Open Startup Turns 10, Launches Initiative To Back Africa’s Science And Deep Tech Ecosystem

Open Startup has marked its 10th anniversary by launching The Science Road, a new strategic direction designed to accelerate science and deep tech ventures across Africa and provide early-stage financing through a dedicated investment arm called Openers First. Founded in Tunisia in 2016, the pan‑African organisation says it has supported more than 3,000 founders and over 1,000 startups across more than 20 countries, and will now concentrate on ventures translating research in health, climate, artificial intelligence and adjacent technologies into commercially viable companies.

“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, while helping build a new narrative between Africa and the world: one defined by contribution, innovation, and shared prosperity.”

The Science Road consolidates Open Startup’s existing programmes into a unified acceleration platform aimed at shortening the journey from lab research to market-ready products. The platform will operate two core pathways: one targeting pre-seed innovators who are translating research and breakthrough ideas into investable ventures, and the other supporting seed-stage startups scaling technologies with the potential to tackle major market and societal challenges.

• Openers First: a new investment arm intended to provide early-stage backing for selected ventures emerging from the platform, specifically to bridge the gap between pre-seed and seed-stage growth and complement the organisation’s investment-readiness work.
• Ecosystem connections: stronger links between ecosystems from Tunis to South Africa, with deeper collaboration planned with partners such as CERI, Stellenbosch University and LaunchLab to help move science out of the lab and closer to markets and adoption.
• Capacity built to date: a community of more than 500 mentors, advisors and experts, over 300 trained coaches, and partnerships with development and institutional backers that supported continental growth.

Open Startup’s evolution from a university entrepreneurship competition into a pan‑African investment-readiness and ecosystem-building platform has been supported by a wide network of partners. Named collaborators and funders include KfW AfricaGrow, AfricInvest, the United States Department of State, the European Union, Digital Africa, Bpifrance, the Drosos Foundation, the Steve Madden Foundation, Sanofi Ventures, and academic partners such as Columbia University, Columbia Business School, MIT Sloan and MIT Africa.

The move responds to an acknowledged gap in Africa’s innovation economy: science and deep tech ventures typically require specialist support, longer development timelines and early capital before reaching commercial use. Open Startup says The Science Road will act as a bridge connecting founders, scientists, markets, partners and capital to improve the odds that research-led ventures become globally competitive industries.

Looking ahead, Open Startup aims to increase the number of research-led ventures it supports through discovery, company-building and growth stages, while using Openers First to contribute to the organisation’s long-term sustainability. The initiative positions Open Startup to deepen continental partnerships and to provide targeted assistance as more African founders seek to translate scientific research into investable, impact-driven businesses.