IT Park, a major Russian tech park, has announced the launch of the ‘OIC Startup Platform’ with the support of the Secretariat of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (IOC). The initiative is also supported by Oxademy, a UK-based online business education provider operating in eight countries, and Selet, an educational initiative in Tatarstan.
The acceleration program is managed by IT Park, which is located in Kazan, the capital of the autonomous Republic of Tatarstan. Approximately 800 km east of Moscow, Tatarstan is one of the most active Russian regions in terms of innovation programs. Many of its inhabitants are Muslims.
The platform has enrolled industry experts who will select the best startups based on business model and technology criteria. Under a five-month program, the accelerator will provide startups with online educational content and online mentorship. During an offline session, the best startups will pitch their project to more than 30 potential investors.
Oxademy’s founder Syed Shahzad said that he will personally get involved in the project, “sharing [his] knowledge and experience with entrepreneurs.”
International cooperation against unemployment
The initiative aims to “resolve difficult and important problems,” said Ahmed Halid, CEO of the OIC Youth Forum.
“OIC member states have a very young population — which may be a chance for sustainable development but also entail such issues as a high level of unemployment, opportunity inequality and insufficient access to education. The project offers young people a great opportunity to receive efficient training and reach investors. By creating their own companies, they will create new jobs, contributing to reduce unemployment,” the OIC Secretariat stated in an exchange with East-West Digital News.
The startup hub will also stimulate cooperation between OIC member states, the organisation emphasized. For example, “a startup from Bangladesh may find an investor from Kuweit after taking online training from a Turkish expert through the platform.”
The OIC has 57 member states. Russia has been participating as an Observer state since 2005.
Several of these governments, as well as private companies, have expressed strong interest in the project, according to Rustem Yunusov, Head of the International Affairs Department of IT Park.
“At the moment the main role of each member state is to attract startups to the platform,” he told EWDN.
The idea of creating an OIC startup accelerator emerged during the second ‘OIC Youth Entrepreneurship Forum,’ which was held in May 2016 in Kazan. The project has been supported, in particular, by Elshad Iskanderov, President of the OIC Youth Entrepreneurship Forum, and Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan.
An initial startup acceleration session took place in May 2016 at the OIC Youth Entrepreneurship Forum (Photo credit: IT Park)
