Catalyzing Startup Potential: GroFin’s Strategic Partnership with Orange Corners to Elevate Iraqi Startups
Since its establishment, GroFin has been mission-focused on serving entrepreneurs with risk capital and business support, helping them realize their full business potential and deliver quantifiable social and economic development impact.
Through the Orange Corners Innovation Fund (OCIF), GroFin Iraq envisages a startup window to boost the economic development of the private sector in the country.
Our experience in the MENA region suggests that the potential scale of job creation at the project level can be significant, though far from adequate.
Commencing a startup business based on the initial spark of an idea is far more complex than a straightforward progression. The entrepreneurial startup journey is anything but a seamless and linear path. GroFin though OCIF, is well positioned to provide business support and access to capital for entrepreneurs that are often considered too early staged and have a higher credit risk.
The OCIF program entails coaching, mentoring, and financial assistance that play a crucial role in advancing entrepreneurial abilities and strengthening the skills of entrepreneurs. It entails two support tracks.
In Track 1, the entrepreneurs would receive a prototype voucher and monthly allowance in addition to trainings in compliance, pitching, and financial management. Later, and as part of Track 2 support, 3-5 entrepreneurs are selected for bigger seed capital investments at the end of the cohort by means of a pitch competition.
GroFin though OCIF will deploy the necessary seed investment through an effective combination of grant and debt capital, in which entrepreneurs don’t relinquish their businesses’ ownership. However, to attain the funding, startup founders should craft a strong business proposal as well as a constructed plan throughout their mentoring and coaching program to empower investors and lenders to grasp the business’s viability over an extended timeframe.
Access to finance plays a vital role in funding the expansion of enterprises. Nevertheless, it is almost a universal challenge for startups as investors frequently hesitate to invest in emerging and startup businesses due to the substantial associated capital risks. GroFin believes that our collaboration with OC and though OCIF program can successfully tackle the financing issues many startup-entrepreneurs face while consistently providing them with the necessary trainings to cultivate their entrepreneurial mindset.
About GroFin
GroFin is a pioneering private development financial institution specializing in financing and supporting small and growing businesses (SGBs) across Africa and the Middle East. We combine medium term loan capital and specialised business support to grow SGBs in emerging markets. By successfully combining medium term loans and specialised business support delivered through our local offices, we have invested in over 700 SMEs and sustained over 88,150 jobs across a wide spectrum of business activities within the 15 countries in Africa and Middle East that we operate in. GroFin has its headquarters located in Mauritius.
