DOHA: The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), has revealed that five ‘EdTech’ initiatives have been selected to join its 2018-19 WISE Accelerator programme.
The five 2018-19 WISE Accelerator initiatives will kick off the programme during the WISE@NewYork forum that will take place on September 22 in New York. During the forum, representatives of these initiatives will take part in workshops, attend classes, and participate in pitching sessions.
The WISE Accelerator team will also organise high-level meetings between representatives of the five initiatives and leaders and entrepreneurs from organisations that are developing solutions and programmes in education and EdTech.
Mursal Hedayat, Co-founder and Director of Chatterbox, a member of the newly-selected WISE Accelerator cohort, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be part of the upcoming WISE Accelerator programme, and we look forward to working with the team and their incredible network of mentors and partners to bring a timely and impactful idea like Chatterbox to life.”
The WISE Accelerator supports the development of innovative education technology initiatives with high potential to make a positive impact. The selected initiatives receive support from mentors and WISE partners to scale up their startups, improve their international visibility, and identify potential partners, donors, and investors through networking opportunities organized by WISE.
Outlining the benefits of being part of the WISE Accelerator, Chibeza Agley, Co-founder and CEO of CamBioScience, a member of the program’s 2017-18 cohort, said: “The WISE Accelerator has had a profound impact on the development and scale-up of CamBioScience.
“The programme provided the team with hand-picked mentors whose profile and experience matched the needs of our business, and the level of expert support we have received from our selected mentors and the WISE Accelerator management team over the last year has been phenomenal. The mentors on the program are leading figures in EdTech and business, and are fully committed to helping us to grow and succeed.
“As a result of the WISE Accelerator, we were successful in raising seed funding, and were able to identify and appoint a key business advisor. We also had the opportunity to explore crucial international markets and receive advice of how to refine our international scale-up strategy.” Nayla Fahed Zreik, Co-founder of Lebanese Alternative Learning, an NGO based in Lebanon and a member of the program’s 2017-18 cohort, said: “The WISE Accelerator is not only about accelerating your business - it’s about accelerating your mind.
