Open Startup, the pan-African organization founded in Tunisia to support entrepreneurs and innovation ecosystems, has announced The Science Road, a new strategic direction focused on bolstering African science, deep tech, and research-led innovations. The move marks the organization’s 10-year anniversary and signals a sharpened focus on helping scientific ventures transition from the lab to commercial viability.
Quick Facts
- New “The Science Road” initiative launched for deep tech.
- Introduces “Openers First,” a new early-stage investment arm.
- Builds on a decade of supporting 3,000+ African founders.
From University Competition to Pan-African Platform
Launched in Tunisia in 2016, Open Startup has evolved from a university entrepreneurship competition into a pan-African investment-readiness platform. Over the past ten years, the organization has supported over 1,000 startups and 3,000 founders across more than 20 African countries, connecting them with investors, corporations, and international partners.
The organization has also developed a community of over 500 mentors and experts, trained more than 300 coaches, and backed ventures that have successfully raised funding and created jobs.
“For ten years, Open Startup has worked to help entrepreneurs build ventures and access opportunities,” said Houda Ghozzi, Founder and CEO of Open Startup. “As we enter our second decade, we do so with greater maturity, a broader continental footprint, and a renewed ambition. We believe the Science Road can become a runway connecting Africa’s innovators to the world—unlocking new opportunities for collaboration, investment, and scientific advancement.”
Introducing The Science Road and Openers First
The Science Road initiative aims to address a typically underserved segment of Africa’s innovation economy. Science and deep tech ventures often require specialized support, longer development timelines, and early capital to reach commercial scale.
The new platform will streamline Open Startup’s offerings into two main pathways. The first will concentrate on pre-seed innovators working to turn research into investable companies. The second will support seed-stage startups scaling technologies that address significant market and societal challenges in health, climate, and artificial intelligence.
To complement this work, the organization is launching Openers First, an investment arm designed to provide early financing to promising ventures emerging from its platform. This will help startups bridge the critical funding gap between the pre-seed and seed stages while supporting Open Startup’s long-term sustainability.
Building Bridges Across African Ecosystems
As part of its next phase, Open Startup will deepen its collaboration with partners from Tunis to South Africa, including CERI, Stellenbosch University, and LaunchLab. These partnerships are intended to help research-led founders move their scientific discoveries out of the lab and closer to market adoption.
Open Startup’s growth has been supported by a wide network of global partners, including KfW AfricaGrow, AfricInvest, the United States Department of State, the European Union, Bpifrance, and Sanofi Ventures, along with academic institutions like Columbia University and MIT Sloan.
About Open Startup
Open Startup is a pan-African non-profit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs through investment readiness, venture creation, ecosystem building, and international connectivity. Since 2016, the organization has worked with founders, universities, investors, corporations, and policymakers to unlock innovation-driven growth across Africa.
Source: Zawya
