The report of Tunisia startup ecosystem was published on the 2021 edition of Startup Genome, which is a world-leading innovation policy advisory and research firm.
“The Tunisian government actively supports startups, with the Tunisia Startup Act of 2018 streamlining the process of starting and running a business here and providing a stipend for founders during the first year of activity. The act also established fast-tracking of international patents.”
“Startup investment in Tunisia increased 31% between 201\7 to 2021, totalling $38.2 million across 54 deals in the 2020-21 period.”
“Tunisia’s young talents and best minds are shaping our country’s future. Our duty is to accelerate the change to let the Tunisian dream come true.” Nizar Ben Neji, ICT Minister.
According to the Startup Genome report, Tunisia was positioned in the top 10 of the Regional Ecosystem Funding ranking, which reflects the ability of the ecosystem to provide funding for the development of early stage startups. The entire ecosystem of startups in Tunisia is estimated at 20.8 million dollars. Total funding for early-stage startups was estimated at $6.7 million. In this regard, the report emphasizes the weakness of the financing offer for startups in Tunisia, given that the median of seed fundraising for Tunisian startups is only 70 thousand dollars compared to a global average of 480 thousand dollars.
The Act was also established for the fast-tracking of international patents Otherwise, the report highlights the weakness in terms of talent affordability: the average annual salary of a computer engineer in Tunisia is only 8.3 thousand dollars.
*Source: Startup Genome