Salma Kabbaj, Impression Lab: “Morocco has the potential to place itself as a serious innovation hub in Africa”

Salma Kabbaj, co-founder and CEO of Impression Lab

Impression Lab gives a variety of companies to startups, together with coaching, incubation, teaching, financing, acceleration, coworking and networking. Proof of its helpful contribution to a startup ecosystem in nice want of structuring, in 2023, it was chosen by Tamwilcom as one of many two licensed accelerators to deploy the Tech Enhance initiative. Significantly effectively positioned to debate the event of digital in Morocco, but additionally to deal with the problems of parity within the sector, Salma Kabbaj, co-founder and CEO of Impression Lab, agreed to reply our questions.

La Nouvelle Tribune: Impression Lab is nearly 10 years previous. What evaluation do you make of this primary decade?

Salma Kabbaj: These final 9 years have been extremely enriching, an exquisite journey! Since 2015, IMPACT Lab has supported practically 300 startups in 23 African international locations. Our mission to encourage entrepreneurial innovation to answer the continent’s socio-economic challenges has enabled quite a few success tales to develop in key sectors similar to Agritech, Healthtech and Fintech. Past our experience assist, we’ve got instantly deployed practically 28 million dirhams to the startups we supported, primarily within the type of grants and honorary loans. To not point out the fundraising that these startups had been capable of obtain following our packages, which exceed 300 million dirhams.

The digital ecosystem in Morocco nonetheless lags behind related international locations. In your opinion, are the obstacles in infrastructure, laws, and even in tradition and mentalities?

Morocco has made progress within the growth of its digital ecosystem, but it surely nonetheless lags behind international locations like Nigeria, Kenya or South Africa. The proof is the rating of Morocco in eleventh place on the continent by way of funds raised by startups in 2023.

Infrastructure, laws or tradition the truth is represent obstacles to the enlargement of the startup ecosystem. Nevertheless, at IMPACT Lab, we’re satisfied that Morocco has the potential to place itself as a serious innovation hub in Africa. It has a pool of well-trained abilities, analysis institutes acknowledged throughout Africa and firms working on the nationwide and worldwide market. Now, it’s acceptable to capitalize on these property and convey collectively the completely different present dynamics inside the framework of an formidable imaginative and prescient carried on the highest stage of the State and outfitted with the mandatory means to provoke a change of scale.

IMPACT Lab is for the two^e as soon as one in every of Tamwilcom’s assist buildings. Are you able to inform us about this collaboration?

For me, the event of long-term partnerships is without doubt one of the key success components of startup ecosystems. They permit us to co-build, take a look at and enhance in a spirit of openness, belief and kindness.

We’re lucky to have developed such a partnership with the Tamwilcom groups, since our first interactions in 2016 for the design of the Innov Make investments 1 Fund. This preliminary collaboration allowed IMPACT Lab to deploy practically 5.5 million dhs in grants and honorary loans to Moroccan startups.

Within the new model of the Innov Make investments Fund, which we’re deploying by means of the Enhance’in Africa program, we’ll enhance to five million dirhams per yr allotted as an honorary mortgage, with a strengthened pre-acceleration program over 10 months.

Our widespread aim: to deliver out success tales that can make the Moroccan startup ecosystem shine internationally!

The event of agriculture tailored to the constraints of local weather change is an absolute necessity in Africa. How will agritech contribute to this immense problem?

Agritech is important to assembly the challenges posed by local weather change. Utilizing applied sciences similar to IoT, AI and biotechnology, we will optimize using water and power sources, enhance agricultural productiveness and enhance the sustainability of the sector from farm to fork.

We’re lucky, by means of our varied Agritech packages, to have in our group the very best Moroccan gems within the sector, similar to Deepleaf, PCS Agri, Jodour or Sand to Inexperienced. We’ve got additionally developed relationships of belief with key firms within the sector, Moroccan institutional gamers in addition to specialised funds on a regional scale. It’s by creating this high quality group across the vertical that IMPACT Lab can place itself as a key participant in innovation within the agricultural sector in Africa.

Financial research clearly correlate the financial inclusion of ladies and the expansion and growth of nations. What are the principle initiatives in Morocco that would promote this inclusion, significantly with regard to entrepreneurship?

From our expertise inside IMPACT Lab, solely 30% of the startups we’ve got supported are based or co-founded by a feminine entrepreneur. Throughout the continent, entry for startups based by ladies to assist or financing packages stays hampered by quite a few difficulties. As an illustration, within the first quarter, solely 6.5% of the financing raised by African startups benefited startups led by ladies.

The inclusion of ladies within the financial system is important for Morocco’s sustainable growth. At IMPACT Lab, we’re dedicated to decreasing the boundaries ladies face, together with unconscious bias in choice and funding mechanisms. We elevate consciousness amongst ecosystem gamers of the significance of gender equality, encourage companies and administrations to undertake inclusive insurance policies and are satisfied of the necessity to promote the success of ladies entrepreneurs. By supporting ladies in entrepreneurship, we not solely drive financial development, however we additionally assist create a extra equitable society.

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