Our Programs
We empower visionary entrepreneurs by providing the financial backing and strategic guidance they need to transform innovative ideas into successful, impactful businesses.
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Innovation Challenge Bootcamp
The Innovation Challenge Bootcamp is a two-week intensive program that focuses on fostering individuals with innovative mindsets and aiding them to ideate and come up with solutions to real-world issues that are affecting their local communities while also serving as an entrepreneurial foundation on which they can build the future. The bootcamp offers a thorough learning experience that integrates practical skills development, expert coaching, and real-world application through the Design Thinking methodology.
Our Innovation Challenge Bootcamp gives the chance to 42 young, like-minded entrepreneurs split into 6 different teams, each composed of seven participants and a dedicated coach. Over the two weeks, the seven participants are grouped to form a team subjected to hands-on activities, inspirational speakers, workshops, and session experts who are leaders in industry or local and international entrepreneurs. The workshops and sessions revolve around the different concepts of the bootcamp themes that aim to solve the different problems within the region; the workshops and sessions help the participant to gain knowledge in business model development, market analysis, financial planning, and pitching skills, along with networking opportunities to connect with peers, mentors, and potential investors.
The bootcamp also offers access to business development and productivity tools, which allows participants to work on their team theme business ideas or challenges from partner organizations that are collaborating with the bootcamp; this allows the participants to acquire skills and expertise that will help them in their professional careers after the bootcamp, as most of the tools they learn to use are those used in most professional workplaces, are modern, and in high demand.
The experience is aimed at accumulating as much knowledge, passion, and real solutions to be pitched on the final day of the bootcamp, the PitchFast day. The 6 teams present their business ideas to a panel of judges consisting of industry experts and potential investors, such as angel and venture investors, who will help the team take their minimal viable product to new limits. The Innovation Challenge Bootcamp aims to prepare participants with essential entrepreneurial skills to launch and grow their businesses, empowering them to drive economic growth and social impact in Duhok and the broader Kurdistan region.
Incubation & Acceleration Program
The Incubation & Acceleration Program will be a follow-up to the Innovation Challenge
Bootcamp, where any start-up from the bootcamp, early-stage start-ups, ideation phase
ideas and entrepreneurs as they want to transition from concept to market-ready
enterprises. The program will provide a comprehensive and extended support system to
them by offering a nurturing environment that allows these innovative ideas to grow and
thrive and reach their full potential. The program spans several months and includes two main phases: Incubation and/or Acceleration.
Incubation Phase
The Incubation phase is where participants will receive dedicated mentorship and resources that will help develop their business ideas further. This phase focuses on the concept of refining their business models, conducting detailed market research of the region market and creating viable prototypes to pitching uses. The start-ups will have access to co-working spaces offered in the Impact Hub Duhok, technical support, and industry-specific guidance to address any initial challenges. Within the incubation phase, regular workshops and one-on-one sessions with mentors help participants navigate the complexities of early-stage business development, ensuring their ideas are both feasible and sustainable. The incubation phase will run for 6 months twice a year that allows different participants to have a chance to build their start-up from the ground-up and get them ready.
Acceleration Phase
Following the successful completion of the Incubation phase, start-ups if they want can move into the offered Acceleration phase within the hub for either of 3 or 6 months depending on the start-up need and readiness with a main emphasis on shifting to scale their businesses and preparing for market entry phase. This phase would include advanced training in different areas of scaling such as growth hacking strategies, strategic partnerships and stakeholder indentification, and investment readiness. The participants will nevenfit from networking opportunities with different potential investors, industry experts and leaders, and other key stakeholders that will take their start-up to the next level operation. The program also provides access to seed funding through fundraising and pitching events, where start-ups can showcase their progress and secure additional investment, network, and recruitment.
Workshops and Trainings
We offer a diverse range of workshops that cover essential topics such as Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Digital Marketing, Technology Trends, and Social Innovation, Project Management and Digital Literacy. These interactive sessions are led by industry professionals and are designed to enhance the skills and knowledge of participants.
On the other side, the training programs are designed to cater with our diverse range of entrepreneurs of all ages, various professional groups, students and freelancers, providing them with the latest relevant tools and techniques to their fields and what is trending in the region and globally. From technical training in emerging technologies like blockchain and Artificial intelligent (AI), hard skills to soft skills development in areas such as communication and teamwork, marketing and project management, our training modules are aimed at to empower each individual to excel in the aspect of their careers, start-up, SME and in general on how to be an entrepreneur everywhere they are situated in. Each training program is built with a mix of theoretical coaching, practical training and feedback of the overall performance.
Are you curious to learn more?
Reach out to us with your inquiries and we’ll get back to you are the earliest possible.