This document maps out Jordan's entrepreneurship ecosystem. It identifies key elements that support entrepreneurs including education programs at universities, training programs, entrepreneurship competitions and events, sources of funding, workspaces like incubators and co-working spaces, support services from accelerators and mentors, and relevant government policies and strategies. The document also notes several international donors that play a role in funding entrepreneurship initiatives in Jordan.

1. Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Map of Jordan
Developed for Program Innovation and Entrepreneurship
of the German Jordanian University GJU
2015

2. GJU ECOSYSTEM WORKSHOP (25/3/2014)
First Step Mapping Started at
Resulted in the Establishment of GJU PIE
(Previous report available online)

3. FOR GJU INTERNAL REQUEST IN 2015
Second Mapping Started (this one)
Resulted in set of services
-Graduation projects support (hackathons)
-Innovation Space

4. Entrepreneurship Simplified Ecosystem
Assessment Tool
Education
Culture
Finance
Workspace
Support
Services
Policies &
Government
Support

5. EDUCATION
Culture
Finance
Workspace
Support
Services
Policies &
Government
Support

6. Education & Skills Development
•Universities:
– Academic Teaching of Entrepreneurship
– Entrepreneurship Awareness Programs
•Training:
– Formal Training on Entrepreneurship

7. Education
• Universities having Entrepreneurship centers
–PSUT: (Focus: IT) + Masters in Business Entrepreneurship (MBE)
–JUST: (Focus: Engineering)
–University of Jordan: (Focus: Agriculture)
–Petra University : (Focus: IT )
–Philadelphia University: (Focus: Engineering )
–Yarmouk University
–AlQuds College: (Focus: General)
• Schools Programs (age 10-18)
–Injaz Programs for schools
–IKB Competition for Schools
–Intellectual Property Rights for kids

8. Training Programs
• Trainings for University Students
–KAFD
–Injaz Jordan
–BDC (Empretec)
–Microsoft Innovation Center
• General Trainings
–Many of the training companies provide
entrepreneurship trainings

9. Education
CULTURE
Finance
Workspace
Support
Services
Policies &
Government
Support

10. Entrepreneurship Culture
• The Culture aspect involves different factors and not
easy to measure and develop
• The focus here will be on the followings to simplify
the measurement:
– Communities
– Events
– Competitions
– Media

11. Communities & Events
• Communities:
–Young Entrepreneurship Association (YEA):
–DART Students clubs (Started at PSUT now in other universities as well)
• Events
– Startup Weekends & Hackathons
– Global Entrepreneurship Week
– ZINC series of talks

12. Entrepreneurship Competitions
• Queen Rania Business Plan Competition (Organized by
QRCE/PSUT)
• IKB Business Entrepreneurship competition
• Badir competition for Social Entrepreneurship
• Other regional and global competitions

13. Media Supporting Entrepreneurship
These media organizations usually cover success stories of
entrepreneurs and cover the related events
• Wamda
–Dubai based blog
• Roya TV
• Business Jordan Magazine
• Ventures Magazine

14. Education
Culture
FINANCE
Workspace
Support
Services
Policies &
Government
Support

15. Sources of Funding to Entrepreneurs
• Grants
–Governmental grants: Small and mainly for research
–International Donors: Project based & require external contribution
• Crowd Funding
–The project is published on special web platforms
–The crowd contribute to funding the project for some returns
• Loans
–Microloans & Banks loans
• Investment
–Angel Investors: Individual investors that invest in early stage
–Venture Capitals: Experienced companies that invest in growth stage

16. Grants
• Jordan Enterprise (JEDCO)
–EU Fund, currently on hold
• Higher Council for Science & Technology (HCST)
–EU Fund, currently on hold
• USAID LENS Project
–Some specific sectors for early stage startups
• USAID JCP Project
–Fund specific sectors for established startups

17. Crowdfunding
• Zoomaal.com
–Lebanon based platform active in Jordan
• Eureeca.com
• Dubai based platform active in Jordan
• Several initiatives in Jordan but no well established
crowdfunding platform
– UNDP for refugees host communities

18. Banks and Loans
•Microfinance
–Tamweelcom
–Rowad Microventures
–Liwwa (Online microloans program)
–Many smaller microfinancing institutes active outside
Amman
•Banks (active in the Startup Scene)
–Al Itihad
–Al Ahli

19. Investments
• Angel Investors Network
–Bedaya Network (Managed by iPark)
–Oasis500 Angel investors (Managed by Oasis500)
• Venture Capitals (VC)
– Silicon badeya
– Dash ventures (Part of Endeavor)
– Mena Venture Investments (MVI)
– IV-holdings
– Oasis500 ventures
–iMENA
–Cisco Ventures (Not active)
–Jabbar Group
–MENAIP

20. Education
Culture
Finance
WORKSPACE
Support
Services
Policies &
Government
Support

21. Workspace for Entrepreneurs
• Incubator:
–Office space for rent
–Access to Mentors and Angel Investors
• Co-working Space:
–Shared physical space for entrepreneurs to work and network
–Access to mentors and networking opportunities
• Proof Of Concept Space: (FabLab or TechWorkshop)
– Physical space with equipment, instruments and tools (workshop)
– People come in to build prototypes

22. Workspaces in Jordan
• Incubators:
–iPark (Amman)
–Al Urdeniah Lil Ibdaa (Irbid, Karak, Jerash, Madaba)
–Migrate ( 2 spaces in Amman & 1 in Irbid)
–GROW in King Hussein Business Park
• Co-working space:
–V. Business center (2 spaces in Amman)
–ZINC (Zain)
–The Tank (Umniah)
–Orange
–Gaming Lab
• Proof of Concept centers
–NONE in Jordan

23. Education
Culture
Finance
Workspace
SUPPORT
SERVICES
Policies &
Government
Support

24. Support Services and Organizations
• Accelerators
– Institutes that invest in idea stage projects
– Host the startup for 3-6 months
– Introduce the startup to other rounds of investment
• Mentors
–Experts in the field who mainly provide advice to the
entrepreneurs for free
• Consulting
–Business consulting for SMEs and startups (will not be
covered in this report as there many in this area)

25. Support Services and Organizations
• Accelerators
– Oasis500
– Endeavor Jordan
• Mentorship programs
– Mowgli Foundation: UK based
– Oasis500 Mentors network
– BDC Mentors Network
– Endeavor Mentors Network
– Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

26. Education
Culture
Finance
Workspace
Support
Services
POLICIES &
GOVERNMENT
SUPPORT

27. Policies and Government
•Public policies play major role to support
entrepreneurs. The next model is from UNCTAD

28. Policies and Government
• National Entrepreneurship Strategy (Developed by JEDCO)
• National Science Technology & Innovation Strategy (Developed
by HCST)
• National Innovation Strategy (Developed by HCST)
• Intellectual Property (IP) Rights Law
• Several other National Policies and Strategies emphasis on
supporting Entrepreneurship

29. INTERNATIONAL DONORS

30. International Donors
•International Donors play major role in Jordan
in funding entrepreneurship support
organizations.
•Most active donors in this field are:
– USAID
– EuropeAid & ENPI (from the EU)
– European Investment Bank (EIB)
– UKAid