The CEO of UM6P Ventures, Yassine Laghzioui, explains to Hespress Fr the ambitions and specificities of “The Forge” incubation program intended to support Moroccan and African entrepreneurs, but also from the rest of the world, in their quest for innovation and global impact.
Why did you choose a 9 to 12 month residency, and how does this format promote the success of entrepreneurs?
We wanted a sufficient duration to allow entrepreneurs to devote enough time to the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) phase. If we cannot develop an MVP that can be tested by customers, we cannot consider that we have really supported them. Today, there are several programs that extend over one, two or three months maximum, but our objective is much more ambitious: we want to support entrepreneurs until a phase where they will be eligible for fundraising. We therefore estimated that nine months represents a minimum duration allowing us to go through ideation, the development of a POC (Proof of Concept), its validation, iterations based on customer feedback, and, finally, a phase of “Go to market” much more aggressive.
However, these 9 to 12 months are not enough to create a start-up. Above all, this period of time helps entrepreneurs find their passion and develop a product capable of transforming a sector, an industry or even the world. The entrepreneurial adventure does not stop there: it must continue well beyond this period. For our part, we offer a start-up system, but it is up to the entrepreneur to continue their journey thereafter.
What are the success indicators considered to measure the overall impact of this program?
The winners of this program must be able to raise funds from investors. This is for us a first indicator of intermediate success. As for the final success, it will be measured by criteria that require more time to be evaluated: the number of jobs created, technologies exported, etc., because, as you know, the development cycle of technologies is generally 7 to 10 years for innovative companies.
In the immediate future, we will measure the first indicators of success through:
-fundraising carried out;
-the ability of entrepreneurs to attract co-founders and collaborators;
-the valuation of start-ups by other investors (a start-up valued at $10 million does not play in the same league as one valued at $1 million);
-the interest generated by their products on the market.
Finally, an important indicator will be the turnover generated by start-ups. We will also track the proportion of female employees and female co-founders under this program, as their contribution is essential.
How can “The Forge” attract and engage the Moroccan diaspora so that they actively contribute to the creation of Moroccan start-ups with global impact?
For us, the Moroccan diaspora is a strategic lever, because its members operate in mature ecosystems. They already fully understand the challenges of start-ups: how they operate, fundraising, etc. They have privileged access to these ecosystems. And, often, these entrepreneurs express the wish to contribute to the national and local ecosystem when they have serious projects.
I see this as a national team, made up of both local players and professionals playing in international leagues. This combination is essential to the success of our model.
We are already present in several ecosystems thanks to UM6P France and UM6P Canada, and soon in other countries. One of the missions of these branches will be to attract members of the Moroccan diaspora, who will be able to benefit from the world-class infrastructures of the UM6P – comparable to the best international ecosystems – to create start-ups with a global reach. .
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