Mindshare MENA & STEP Group Launch The Startup Studio
Mindshare MENA and STEP Group have recently announced the launch of The Startup Studio, a first of its kind program in the region, which is set to facilitate partnerships between corporates and start-ups to deliver technologybased business solutions across fintech, adtech, and martech.
Nizar Fakih, co-founder & VP of Strategic Partnerships at STEP Group said, “In the past five years, we have worked extensively with over 1,000 startups from the region through STEP Conference and other entrepreneurial programs, and the recurring challenge founders have voiced was about the difficulty to access and work with big corporations. For this reason we believe that a platform such as The Startup Studio is essential to facilitate this process for startups and also add value to companies looking for innovative solutions to their strategic business challenges.”
With fast-paced growth and dynamic consumer needs, businesses today need to stay ahead of the curve and continuously adapt to deliver successful results. The talent and expertise required for necessary transformation often sits outside a company, and increasingly resides in startups or emerging entrepreneurs. The Startup Studio will build the bridge between both worlds.
“Client feedback clearly shows the need for digital transformation across the businesses they operate. Some are already structuring for this change, so we saw this opportunity to create a defined innovation platform, by joining hands with STEP Group. The goal is to create valuable products/solutions for The Startup Studio clients. Initially, we will have two key tracks, Fintech and Adtech/martech covering areas of expertise like Blockchain, AI, Payments, Banking, Smart Finance Management, Performance & Predictive Analytics, personalization and more all focused on specific technologies keeping a startup-side approach at the crux of the program. Later, as program accelerates we will be bringing more tracks to help provide tech enabled business solutions,” said TJ Lightwala; Head of Future Adaptive Specialist Teams (FAST), Mindshare MENA.