New venture studio to create Algerian 1,000 startups
National partnership to mobilise capital across all 58 provinces
#Algeria #startups - Algeria has launched a national programme to create over 1,000 new technology ventures across the country’s 58 provinces via a partnership mobilising more than $600 million in public-private capital over five years. The National Venture Studio Programme unites government investment fund ASF (Algerian Startup Fund), national research centre CERIST (Center for Scientific and Technical Information Research), and decentralized venture studio DeepMinds to transform the country's research capabilities into market-ready companies whilst creating tens of thousands of innovation jobs.
SO WHAT? - Although it is true that Algeria’s AI and digital economy strategy is gaining momentum, most startup funds launched so far have been relatively small in scale and scope. The new National Venture Studio Programme will be Algeria’s biggest venture building vehicle to-date aimed squarely at building the country’s digital economy. The new programme aims to capitalise on the country’s enormous technology talent pool and the its 150+ research institutions to build a sovereign technology ecosystem and become a regional deep tech hub.
Here are some more key points about this announcement:
The Algerian government’s investment fund ASF (Algerian Startup Fund), national research centre CERIST (Center for Scientific and Technical Information Research), and decentralized venture studio DeepMinds have agreed to form the National Venture Studio Programme.
ASF will serve as anchor investor, providing early-stage capital and attracting follow-on investment to ensure financial momentum behind each venture launched through the programme.
National research centre CERIST will deploy the programme through its network of incubators, research laboratories, and university partnerships, offering equitable access to Algeria's scientific infrastructure.
MENA decentralized venture studio DeepMinds will design and execute the venture-building process, converting research-driven concepts into market-ready companies through structured development frameworks.
The programme prioritises artificial intelligence and AI-agent systems, focusing on sovereign, localised solutions rooted in deep technology capabilities aligned with national strategic priorities.
Capital deployment targets ventures across all 58 Algerian provinces, ensuring nationwide participation and preventing concentration in major urban centres like Algiers or Oran.
The initiative complements existing national programmes including Digital Algeria 2030, university-linked incubators, and Algeria Venture initiatives rather than replacing current efforts.
Programme design enables collaboration with universities, private companies, investors, and public institutions, creating an open ecosystem for innovation development across the country.
Expected outcomes include breakthrough solutions in health, technology, and other sectors developed in university laboratories and scaled to reach populations across Algeria and beyond.
ZOOM OUT - DeepMinds launched in 2023 as a venture studio specifically targeting the underserved deep tech sector across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company was founded to address the historical lack of knowledge, investment, and ecosystems supporting MENA deep tech ventures. DeepMinds' regional strategy focuses on developing deep tech clusters that can produce technology for key industrial sectors including healthcare, defence, and shipbuilding.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about Algeria’s ecosystem:
Algérie Télécom creates $11 million AI startup fund (Middle East AI News)
AI stakeholders convene to advance national strategy (Middle East AI News)
Algerian AI researchers crowdsource local language data (Middle East AI News)