The Startup Act, a pioneering legal framework on the African continent, is a comprehensive system of benefits granted to startups after obtaining the "Startup Label".
This label is awarded by an independent body, the "Collège des Startups" whose composition, prerogatives and operation are set by Decree No. 2018-840.
The former College of Startups has reached the end of its mandate on February 12, 2022, passing the baton to a new team that will, in turn, be responsible for evaluating the applications of startups, thus ensuring the continuity of the program Startup Tunisia and particularly the Startup Act.
It is in the presence of the Minister of Communication Technologies, Mr. Nizar Be Neji, that this new composition of the College of Startups began its first work.
On this occasion, the Smart Capital team, in charge of the deployment and management of the Startup Tunisia program wishes to warmly thank the outgoing members of the College of Startups, and welcome the new composition of this vital body of the Startup Act device, namely :
Zoubeir Tourki - President of the College
Zoubeir has been director general of university renovation at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS) since 2016. He was director of the National School of Engineering in Sousse. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Metz with a post-doctorate at the Federal University Fluminense.
Monia JENDOUBI
Monia is the director of the entrepreneurship and business development department at the Elghazala Technology Center. She is an expert in setting up and running business networks and international partnerships, designing ecosystems, communication strategies and cluster attractiveness.
Mohamed Anis Bach Tobji
With a doctorate in business computing, Anis is the director of the Higher School of Digital Economy (La Manouba University) since December 2020. He was previously Director of Studies and Internships (2015-2020), and Head of the Information Systems Technology Department (2011-2014).
Aymen Mbarek
Aymen has been a venture capitalist for 12 years with a particular focus on financing and supporting startups. He has worked mainly for two VCs (Sages Capital and Alternative Capital Partners, a subsidiary of the French management company ACG Management) as well as for the IntilaQ accelerator founded by QFF, Ooredoo and Microsoft.
Houda Ghozzi
Houda is the founder and executive director of Open Startup, an NGO that aims to foster innovation ecosystems with a focus on creating links with academia.
Mohamed Salah Frad
Med Salah is the Managing Director of UGFS North Africa (a subsidiary of Kipco Group) and has extensive experience in corporate finance, asset management and financial restructuring. Prior to joining Kipco in 2008, he served as Director of Research at MAC SA and led the IPO of 6 companies.
Firas Karoui
Firas is an expert in structuring and implementing innovation, business consulting and training programs. His programs have been delivered to EU and UN organizations, GIZ, Orange and other leading organizations in 6 countries in Europe, North America and North Africa.
Selim Ferchiou
Selim currently holds the position of Vice President of the ICT Federation and President of the Chamber of Telephony Distributors within the UTICA. He is also General Manager of One Tech Mobile (One Tech Group). Selim has extensive experience as a regional manager at Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Wahb Ouertani
Entrepreneur, expert in innovation management and digital transformation and president of the national group of technological innovation, Wahb is an expert in business development in Africa and business development manager at Himilcon, a firm present in several African countries. Wahb is also the founder of Startup Alliance Tunisia.
Let us recall that thanks to the hard work of the outgoing members of the College of Startups, Startup Tunisia has managed to grant 448 labels and 285 pre-labels on a total of 1262 files received (Figures stopped in February 2022)
It is also important to emphasize that the work of the College of Startups is voluntary and that, despite the volume of time required to process applications for labels, the College of Startups has never failed in its obligations, even at the height of the pandemic episode in Tunisia and the world.
A great responsibility awaits this new College of Startups, whose eclectic and complementary profiles will continue the excellent momentum around startups that we observe in Tunisia since 2018.
As a reminder, the Startup Act is a legal framework materialized mainly by:
- Law No. 2018-20 of April 17, 2018 on startups.
- Decree No. 2018-840 of October 11, 2018 setting the conditions, procedures and deadlines for granting and withdrawing the startup label and the benefit of incentives and advantages for startups and the organization, prerogatives and operating procedures of the labeling committee.
- Circulars of the Central Bank of Tunisia n° 2019-01 and 2019-02.
About Smart Capital
Smart Capital, a management company approved by the Conseil des marchés financiers, is in charge of implementing the ANAVA fund of funds, dedicated to venture capital funds, and the Innovatech fund which invests directly in innovative Tunisian SMEs.
Thanks to the support of the CDC and donors friendly to Tunisia, Smart Capital deploys significant human and financial resources to transform the national economy through startups and innovative SMEs.
More information on : https://smartcapital.tn
About Startup Tunisia
Startup Tunisia is the name of the national initiative to make Tunisia a country of startups at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, the MENA region and Africa.
This initiative is led by Smart Capital, the company in charge of implementing all the components of Startup Tunisia, namely
- Startup Act: A unique legal framework dedicated to Startups that launch or set up in Tunisia.
- Startup Invest: A new investment framework dedicated to Startups built around the Fund of Funds with a target size of 200 M€ and supported by a GP incubator (management company) as well as a Guarantee Fund for Startups.
- Startup Ecosystem: A support framework for Ecosystem Support Organizations (ESOs) and Startups, focusing on funding, animation and international connections.
More information on : https://startup.gov.tn
