Casablanca — Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) held the first Demo Day for THE FORGE, its international in-residence accelerator, operated in partnership with the Ibn Rochd Foundation for Science and Innovation yesterday.
The event brought together investors, corporate leaders, institutional partners and entrepreneurship ecosystem actors. On stage, 26 startups from the inaugural cohort presented the results of nine months of work carried out from Morocco.
The cohort came out of a selective international process. More than 3,000 applications were received from 39 countries. From these, 99 founders were invited to a selection bootcamp in Benguerir, within the UM6P ecosystem. At the end of the process, 33 founders were selected. Over the course of the program, they formed 26 startups, with some founders joining forces to co-found the same project. Progress in the program was tied to defined milestones and performance indicators.
The startups have raised $4.6 million in dilutive and non-dilutive funding, launched more than 100 active pilots with clients and partners, and deployed their solutions to thousands of users across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. They are now moving into a new phase, with pre-seed and seed fundraising planned.
A residential program built around market testing
THE FORGE was designed as a full-time residential program focused on startup development and scaling, market validation, product development, go-to-market work, artificial intelligence use and fundraising preparation.
For nine months, founders received intensive support, with access to mentors, investors, sector experts, corporate partners and UM6P’s wider ecosystem. That included infrastructure, applied research capacity, technical talent, experimentation platforms and institutional networks.
The program also included methodological input from international ecosystems, including profiles and expertise linked to MIT and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
UM6P’s ecosystem was used as a testing and market access platform. Through entities including the university hospital, the School of Hospitality and the School of Agriculture, startups tested solutions in real environments, received operational feedback and strengthened their credibility with clients, partners and investors.
More than 150 mentors, investors, experts and executives from Africa, Europe, North America and the Middle East supported the cohort.
Yassine Laghzioui, Chief Entrepreneurship Officer at UM6P and CEO of UM6P Ventures, said the first cohort showed that founders can choose Morocco as a credible base to build internationally competitive startups. Tarik El Fehri, Secretary General of the Ibn Rochd Foundation, said the results showed Morocco can serve as a serious base for founders targeting global markets.
The next cohorts are already being prepared. Through its five-year roadmap, THE FORGE aims to support more than 100 founders across several international cohorts by 2030.
Morocco World News is also on X — check out our latest posts now! Get MWN on iOS and Android for instant access to breaking news.
