsustainable.
• Educate externally and internally: all employees need to believe in the company’s sustainability.
• Employees should be involved: they can come up with suggestions that can bring you closer together as a team.
• Innovation: you can find sustainable opportunities at every step.
• Process overview: find out where you make the most mistakes and start there.
• Monitor regulations: today, sustainability is still more expensive, but regulations will support it and regulate it soon.
• Build defence: sustainability brings you stability against the major changes in your industry.

In the words of Matej Feguš, “you will design your company for the rest of your life, so do it in the best way you can—in a sustainable way.”

The post In the Future, Sustainability Will Be Integrated into Every Company appeared first on CEED.

As one of the main drivers of disruption, especially in the time of COVID, the MEPI Fintech Catalyst Program has been reshaping the financial services industry in the MENA region by facilitating the creation of new solutions and services and seeing the rise of emerging new technologies, without the restrictions typically associated with traditional banking.

For the last year and based on the recent CGAP (Consultive Group to Assist the Poor) report, Morocco has been the third largest fintech hub in the Arab world, hosting 13% of all 400 active fintech solutions, or about 40 fintech solutions. Due to our partnerships with MEPI and the US Department of State, CEED Morocco has been one of the leading actors operating in Morocco and supporting Moroccan fintech by offering tailored support and bridging the challenges faced by private sector companies and banks and the needs of fintech startups with innovative solutions.

During the implementation stage of the first cohort in Morocco in 2019, and after many weeks of discussion and negotiation, CEED Morocco successfully engaged Attijariwafa bank , a leading banking and financial group in North Africa, WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) and EMCCA (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) that for many years has played a decisive role in the modernization of the Moroccan financial sector, making its mark on the national economy and its industrial fabric. Attijariwafa bank joined the program as one of four banking and financial institution partners. This first cohort would focus on challenging topics for startups such as building an innovative solution that supports the distribution of credits to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on social networks and digital channels to promote financial inclusion, and building a digital platform to strengthen the commitment and motivation of bank employees in order to better serve the banks clients.

Fintech Catalyst First Cohort 2020 – Building a Successful Partnership

Initially during the first cohort, Attijariwafa bank was skeptical about the success and added value of CEED’s fintech catalyst approach and the reliability of the support that CEED would offer to Attijariwafa bank and its beneficiaries. Attijariwafa bank had had a previous experience negatively impacting their position in the innovation ecosystem. Because of CEED Morocco’s efforts and support to instill a culture of innovation within the bank employees, informing them about the innovation challenges that would impact their businesses in the short or medium term, CEED Morocco succeeded in changing Attijariwafa bank’s view of the program and recruited more than 40 mentors and referrals from Attijariwafa bank senior managers and employees to support the success of the challenges addressed by the startups. In partnership with Attijariwafa bank, the first cohort ended with more than 30 corporate mentoring relationships, over 20 coaching sessions, one purchase order, and other technology partnerships with the onboarded fintech startups.

“For us, working with CEED Morocco on this innovation oriented program brought the bank the necessary agility and speed on the market… Our objective behind partnering with CEED was to accelerate the emergence and implementation of our transformation projects within the bank and accelerate our fintegration.”—Mohamed Moullouze, Attijariwafa bank Head of Innovation

Fintech Catalyst 2^nd Cohort 2021 – Long-Lasting Partnership

After a successful partnership with Attijariwafa bank, CEED Morocco contacted the bank to join the second cohort of the program in late 2020 for a potential kick off in March 2021. The main objective of the discussion was asking the bank and its subsidiaries to join program in order to have a better impact on the Moroccan fintech ecosystem. Transitioning the partnership from Attijariwafa bank to the Attijariwafa Group involved long discussions and a difficult negotiation process to determine the real value of bringing the group subsidiaries into the program. After approximately 10 weeks of delays, CEED Morocco successfully partnered with Attijariwafa Group subsidiaries, such as ATTIJARIWAFA BANK, Bank Assafa, Wafaimmobilier and Wafa Gestion, covering 12 innovative topics and onboarding 10 startups in total.

The partnership with Attijariwafa Group helped the fintech catalyst beneficiaries to conclude 7 purchase orders for a total value of $651,626 and $1,099,700 still in negotiations. The partnership with ATTIJARIWAFA BANK also served as a great reference for the startups to raise funds among investors and financial institutions for a total value of $768,750.

“The 12 challenges that Attijariwafa Group addressed to startups represents a real innovation and technologies needs for the group…the group installed a fast track process to facilitate the negotiation phase for the startups and optimize the industrialization.”—Elise Brouum – SmartUP Innovation Manager

The post CEED’s MEPI FinTech Catalyst Program Establishes Successful Partnership with Attijariwafa bank appeared first on CEED.

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CEED Global recently sat down with CEED Slovenia member and mentor Maja Golob—entrepreneur of 20 years, founder of the marketing company Spago, leadership and team coach, marketing consultant, and author of Stop Chasing Weekends, a book for women that advocates a healthy work-life balance.

Maja noted how the pandemic has exacerbated the already existing problems women have historically faced in balancing their businesses with their personal lives, often putting aside their own needs and aspirations. “If we don’t take good care of ourselves,” Maja stated, “then we cannot take good care of our businesses.” But today in the era of COVID, women entrepreneurs are navigating and seeking to balance an increasingly complicated landscape.

In a volatile business world, where constant, unpredictable change is the norm, it’s harder than ever to draw a line between business and personal life. It often seems like the workday doesn’t end at all. “I see clients starting their days early in the morning,” Maja observed, “getting their kids ready for school or even helping them with online school, preparing lunch while jumping from a Zoom meeting to meeting, working till late night, emails coming in at 10:00, 11:00 pm …” all of which “has put even more stress on us and made the situation worse.” It can be much harder for women to take time for themselves while taking care of their families and business, leading to burnout and work fatigue, an issue Maja knows well and opens up about in her book.

But besides the potential impact that blurred work life and home life is having on women’s ability to practice adequate self-care, Maja pointed out one of the other losses we’re experiencing from remote work: the lack of informal, in-person interactions and casual conversations. At a time when depression and anxiety are dramatically increasing around the world, especially for women, the loss of regular human interaction and check-ins is significant. “When you’re in the office, you meet people face to face, you have a coffee and a chat… all these bringing us closer together” Maja said, further explaining that during these interactions,

…when you see someone is not okay, you have a chance to offer support; or you tell someone how you feel, what’s going on in your life or what’s bothering you. Sometimes we just need someone to talk to, or get another view on the subject or just have a shoulder to cry on. In the virtual, online world, a lot of that is lost… meetings are focused on business, lacking opportunities to address other aspects of our lives, that affect who we are, how we connect with each other. After all, we are so much more than what we do for a living.

With so much about our new reality drastically altered from two years ago, perhaps permanently so in some cases, Maja said that if she were to write the book today, she would place an even greater emphasis on the need to “make time for the people in our personal circle of trust, especially for those we care for, surround[ing] ourselves with people, who have the same vibe and share the same values.” In her book, written a few years prior to the pandemic, Maja writes, “I realized what we’ve long lost in our modern society and are now trying hard to rebuild again: the ties, the bonds between us, relationships with friends and family, the feeling of belonging, the dignity of being who you are…the quality of the relationships with people we respect and care for and who care for and respect us” (102).

Maja also pointed out that focusing on psychological safety and the quality of interpersonal connections is something businesses should inspire and build within the company for the benefit of all, their employees, customers, and the businesses themselves. In her book, Maja writes that as individuals, we need to find our personal mission which “provides clarity and gives you a sense of purpose. It defines who you are and how you’ll live” (79). Maja expanded on this in our conversation, stating a personal mission statement “is your personal compass, that drives everything you do. It tells why you get up every day, why you do what you do. It has to come from your gut, combining not only your passions and talents, but also skills and competences. It is what keeps you going and what makes your life worth living.”

She also explained that “it’s important to find the business environment where your personal mission can be brought to life. Employers can and should facilitate their employees’ personal development, starting with discovering employees’ personal values and how they fit within the company’s values.”  Maja believes that “employees need to know how they fit into the big picture, and how their work helps to fulfill company’s purpose and mission. That’s why every company should have its purpose statement not only written on the website, but lived through every single employee” because as she sees it, “company purpose unites everybody, all employees. It is the reason that the company exists, and it tells how the company impacts those whom it’s serving.”

Close-knit, positive interpersonal connections are integral to both personal and professional success, something Maja experienced herself when she joined CEED in 2013. In reflecting on her initial impressions of what CEED membership would entail juxtaposed to her actual experience participating in CEED’s programming, Maja said,

My first thought was ‘how could a group of people who don’t have a clue about our business help us,’… As it turned out, we all had similar problems… you know, business is all about the people: your team, your customers and other stakeholders, how you engage and communicate with them and how you create value for them. We were a bunch of entrepreneurs from different industries, with more or less similar problems, supporting each other on the way to solving them…[it was] very, very well invested time for personal and professional growth. And a great group of people.

Maja is currently mentoring women entrepreneurs as part of CEED Slovenia’s AWEsome Women Entrepreneurs Program, a global initiative with 50 participating countries and over 2,000 women entrepreneurs, supported by the U.S. Department of State and the US Embassy in Ljubljana. Coaching and mentoring women in business and their teams, Maja has noticed that they often feel the need to try harder to prove themselves and have a difficult time asking for help for fear it would make them appear incapable or even weak.

When asked what is the one thing women entrepreneurs and women in business need to know right now that they often don’t, Maja answered, “That it’s our time. Women are nurturers by nature, and it’s time to connect people, ideas, organizations… to lead with love, connectedness, and empathy…not to compete, but rather bring people together to co-create a better world…We need to start asking ourselves: what can we do better together than we can do on our own?…We should not be afraid of our authentic power, of who we are,” Maja said, because if we can “improve connections within our company, with customers, business partners, and the community, if we can learn to listen to each other and to understand each other better, then we can co-create a greater future for us all. ”

The post “It’s Our Time”: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Know Right Now—A Conversation with Maja Golob, CEED Slovenia Member and Mentor, Leadership and Team Coach, Entrepreneur, Author, and Speaker appeared first on CEED.

In 2015 Dancho founded BizBee Solutions, a management consultancy that partners with consultants, software providers, agencies, and high-ticket service providers to build customized B2B lead generation and sales processes for its clients, though he founded his very first business, AdvertSMS—the first marketing agency in Macedonia to use mobile devices as a medium—in 2008 at the age of 21. The following year Dancho won “Global Innovator for 2009,” an honor awarded by the World Bank, which led to Dancho participating in the Global Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Brazil, sharing with other entrepreneurs the story of how he started AdvertSMS and the innovation behind its founding. The experience of learning all the ins and outs of running a first business proved invaluable for what was to come for Dancho, from how to do invoices to what creates successful B2B sales.

From AdvertSMS, Dancho’s path ventured from agriculture to software before ending with he and his wife founding BizBee.  He spent around 3 years working for a Dutch development organization, focused on entrepreneurs and startups in the agriculture sector. “In those three years that I worked there,” Dancho noted, “we built an agri-incubator in Macedonia. We started three different agri-cooperatives, farmers merging into business entities in order to do it. And it was exciting.” He then transitioned into the software space, building a startup for the UK company Retell Ltd., which was looking to enter North Macedonia. In working for Retell, Dancho was engaged in everything from finding a location, to creating processes, to overseeing operational management, “everything to build a company from scratch,” Dancho pointed out, “and that took me three years as well. But it also helped me [know] how to manage and [introduced me to] the I.T. world. So the agile framework of project management I really found fascinating. And after that, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to start my own business again’.”

BizBee’s first iteration was that of digital nomad as Dancho and his wife Maja Dimkova initially worked from around the world. “We were travelling around Europe,” Dancho said, “working from restaurants, from bars, whatever we find, and it was actually an interesting year of travel. But as you know, at some point you’re saying, ‘Well, you know what? You need some stability’…and to take a step back,” so Dancho and Maja returned to North Macedonia.

BizBee began as a management consulting company, focused solely on entrepreneurs but has since evolved to specializing in B2B lead generation for corporate small and medium enterprises (SMEs), focused on three specific industries: consulting coaches and trainers, marketing/sales/HR agencies, and software development companies.

The change in Bizbee’s client base and narrowing of its focus is tied to Dancho’s own personal mission. What drives Dancho is helping as many companies as he can, as many entrepreneurs as he can. In switching to SMEs, Dancho said, “we are actually helping companies to help other companies in order to survive. And then the impact gets really big. When we work with consultants, especially a mindset coach or a financial consultant, we are helping him, but he’s actually helping a lot of other businesses, and that creates a much bigger impact on the whole world. I see that as a good logic…helping companies to actually help other companies in order to make the world a better place.”

From day one, Dancho, “wanted to figure out a way how to make a company that is going to work without me.” When asked what his biggest challenges and triumphs have been since starting BizBee and creating such a company, Dancho responded that his biggest challenge was delegating in the early days, letting his employees do the work, even if they made mistakes, as that is the only way employees learn and a culture of trust and dedication can be fostered. His triumph was actually succeeding in creating that environment at BizBee: “when I put the right people in the right place, I took myself out of the equation…I should be the glue. Help a bit there…but not the key person in each of the departments.” Dancho now had “the freedom to start learning new stuff, and I started the book writing. I started going over a lot of additional trainings in order to improve myself.”

Dancho published his first book in what will be a series of three—Sweet Leads: Harness the Prospecting Power of LinkedIn and Email to Fill Your Calendar with Qualified, High-Value B2B Meetings—in August of this year. An Amazon best seller, Sweet Leads recommends augmenting B2B sales that target your ideal client through relationship building instead of one marked by “scarcity, urgency, pushing people toward buying”—what Dancho calls “digital outreach fever.” Instead of a sales pitch teetering too closely to spam, Dancho advocates a 6-step framework that encourages engagement with potential clients that is centered on solution-oriented problem solving rather than unsolicited, and often unwanted, hollow sales. Three of the six steps outlined in his book are focused on planning and three on execution. Dancho has received incredibly positive feedback on his book and his 6 steps, currently rated 5 out 5 stars on Amazon. His relationship with CEED Macedonia has also helped the marketing and early success of Sweet Leads.

Dancho joined CEED Macedonia 6 months ago, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. BizBee has been treading water since the onset of COVID, “We didn’t fire anyone. We didn’t decrease the salaries, not even a bit. So in that regard, the whole point was at least to keep maintenance.” But as the majority of his clients are located outside of North Macedonia, he was looking for an international network which he found with CEED Macedonia. “For a monthly membership,” Dancho noted, “you get access to a global network, but also to knowledge.” He further explained that CEED is “really like a mastermind group with similar peer players that you can just say, ‘Well, wait, how did you solve this problem? How did you solve this? How did you solve that?’ And there is a community of like-minded people, and it helps a lot because sometimes I have a problem that I can propose in front of the group, or someone else has a problem that I can help solve.” Dancho also found CEED’s support to be especially helpful when launching his book, “I saw people also supporting me as their member…It’s in their interest to help me, and they’re not doing it for selfish reasons, but we are like branches, part of a tribe. Let’s try to help him.” For Dancho, he sees CEED as “really doing the right things rather than, you know, doing for the sake of doing, actually trying to help members that are in their community in order to grow on a large scale. And I think that’s the overall impact that well, if all the members in CEED succeed, the whole economy will grow.”

For more information on BizBee Solutions, visit  https://www.bizzbeesolutions.com/ or contact Contact@BizzBeeSolutions.com

For more information on CEED Macedonia, visit https://ceed-global.org/northmacedonia/ or contact ceed@ceed-macedonia.org

CEED Global was founded in 2006 by SEAF, a private equity impact investment firm, improving lives and increasing the shared prosperity of communities through entrepreneur-focused capital investment: www.seaf.com

The post CEED Macedonia Entrepreneur Spotlight: A Conversation with Dancho Dimkov, Founder and CEO of BizBee Solutions appeared first on CEED.

He is responsible for all of Hallakate’s digital and creative aspects, along with business development, training and coaching, as well as day-to-day operations. Valon combined his extensive experience in entrepreneurship, social media marketing and strategy, news media, and the business ICT sector, so that together with his great team, Hallakate can provide their clients with the best possible services and innovative, creative ideas to boost their online presence.

In the past five years, Hallakate has served more than 100 clients, from mom-and-pop shops to multi-national corporations, helping them strategically build their audience and online presence by combining marketing and technical assistance. In reaching this 5-year milestone, Hallakate is planning to expand its services and transition into being a fully creative digital agency, in addition to entering new markets such as Albania in late 2021 and North Macedonia in 2022.

Valon joined CEED Kosovo not long after it began in 2009 as one of its earliest members. Valon “was searching for trainings and workshops on entrepreneurship, and one day I saw the ad in a daily newspaper, and it fit me. I immediately applied and joined the CEED network.” His involvement in CEED and the insights he gained from experienced entrepreneurs has significantly helped him in his journey as a young entrepreneur. “We all read books and participate in different trainings,” Valon pointed out, “but the CEED events offered us the opportunity to learn from those who have previously succeeded or failed. All of this helped me grow my business to where it is today.” Valon also noted how important the connections he made through the CEED network have been to Hallakate’s growth. Connecting with businesses in different sectors has been instrumental for Valon to expand Hallakate both locally and internationally, helping him find new clients and promote his services. His involvement in CEED has also given him “the opportunity to travel and meet other CEED members in different countries helped me see the opportunities and experience firsthand how entrepreneurs build their business there.”

As one of the oldest CEED members, Valon has also been very involved in giving back to CEED, participating in all of the events and sharing his knowhow. He’s helped organize multiple workshops on social media and digital marketing, helping entrepreneurs create their online presence an reach new customers. During these events, “we debated with other members and discussed the most advanced ideas,” Valon stated, “this platform allowed us to test our ideas and knowledge.”

The COVID-19 pandemic affected Hallakate, just as it did so many small businesses all over the world. Hallakate saw a 50% drop in revenue. Valon noted that “during the lockdown everything stopped. Some of our clients that were located in shopping malls and were retail business and had a hard time to switching to online sales… and this led us loosing those clients.” Despite the loss in clients and revenue, “CEED helped us,” said Valon, “with insights and continues to support our business during COVID-19…Sharing knowledge during uncertain times is the most helpful thing someone can do.”

Hallakate has since reorganized their team and added new experienced team. Within the first 6 months of 2021, Hallakate reached 2020 revenue and is now on their way to fully recover by the end of the year. “We are planning to grow during 2022-2025,” stated Valon, “because DIGITAL IS HERE TO STAY!”

For more information on Hallakate, visit https://hallakate.com/en/ or contact info@hallakate.com.

For more information on CEED Kosovo, visit https://ceed-global.org/kosovo/ or contact info@ceed-kosovo.org.

CEED Global was founded in 2006 by SEAF, a private equity impact investment firm, improving lives and increasing the shared prosperity of communities through entrepreneur-focused capital investment: www.seaf.com

The post CEED Kosovo Entrepreneur Spotlight: Valon Canhasi, Founder and CEO of Social Media Agency Hallakate appeared first on CEED.

During the first cohort of the MEPI FinTech Catalyst project, CEED Morocco and CEED Tunisia guided the startups through training, coaching, and mentoring sessions, as well as networking, connecting them with investors and the US private sector. The program enabled many to achieve impressive results, as the following two stories demonstrate.

Pega Health

Abdelghafour Harraz is an effective and innovative entrepreneur with proven credentials in delivering solutions to complex challenges within the telecommunications, healthtech and fintech industries. Harraz graduated in 2011 as a telecom engineer with a degree in Statistical Modeling and Applications and worked as a developer for the computer software company MITDEV for a few years before deciding to start his own computer software company Taillis Labs in 2015. In June of 2020, Harraz began the innovative startup Pega Health in Morocco to provide users with an app allowing them to create a personalized and centralized electronic medical record (EMR), visible only to user-authorized medical professionals.

Insurance process digitization is one of the sectors that thrived throughout the COVID-19 crisis, and Pega Health joined the MEPI Fintech Catalyst Program, supervised by CEED Morocco, to co-create a user friendly EMR platform with CEED Morocco’s corporate partners in the insurance industry. Pega Health’s team members demonstrated skillfulness and open-minded professionalism during their sessions with the corporate teams, as well as humility and curiosity throughout their mentoring and coaching sessions with CEED, ultimately developing their innovative EMR solution for processing health claims digitally, which fully met the market needs created by the pandemic.

The relationships facilitated by the FinTech program enabled Pega Health to receive a large purchase order from a corporate partner that will allow Pega Health to connect with up to 500,000 users to provide them with a customized healthcare experience. Furthermore, Pega Health was able to create 7 new full-time positions and was selected to receive additional funding to refine the app for use on a national scale.

Deepera

Deepera is a Tunisian IT start-up company launched in 2019 by Faouzi Moussa that develops innovative financial technology utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). Moussa founded a digital marketing company ARTIS in 2003 as well as CybEx Solutions, a trading software company, in 2009 before starting Deepera. Deepera creates smart, cutting edge AI-based solutions for the financial sector, including portfolio management tools and stock market analysis, to assist brokerage firms in managing their entire spectrum of activities and services.

By participating in the MEPI Fintech Catalyst Program, supervised by CEED Tunisia, Deepera was able to collaborate with a corporate partner on a mutually beneficial joint AI project despite some initial difficulty making progress due to COVID-19 restrictions. With assistance from the CEED Team, Deepera improved their working capital issues, identified better methods to successfully raise funds, and successfully presented their AI solution to investors. Deepera also participated in the program’s “Demo Day,” successfully generating interest from several investors, including an asset management company and an investment bank.

Deepera’s utilization of CEED’s FinTech Catalyst community, composed of corporate partners as well as start-ups, resulted in two substantial purchase orders with Tunisian banks, helping Deepera cover its short-term needs and accelerate the development of its AI projects. Deepera also saw its revenue significantly increase. The CEED Team also connected Deepera with a Moroccan entrepreneur who owns a software company specializing in financial institutions and considered one of the pioneers of the fintech sector in Morocco. The entrepreneur is willing to invest in innovative start-ups like Deepera for up to $100,000 USD.

The post MEPI FinTech Catalyst Program – Cultivating Resilience, Adaptability, and Sustainability in the MENA Region appeared first on CEED.

To encourage self-confidence and foster close-knit relationships with like-minded people, the program in Slovenia currently works with 49 women entrepreneurs who possess a vision for entrepreneurial growth, and it utilizes CEED’s ALL-IN method of peer learning, mentorship, and networking, along with the DreamBuilder online platform which leads members to create a business plan in 13 stages.

Several success stories have come out of the program, such as those of the participants Ursula Lavrenčič and Mankica Kranjec. Ursula Lavrenčič developed Kobi To, an app that assists first graders with reading. Using either a cell phone or tablet, the app helps children with their word recognition and pronunciation so that they can successfully return to school after their absence due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Artist and freelance photographer Mankica Kranjec recently entered Theater Exposed, an international photography competition. As a first-time participant and the only one from Slovenia, Mankica entered photos from the play Trojan Women performed at the Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica, competing against international photographers from 19 countries and winning three first places prizes in the portrait, art, and open categories.

The AWE program began in January of 2021 and will continue until September of 2021, ending with a “How to Pitch” workshop that guides entrepreneurs through key steps to effectively present themselves, their company, and their product or service. The first cohort of AWE will conclude with a closing ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana, but the journey for these 49 women will continue as they will then join CEED Slovenia’s community of women entrepreneurs, WE Inspire, which has been operating since 2017. The AWE program is an example of CEED Slovenia’s mission to support entrepreneurs in their growth.

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Baptist joined CEED Tanzania in 2018 “because I believe in what CEED does,” Baptist said, “connecting entrepreneurs through training, sharing and connecting them through networking.” Baptist knew that CEED’s unique approach to provide entrepreneurs in Dodoma with relevant content and networks to effectively run their businesses would generate substantial benefits to not only local businesses and the local economy but to BAPA as well. CEED’s programming creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to network and learn from one another which leads to business growth, and “I wanted to personally be a part of such networking, learning, and growth,” noted Baptist, as the services CEED provided are an important platform for BAPA, which also offers technical assistance to different types of businesses in Tanzania.

Since 2018, Baptist’s involvement with CEED has positively impacted BAPA’s growth and staff. Baptist is able to share BAPA’s services with the local entrepreneurial community which has in turn led to an increase in BAPA’s clients and potential future clients. CEED’s programming has also significantly benefited BAPA’s employees and Baptist himself. And the relationship between CEED and members is not unilateral, beginning with CEED and ending at the entrepreneur, as many like Baptist and his company BAPA give back to the local community through sharing their knowledge, skills, time, and resources.

Baptist ascribes the Dodoma Chapter as the most active chapter in CEED Tanzania because “we have been able to engage each other as members in many levels and aspects. We have monthly engagements through events and social media networking that provide information, experience, marketing, and advice. We also give each other business through selling to each other and providing referrals.  As the chapter lead, I have visited each CEED member in my chapter to see their business and discuss their challenges and opportunities. I know each one, and they respect me as their chapter lead. We have a strong bond to each other.”

The bond between Baptist and CEED members and with CEED was integral to both the chapter’s and BAPA’s health and resilience throughout 2020 and the stresses brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Baptist expressed the challenges the pandemic created within Tanzania and for his own business as travel was difficult, affecting Baptist’s ability to meet with clients outside Dodoma and even within Baptist’s own hometown which began impacting BAPA’s revenue and client relationships. CEED’s services and proactive assistance became invaluable to Baptist, as CEED helped him and his team adapt and transition to the video platform ZOOM to conduct client meetings. Baptist also attended CEED Global’s virtual meetings which provided members with guidance and concrete strategies to manage the various risks they were facing during such a critical and uncertain time.

When asked about his experience with CEED over the past three years, Baptist remarked “the experience is super and fantastic, a very valuable experience. I am pleased and I don’t regret joining CEED and for being the first CEED Global Chapter Lead.”

The post CEED Leaders Talk: Baptist Mnyalape on Leading CEED Tanzania’s Dodoma Chapter During the Pandemic appeared first on CEED.