About
What We Do
The MENA Group offers business consulting and data-driven market analysis to USD $4mn+ cap startups in the Middle East and North Africa. We work with each startup over the course of one semester.
Strategy & Management Consulting
Teams of three students are assigned to one startup from our partner incubators and pne faculty mentor. As the Berkeley Haas MBA students communicate with the CEOs of the startup on a weekly basis, they leverage their expertise to provide advice based on the individual needs of the startup.
Research & Development
Undergraduate and graduate data scientists compile, aggregate, and anaylze data to understand emerging trends in the MENA startup ecosystem. They develop predictive models and create representations of complex data sets that allow the startups to clearly visualize emerging sector-level trends. At the end of each cycle, the data scientists release an online report outlining their findings with the aim of showcasing the MENA startup landscape.
Clients
We are currently partnered with two incubators in Cairo - AUC Venture Lab and Flat6Labs, an incubator in Tehran - MAPS, and a venture capital fund based in Dubai - Wamda Capital, and Endeavor Global. All have received recognition as the top incubators/funds in the region from sources including Arab Business Report and Forbes Middle East. Our partner incubators/funds connect us with their most promising startups. Each semester we cycle through different ecosystems in MENA. For the Srping 2019 cycle, we will be working with sourced from Endeavor Morocco.
We aim to address the needs of each startup at every level, and we handpick consultant teams with the most appropriate experience and expertise. Since fall 2017 we have had 14+ successful consulting engagements.
Why MENA?
The region is characterized by a large tech-savvy youth population, a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, increasing rates of investment activity, and emerging low-competition markets.
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Large Youth Population
The large tech-savvy youth population provides an opportunity for a more innovative approach to the design and delivery of public policies and services, especially in areas such as education, health, and finance. (OCED 2016)
Report
Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
The region's strong entrepreneurial tradition and vibrant startup community has been bolstered by an increase in the tertiary educated population and emergence of Internet based systems. (World Economic Forum 2015)
Report
Increase in Investment
MENA annual private market investments have increased from $5 Million USD in 2012 to $1.488 billion USD in 2016, led by a fast-moving consumer goods sector. (CB Insights 2017)
Report
Emerging Low-Competition Markets
The region is characterized by a "missing middle," with Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) accounting for 16% of GDP compared to 51% in high-income countries. (IFC 2013)
Report
Alumni
Since Fall 2018 the MENA Group has connected and engaged 30+ talented Berkeley Haas MBA Students with 14+ startups in 4 different counties. Industries include financial technologies, logistics and last mile delivery, consumer tech, biotechnology, transportation tech and fashion tech. Our alumni include Bosta (Cairo), Jamalon (Dubai), Geeks (Dubai), Roxanne (Tehran), Accept (Cairo), BitOasis (Dubai), and many more.
We offer two fold value: we connect clients with talented Berkeley Haas MBA students who will help them to tackle a variety of value-enhancing projects, and we provide Berkeley Haas MBA students with practical experience in international management consulting. We invite exceptional graduate students to apply to be consultants.
Applications are due Feburary 6th, 2019 at 12:00 PM.
Contact Us
Still have unanswered questions? If you didn't find the answer you were looking for on our site, please fill out the following form, and we will get back to you shortly. Alternatively, send an email to MENAgroup@haas.berkeley.edu.
Partners & Affliates
