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Rabat – The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) has inaugurated today StartGate Rabat, a new startup campus designed to connect emerging ventures with Morocco’s industrial and economic sectors.
The opening marks the extension of the StartGate model first launched in Benguerir five years ago, strengthening UM6P’s ambition to place entrepreneurship at the center of Morocco’s economic development and Africa’s broader aspirations.
In an interview with Morocco World News (MWN) on the sidelines of the inauguration, Yassine Laghzioui, Chief Entrepreneurship and Venturing Officer at UM6P, said the launch of StartGate Rabat represents “far more than an extension of what already exists in Benguerir.”
He explained that the new campus is designed as a bridge between startups and the country’s economic and industrial environments, offering founders direct access to institutions, regulators, and sector-driven priorities.
For Laghzioui, the Rabat site marks a shift toward deeper integration with national value chains, allowing technological projects to engage earlier with real market needs and accelerate their path from idea to scale-up.
“This campus is built to anchor innovation where decisions are made,” he added, noting that the objective is to strengthen Morocco’s ability to produce ventures capable of expanding across Africa and beyond.
Five years of growth for the StartGate model
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Since its launch in 2020, StartGate has positioned itself as a major innovation hub. It has supported more than 1,600 startups and founders and relied on a network of 300 academic, technological, and industrial experts.
Its programs have created around 1,100 direct and indirect jobs and helped mobilize an estimated $72 million in financing from public and private sources, as well as international partners.
StartGate’s integrated mode, from incubation and experimentation to prototyping and market access, has contributed to the emergence of new technologies in agritech, green energy, healthtech, retail, artificial intelligence, and fintech.
Several projects supported by the platform have successfully progressed to scale-up phases.
A strategic anchor between innovation and industry
The new Rabat campus seeks to tighten the links between the entrepreneurial scene and Morocco’s industrial and economic sectors.
With a surface area of 3,912 square meters, StartGate Rabat is designed as a junction for entrepreneurs, investors, sectoral institutions, and industrial ecosystems.
Located near ministries, regulators, universities, and industrial centers, the campus aims to strengthen coordination around economic priorities, connect startups to sector strategies, and support faster market entry.
It is also intended to bring innovation closer to the operational realities of Morocco and the region.
Hicham El Habti: ‘a place where minds can meet’
During the inauguration ceremony, UM6P President Hicham El Habti thanked attendees and described the opening of StartGate Rabat as a way to “build a future” and “transform ideas into concrete things.”
He outlined UM6P’s three main pillars: research, which he described as the institution’s raison d’être; education, which aims to provide students with competence, connections, and a supportive environment; and entrepreneurship, which seeks to turn innovation into tangible value.
El Habti noted UM6P’s ambition to establish, by 2030, the most influential startup campus in Africa.
Looking further ahead, he outlined a “metavision” for 2040, in which UM6P becomes a continental reference point in AI, health, agriculture, and related fields.
Calling StartGate Rabat an “integrated model” and “a powerful platform,” he described it as “a place where minds can meet,” highlighting the potential of Moroccan youth.
He recalled the launch of StartGate Benguerir in February 2020 and its role in moving projects “from laboratory to prototype to market,” a journey now strengthened by the opening of the Rabat site.
Expanding continental and global reach
StartGate forms part of UM6P’s broader strategy to anchor innovation and entrepreneurship within an impact-driven academic model.
With prototyping facilities, access to scientific data, experimentation labs, and a growing ecosystem of public and private partners, the platform accelerates the transformation of knowledge into real-world solutions for Morocco and the African continent.
Today, StartGate collaborates with institutions across the region and supports projects originating from more than 15 African countries.
Internationally, several startups incubated within its programs have secured funding and validated their products with industrial groups and public operators, contributing to the platform’s expanding influence.
