IMPACT – Startup Support Organizations celebrate the success of the CoworkUp 4.0 program and unite to strengthen Tunisia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

On January 15, 2025, Tunis hosted the final event of the CoworkUp 4.0 program, during which Startup Support Organizations (SSOs) celebrated their journey, explored future collaborations, and laid the groundwork for building a robust entrepreneurial future.

The CoworkUp 4.0 project aimed to strengthen the capacities of SSOs to contribute to the growth of Tunisia’s startup ecosystem.

CoworkUp is supported by the special initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” Invest for Jobs of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by the Digital Transformation Center of GIZ Tunisia with the support of ANIMA Investment Network.

Phase 1 of the project supported 30 SSOs represented by 94 individual participants (55 women and 39 men). Over the course of 12 sessions and 24 hours of collective experience sharing, 83% of participants reported gaining new knowledge they planned to use in the short term.

The July 2024 Demo Day in Tunis selected 7 innovative startup support programs led by 10 SSOs:   

• Association Jeunes Leaders + Hive 12
• ICube
• Coworky + Technopole Borj Cedria + Talent Hub
• Westerwelle Haus
• Makers Factory
• Hammamet Valley Hub
• Connect Innov 

Strengthening the innovation ecosystem beyond the program: mobilizing investors and SSOs

SSOs and experts gathered in Tunis at the end of a rich collaboration, collective and personalized support, to engage with the ecosystem and explore lessons learned and future collaboration prospects among SSOs beyond the program.

During the morning session, Noomane Fehri, Managing Partner of MEDIN Fund Management and former Minister of Digital Economy, and the initiator of the Startup Act, emphasized that sustained public financial support is a necessary step to ensure the sustainability of SSOs. He also highlighted the need for SSOs to better align with VCs and integrate into the regional ecosystem, at least on the scale of the Western Mediterranean.

Startups developed by the Tunisian diaspora also emerged as a solution to target international markets and adapt to the constraints of foreign exchange regulations.

Welcomed by Emmanuel Noutary, General Delegate, and Tarak Chérif, President of ANIMA Investment Network, participants attended engaging discussions during the panel “Collaboration between SSOs and Investors: A Key Issue for the Development and Sustainability of Tunisia’s Innovation Ecosystem,” moderated by Sarah Ben Younes of V3 Factory and featuring outstanding panelists:

• Tarak Triki (Smart Capital)
• Achraf Khallouli (Flat6Labs)
• Cyrine Mehiri Ben Achma (WIKI START UP)
• Constantin Salameh (CSTouch Advisors) 

The discussions provided valuable insights and action points on the sustainability of Tunisian SSOs, emphasizing the importance of skill development and collaboration with investors to achieve this goal.

The discussions also shed light on the state of investment in Tunisia, the emergence of new venture capital (VC) funds, and the critical role of SSOs in the investment value chain. The work done by SSOs needs both support and enhancement through greater cooperation with investors for better integration into the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Budgets allocated to startups should focus more on support and acceleration activities rather than incubation.

CoworkUp 4.0: Building a Stronger Community of SSOs!

This program, led by the team of experts mobilized by ANIMA Investment Network, has developed new roadmaps and support mechanisms for startups through the ten SSOs selected in Phase 2. The beneficiaries praised the quality of the support and announced the creation of a federation of Tunisian SSOs with the support of the Confederation of Citizen Enterprises of Tunisia (CONECT), marking a significant step towards sustainability and strengthening the Tunisian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

CoworkUp 4.0 achieved all its goals, with impactful results:

• Over 250 hours of personalized exchanges between the 10 SSOs selected at the Demo Day and an exceptional team of experts.
• 70+ startups supported through the 7 pilot support programs implemented by the SSOs.
• Hundreds of ideas seeded—and the budding formation of a Tunisian SSO network!