AUIS Entrepreneurship Initiative and Yanhad Project Launch Iraq’s First Business Accelerator

  The AUIS Entrepreneurship Initiative (AEI) at American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) announced today the launch of the Takween Accelerator, Iraq’s first business accelerator program. Takween is a project of Yanhad, an initiative to promote civic engagement and entrepreneurship for youth in Iraq, financed by the European Union and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (CDCS), and implemented by Expertise France.   The Takween Accelerator will help develop at least 45 entrepreneurial ventures across Iraq over the next 18 months, with the aim of supporting founders to rapidly and effectively grow their businesses and spur job creation and economic development.   Takween will offer participants a complete suite of support for entrepreneurial development, including intensive training centered on product and market development; a strong international mentorship program; an opportunity for seed funding; and integration into an investor network.    “The AEI accelerator presents an opportunity to alter the landscape of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Iraq,” said AEI Director Pat Cline. “It will have knock-on effects that will ripple throughout the private sector and will immediately become a central pillar of the burgeoning ecosystem, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, academia, and other partners to rapidly promote private sector growth in Iraq.”   Yanhad Project Manager Alexis Goshen...