Business Development & Fundraising
Athar: scaling green startups in Upper Egypt
Through fundraising training and coaching, New Silk Roads has supported Athar, a startup accelerator in Upper Egypt, to establish a Green Acceleration Track, which has now become a core program alongside their Tech Acceleration Track. Our fundraising team subsequently helped Athar to secure additional rounds of funding from the Finnish Embassy in Egypt and USAID, solidifying the green acceleration track's sustainability. Additionally, we collaborated with Athar to design new programmes and played a pivotal role in launching Orange Corners' Innovation Fund in partnership with Falak Startups. Furthermore, we provided tailored training to the top management team on fundraising and proposal writing. With support from EBRD, New Silk Roads is now expanding its collaboration with Athar to engage its middle management and support the team as they navigate the organisation’s growth phase and further Athar’s mission in Upper Egypt.
UNDP Green Growth and Jobs Accelerator (GGJA)
New Silk Roads is providing fundraising, leadership training, and support with monitoring, evaluation, and learning to Flat6Labs, one of the leading business accelerators in the MENA region. One of our success stories is securing a $3.5 million USD tender from UNDP for the "Green Growth and Jobs Accelerator Program", an entrepreneurship support programme implemented in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Algeria. New Silk Roads is developing an e-learning curriculum for green SMEs, including several digital courses on green business development, impact measurement, and access to finance for SMEs.
Madar Innovation
We supported Impact Partner to raise EUR 530,000 at Expertise France. As part of this program, New Silk Roads provided tailored fundraising training for 10 business support organizations and personalized one-on-one coaching for Tunisian startups on business models, fundraising, and partnerships. Additionally, we facilitated matchmaking activities that connected six Tunisian BSOs with European partners, international investors, and experts from the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and France.
ReBootKamp (RBK): Training youth to work in the Tunisian ICT sector
New Silk Roads supported ReBootKamp (RBK), the first immersive coding bootcamp in Tunisia, to scale up across the country and internationally, aiming to train young people to become employment-ready software engineers. Over three years, our services have enabled RBK to increase the competitiveness of its curriculum and develop comprehensive policies and procedures. We provided support on gender inclusion, conducting a gender baseline study and advising on gender-based strategies, resulting in more women graduating from the bootcamps. Additionally, we implemented a robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework to track training effectiveness and job placements, enhancing RBK's strategic positioning and competitiveness.
Hivos Business Development
Since 2013, the New Silk Roads fundraising team has supported Hivos with tailored business development services for its programmes on private sector development, job creation, climate justice, freedom of expression and arts and culture in the Middle East and North Africa. Our support included proposal writing, theory of change development, and strategic fundraising advice to Hivos senior programme management. Some of our success stories include securing EUR 8.1 million from Palladium, EUR 9.5 million and EUR 5.5 million and EUR 2.2. million from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (LEAD I, II and BOOST Programs), EUR 5.5 million and EUR 2 million at Sida and 550K from the U.S. State Department.
Fundraising Courses & Coaching
New Silk Roads provides online and offline fundraising courses and coaching to business support organisations, SMEs, and cultural organizations. Initially contracted by Hivos, we provided training to over 35+ organisations in fundraising, theory of change, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) and donor communications. Under our guidance, 8 organisations successfully raised EUR 8 million in funding. Later, we also provided fundraising training for organizations such as INCO, The Finish Embassy in Cairo, Movies That Matter/ Cinema without Borders and Creatives for Climate.
Prince Claus Fund fundraising support
For the Prince Claus Fund, New Silk Roads conducted a comprehensive donor mapping, established a fundraising strategy with a focus on high-potential donors, and organised fundraising missions across EU countries and the United States. We also fundraised directly for the Fund’s core activities, helping to secure EUR 1.2 million from the Dutch Postcode Lottery for an arts and culture program in Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. We also led the fundraising efforts for a worldwide heritage preservation program at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation