Dispatches from Iraqi Kurdistan’s Blossoming Startup Scene

I bet you haven’t heard, but over the past month, hundreds of young people in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq were busy with the Summer Startup Festival, a series of events fostering entrepreneurship and creativity amongst diverse communities — from Syrian refugees who fled to safety in Erbil, to Iraqis who were displaced because of the Islamic State group (ISIS), to high school students just trying to graduate and start their lives.
I was lucky enough to be there for all of it. As the Executive Director of Five One Labs, a new startup incubator for conflict-affected entrepreneurs in the Middle East launching first in Kurdistan, my job is to pinpoint and support incredible aspiring entrepreneurs to change the world with their ideas. Iraqi Kurdistan is a great place to do just that — not only is there enormous humanitarian need, with 250,000 Syrian refugees, over 1 million Iraqi IDPs (internally displaced persons), and ISIS nipping at the borders, but it also is a relatively stable place, with a lot of young ambition. In a country with high rates of government employment, a budgetary crisis stemming from recent drops in oil prices and the conflict with ISIS have made young people realize that they’re going to have to make their own way in the world, and starting their own business seems like just the way to do it.

At the Five One Labs Startup Bootcamp, a weekend-long intensive training on the skills and mindsets of starting a business, 13 teams of entrepreneurs worked hard to learn more about their customers, define their challenge, build out their business model, and prototype and pitch their ideas.
Over the course of two days they met with business experts who mentored them on their idea, worked with advisors to clarify their customer acquisition and growth strategies, and pitched in front of a panel of prestigious judges from local universities, startups, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the US Consulate General in Erbil.
And what ideas did these young, diverse entrepreneurs pitch? Some teams — such as grocery delivery startup and an online pharmacy app — wanted to pave the way for e-commerce in a society where online payments are only now gaining traction. Others focused on sustainability, such as an event planning business that would help Erbil’s many international organizations and nonprofits plan more sustainable conferences and events, or a furniture business that will upcycle shipping crates into beautiful tables and dressers.

And finally, some ideas focused on addressing the humanitarian situation that is a daily reality in Iraq with unconventional, fun ideas. One team of entrepreneurs from Iraq and Syria is launching a gaming platform with new games in local languages. The winning team from the Startup Bootcamp, Virtual Teacher, was a virtual reality (VR) educational game to teach refugees and IDPs local languages in an immersive and entertaining way.
This is just the beginning of our journey, but the past three weeks have introduced us to hundreds of young Iraqis and Syrians who are full of ideas, ambition, and talent. What they need more than anything is support, resources, and role models to take their ideas and help them grow into real businesses. We’re excited to help them do it, and we hope you’ll consider joining us.
Five One Labs is a startup incubator for refugee and conflict-affected entrepreneurs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
