BIG NEWS! New USAID-funded Business Accelerator in Iraq

by **GirlBye** Sun Oct 18, 2020 9:18 pm

New USAID-funded Business Accelerator in Iraq

19th October 2020 in Iraq Industry & Trade News

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Top Mountain have launched a Business Accelerator Project to assist micro, small, medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in Iraq to provide immediate assistance to help their business recover, develop, and grow.

In support of this effort, Top Mountain will distribute USAID-funded grants to 15 Iraqi businesses. These grants will help support MSMEs in a wide array of areas, including business development, revenue generation, job creation, productivity, and recovery from COVID-19.

Businesses can apply for a Business Accelerator grant through an online application form on Top Mountain and USAID Iraq social media pages. To benefit from a grant, businesses must be 100% Iraqi-owned, be registered in Iraq (including the Kurdistan Region) for at least one year and have between 2 to 50 employees.

This unique project will complement the ongoing USAID-funded Business Incubator and Employment Program implemented by Top Mountain that has to date delivered employability, information and communication technology, and business management skills training to over 650 beneficiaries.

USAID is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. The USAID-funded Business Accelerator Project implemented by Top Mountain is part of USAID's broader New Partnership Initiative (NPI), which aims to build the capacity of local organizations and assist populations in Iraq recovering from the genocide perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Top Mountain is a consulting firm based in Iraq that focuses on stabilization, economic development, and promoting employment and entrepreneurship. The Business Incubator and Employment Program together with the new Business Accelerator project is aligned with Top Mountain's mission to support economic development and stability in Iraq.

https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2020/10/19/new-usaid-funded-business-accelerator-in-iraq/

by **GirlBye** Sun Oct 18, 2020 9:45 pm

U.S. Agency for International Development

BIG NEWS! New USAID-funded Business Accelerator in Iraq Bridge%20Standalone%20Image_basic%20web%20page%20dimensions2

Entrepreneurs play a vital role in driving economic growth, creating jobs and innovating to improve people's’ lives through market-based solutions. Impact investors are looking for a pipeline of businesses to invest in that generate both financial and social returns.
Yet impact investors are often unable to connect with the early-stage entrepreneurs due to the "pioneer gap" that exists between high-risk, promising early-stage enterprises and impact investors looking for enterprises to invest in.

Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship Initiative

BIG NEWS! New USAID-funded Business Accelerator in Iraq PACE_Strategic_Review_Mar2018-1_0

Accelerating Entrepreneurs: Insights from USAID's Support of Intermediaries

(PDF - 3 MB)
The Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) Initiative aims to catalyze private-sector investment into early-stage enterprises and identify innovative models or approaches that help entrepreneurs bridge the pioneer gap – thus unlocking the potential of thousands of promising enterprises around the world.
Working in partnership with more than 50 incubators, accelerators, and seed-stage impact investors, USAID’s PACE initiative creates public-private partnerships dedicated to testing ways to address critical gaps and foster entrepreneurship. These partnerships are expected to leverage $320 million in combined public and private investments over their lifetime to advance the Agency’s mission of accelerating countries to self-reliance.

Accelerating Entrepreneurs: Insights from USAID's Support for Small and Growing Businesses

USAID is pleased to release the executive summary of Accelerating Entrepreneurs: Insights from USAID’s Support for Small and Growing Businesses, an analysis of our PACE program. The report aims aims to help better understand how working with intermediaries supports entrepreneurs around the world and to provide data that can inform the decisions of public funders, private investors and policymakers who are interested in working with intermediaries in entrepreneurial ecosystems.

PACE Initiative Partnerships

Learn more about PACE partnerships formed since 2014

RESOURCES

Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship factsheet
Learn more about USAID's approach to partnerships
Watch(link is external) how PACE is unlocking the potential of enterprises around the world
For more information on PACE, contact [email=pace@usaid.gov]pace[at]usaid.gov[/email].

https://www.usaid.gov/PACE

BIG NEWS! New USAID-funded Business Accelerator in Iraq