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New Startups
Entrepreneurship News
New Startups
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By Zahraa Abdulkareem
2020’s has been bustling with activities for The Station’s co-working space, our startups achieved new milestones and have made lots of development during this year! A great expansion happened through The Station’s supporting strategies such as monitoring, evaluation, mentoring, and outreach.
Currently, 80% of the co-working space desks are occupied by 36 startups with 93 employees which is considered a great success compared to last December 2019, where the indicators showed lower rates with 22 startups, 28 desks and only 48 employees!
The Station co-working space has opened doors for new and notable sectors that show high demand in the Iraqi market such as the art & music sector represented by Highway, a band; mental health with Nosoh, a mental health consultation startup; and more tech projects with Photonect, a mobile application connecting photographers with individuals and businesses, as well as GaragesApp, a mobile application for reserving parking spaces in Baghdad’s car parks. Our co-working space also welcomed numerous eco-friendly startups as part of The Station’s ongoing green initiative, including AJA Food Trucks, an eco-friendly mobile food trucking service; and Eco IPR, a zero-waste packaging and recycling business.
Many newly-graduated startups from both our pre-incubation programs, Yanhad and Raaidat, have joined our co-working space such as:
Green & Gold - a venture specializing in converting organic waste into fertilizers. Tabla - a startup offering healthcare providers; doctors and pharmacists, a unified platform and inclusive digital system. BaytX - a platform connecting customers with architects, interior designers, civil supervision engineers, and consultants. MaslahTech - a platform connecting freelancers and service providers with customers. Nahla Wa Asaal - a beekeeping business specializing in the sale of honey and other bee products. Safr - a travel agency supplier providing airline tickets and visa services at rates significantly more affordable than competitors. Toystop - an online store that sells educational and entertaining toys for kids with special disabilities. Zena Saad - a venture specializing in producing a unique porcelain for sculptors, accessories designers. Baghdadiya - an online store for marketing handmade products made by iraqi women.
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In addition, we announced the availability of desks for freelancers and students, which would significantly alleviate costs for Iraqi individuals while introducing them to The Station’s extensive network of entrepreneurs and startups.
This year, The Station has increased its collaboration with startups, through involving their founders with substantial industry experiences in its entry-level workshops, pre-incubation programs, and mentorship programs. In addition to that, we worked to create a dynamic atmosphere by scheduling periodically introductory meetings in order to increase the collaboration and partnership between the startups.
One of the main strategies that we are focused on this year is raising the visibility for the startups through The Station’s social media channels. Startup Stories, Rising Startup, Meet Our Startup has introduced both new and established co-working space startups to The Station’s followers and fans to which has been very efficient in increasing the startups’ publicity.
The Station strives to be the best environment for Iraqi startups to bootstrap, launch, grow, and scale up innovative businesses. Our goal in supporting the startups at the co-working space is something we’re all proud of.