Propeller, the venture capital firm focused on AI technology, has wrapped up the first edition of its Kernel Camp in Silicon Valley. The program brought five high-potential startups from Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt for an intensive eight-week residency, connecting MENA’s deep-tech founders with global experts and investors.
Quick Facts
- Five MENA startups graduated the program.
- Eight-week immersive residency in Silicon Valley.
- Focused on AI, dev tooling, and cybersecurity.
A Spotlight on MENA’s AI Frontier
The five startups, selected from the top 3% of applicants, represent a new wave of innovation in AI infrastructure and enterprise solutions. The cohort included:
- OORB (Tunisia): A robotics observability platform designed to capture every robot run, score reliability, and diagnose behavioral breaks.
- Techbible (Morocco): An AI Stack Manager that maps a company’s SaaS tools and AI agents to track spending, usage, and performance.
- FirstFlow (Jordan): An in-chat onboarding platform for AI agents that uses structured widgets to guide users from their first message to full adoption.
- Nexguards (Egypt): An AI-powered platform providing personalized cyber attack simulations and awareness training for enterprises.
- Flowbrave (Morocco): An intelligent operations platform that converts static processes into dynamic, AI-guided workflows to improve performance.
Inside Silicon Valley’s Inner Circle
During the residency, founders gained direct access to operators and investors shaping the AI landscape. The program featured weekly mentorship dinners with leaders from companies like Airbnb, Meta, OpenAI, JP Morgan, and Lux Capital.
A key event was a dedicated angel investor happy hour hosted at Silicon Valley Bank’s offices on Sand Hill Road, putting the cohort directly in front of Bay Area investors. The program also included a series of site visits to leading technology companies, giving founders a firsthand look at the cultures and operational environments behind major software businesses.
A Bridge for Global Ambition
Propeller’s leadership emphasized that the camp was built to provide more than just capital; it was about immersion.
Zaid Farekh, Founder & Managing Partner at Propeller, said: ”We believe MENA produces founders capable of building globally significant companies, but talent alone isn’t enough. Kernel Camp is designed to immerse founders in the networks, operating culture, and technical communities that have historically accelerated the world’s most ambitious startups.”
Hani Azzam, Partner at Propeller, added: “The question was never whether MENA founders could compete globally. Kernel Camp was about giving them the environment to prove it, and this cohort did exactly that.”
The program culminated in a final showcase on May 30th, where the startups pitched to an audience of investors and tech professionals. The event also featured a panel on the growing impact of MENA talent in Silicon Valley.
About Kernel Camp
Kernel Camp is an inaugural deep-tech residency program in Silicon Valley created by the venture capital firm Propeller. It is designed to immerse select founders from the MENA region in the heart of the global technology ecosystem, accelerating their company building through direct mentorship and access to top-tier networks and investors.
Source: EntArabi
