Irish tech investor NDRC has signed an agreement with the Oman Technology Fund (OTF) to run an international pre-seed accelerator in the Sultanate early next year.
NDRC will provide expertise and personnel throughout a three-month programme for 10 start-ups from the MENA region, with the OTF investing the required capital. Over the course of the programme, NDRC will work with each start-up, helping them to understand the value that their company can offer customers, their strategy for growth and getting them ready to meet the demands both of investors and the international marketplace.
As part of the programme, participants will spend two weeks in Dublin to learn insights from Irish start-ups about how to scale a business.
“This is a positive development for NDRC, which builds on the international investment being secured by our portfolio ventures, and reflects well on how Ireland’s startup enterprise ecosystem is viewed internationally,” said NDRC CEO, Ben Hurley. “Along with the excellent work undertaken by Enterprise Ireland and others in the region, we believe NDRC’s presence in Oman may help provide beneficial links for our startups into this market in to the future.”
OTF chairman Yousef Al Harthi said, “Signing this agreement with NDRC highlights our shared principles regarding the start-up ecosystem, helping us to provide training and expertise to early-stage, technology companies.
The OTF is a $200 million (€170 million) initiative established by the government-backed Oman Investment Fund late last year to support early stage tech firms in collaboration with international institutions. It recently partnered with the San Francisco venture capital fund 500 Startups to train and accelerate early-stage technology firms in the MENA region.
