WE4F MENA Call For Innovations 2 – 2021

The MENA Regional Innovation Hub is proud to announce the second Call for Innovations. The MENA RIH supports innovative companies and organizations that work in the Middle East and North Africa and produce more food while using less water and energy. Together with investors and partners, the MENA RIH works to scale mid-to-later stage enterprises that have an environmental and social impact in the water-energy-food nexus.

Through WE4F, innovators from the MENA region can access financial support of up to USD $300.000 per innovation, technical support, and investment matching necessary to make food production and farming more sustainable, productive, and bountiful.

Why Apply?

Join A Network Of Innovative Game-Changing Entrepreneurs
Winners will be part of an extensive network and introduced to various partners, mentors, and service providers to help them achieve their expansion goals.
They will also have access to an exclusive learning community where they can exchange ideas with their cohort peers in the cohort and other Regional Innovation Hubs through regular workshops and meetings.

Receive Technical Support And Investment Facilitation 

• Receive support to expand the business to other geographies, products, or services
• Attract and secure external investors by working with S/SEA RIH’s Brokering Unit.
• Examples of support categories:
  • Investment readiness
  • Commercial expansion
  • Marketing and communication
  • Digitalization and technology enhancement.

Unlock Grant Funding To Help Your Innovation Grow
Select organizations may qualify for grants to help achieve scaling goals, funding size ranges from $25,000 to $200,000 USD.

What We’re Looking For

WE4F is looking for mid- to late-stage enterprises, nonprofits with a for-profit program, and other organizations based in the Middle East and North Africa, who have innovative water-food, energy-food, and water-energy-food solutions. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements outlined below to participate in this call for innovation.

Women-owned and women-led organizations are encouraged to apply.

• Type
  WE4F is open to legally incorporated/registered for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations or academic institutions with a proven business model, recurring sales, an existing customer base, and the ability to generate revenue and maintain a self-sustaining operational budget.
• Size
  WE4F is open to all relevant organizations/companies which are ready to scale. We encourage applications from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• Location
  The MENA RIH supports innovators from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen. Applicants must be legally registered in at least one of these countries. If expansion into a new country is a key part of an applicant’s business plan, they must demonstrate that they already have partners in place in that country to be considered.
• Language
  Application responses must be written in English, French or Arabic.
• Matching Funds
  Applicants should be open and willing to contribute the matching funds to the overall award if a grant is awarded. The final amount of matching funds will be determined on a case-by-case basis for each applicant near the time of award.
• Impact
  Applicants’ innovations must have a direct, tangible linkage to water-food, energy-food, or water-energy-food. In addition, innovations must directly or indirectly impact poverty reduction and gender equality and have a positive impact on the environment and avoid negative environmental effects.