In the age of digital disruption and connectivity, developing economies need to innovate and create change at the same speed and scale as worldwide technological progress.

However, political instability, economic uncertainty, poor infrastructure, and governance conditions limit the degree of expansion and innovation that those markets can bring to their respective economies.

Creating significant and sustainable change in developing economies requires a thorough understanding of the various determinants of innovation at a macroeconomic level, including quality of expertise, ease of doing business, market demand and risks, access to finance, use of technology, and business laws and regulations.

Leaders International collaborates with all stakeholders across the value chain to improve the above determinants and ultimately boost the flow of innovative ideas.

We assess the level of influence of key stakeholders and utilise it to maximise development outcomes and resources. During the past 19 years, Leaders International has been able to build and maintain robust relationships with numerous universities, startup incubators, accelerators, and venture capital investors.

Innovation Pipeline

Business startups and entrepreneurs are catalysts of the innovation ecosystem. Even the most underdeveloped economies can find solutions and drive innovation. They can create something from nothing if we provide the assistance, direction, and motivation that will propel them forwards.

Startups are unpredictable entities that create and explore business opportunities. Our responsibility is to support them in building scalable business models, reducing business risks, facilitating their access to technology, and transforming their ideas into functioning businesses.

These interventions require our projects to meet a high level of commitment and expertise – as well as establish the financial capacity that is required to advance the generation of these innovative new ideas.

Leaders International supports the development of business startups in digital technologies and related fields in all stages, from ideation to acceleration.

It does so by providing technical and financial assistance at the startup, incubator, and accelerator levels. Our mission is to build a concrete startup pipeline that can produce ever-more innovative solutions and fuel economic growth. 

Technical and Financial Assistance

Technical assistance to startups may take the form of business, finance, marketing, and entrepreneurial skills development, in addition to intensive acceleration programmes, boot camps, and hackathons. Financial assistance, on the other hand, is provided through grants and early-stage funding.

Leaders International goes beyond traditional support to build the capacity of business advisors, coaches, and mentors who work closely with entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and validate their products.

At the startup level, the assistance that Leaders International provides does not stop at acceleration. It goes further to give startups the chance to meet other successful entrepreneurs and investors in developed markets to get the needed exposure and broaden their horizons. 

The role of financial inclusion in the development process comes next. Startups who benefit from Leaders International gain sustainable access to equal financial opportunities and services. Leaders International connects scalable startups to venture capital investors from home and abroad so they can expand their go-to-market strategy.

We are dedicated to providing as much support to startups as we possibly can so that they can access credit, scale up, expand to new markets, and bolster their local economies.

At Leaders International, our definition of entrepreneurship extends to include freelancers and individual contractors (such as gig economy workers) and entrepreneurial freelance agencies who seek to build their portfolio and expand their services into new markets through global job marketplaces.

Supporting these individuals and the startup economy in general becomes even more critical when viewed under the wider lens of digital transformation and the ‘levelling up’ required of MENA businesses if they are to compete on an international stage.

Education and Culture

Development of entrepreneurial minds occurs from the bottom up. It spreads in the form of cultural beliefs and productive personality traits between the young, the ambitious, and the entrepreneurial, creating a future generation of innovators.

This does not necessarily happen organically – a helping hand is sometimes required to change the status quo. Leaders International works collaboratively with its academic partners and universities to integrate the study of innovation and entrepreneurship in the curricula of engineering, information technology, and business students.

It also cooperates with community-based organisations to organise inspirational talks and sessions where successful entrepreneurs share their business journeys, past challenges, successes, and failures. Such activities have helped mainstream the concept of entrepreneurship and innovation into the cultural landscape of developing countries.

Moreover, our partnership with academia extends to managing the commercialisation of academic research. More specifically, we have helped university researchers and students turn dozens of academic papers into actual profit-generating products.

Emerging Technologies 

Leaders International supports the development of emerging technologies and innovative startups in numerous industries, including services, health, clothing, and tourism.

We have set our sights on developing more green, Smart City, Fintech, and artificial intelligence startups in developing markets – businesses that, despite all the challenges, are committed to change, grow, and prosper.

The solutions that those startups produce and develop are leading factors to the sustainability of other interconnected development areas, including the environment, public health, quality of life, water and sanitation, and infrastructure. The digital work of these businessess can be wide-reaching and transformational.

Social entrepreneurship also offers an added value to the innovation ecosystem, and therefore, to our projects. Social enterprises prioritise social impact and seek financial sustainability at the same time, which can upgrade the quality of life socially and economically.   

Through our various entrepreneurship development projects, thousands of startups have been able to gain traction, create thousands of new job opportunities, access new markets, pitch to international investors, and place their name on the global map of innovation.