Yomken

Towards a Solution

In  2012, Istebdaa’Inc (a non -for-profit organization) launched Yomken. Yomken is an open-innovation and crowd funding platform for the Arab World that tries to bridge the gap between the challenges faced by micro-and small entrepreneurs (the informal MSEs) working mainly in low-tech and informal manufacturing industries and the innovative ideas and skills of potential problem solvers (graduation projects, innovative solutions from recently graduated engineers, designers, researchers who are looking for a job, and the Arab diaspora).The main objective of such a model is to provide decent employment for the youth in the Arab region while tapping into their entrepreneurship spirit.

Yomken offers two main services:

1. An open-innovation platform for low-tech MSEs,  non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government agencies to post the challenges they face either publicly or anonymously on the platform in which they will be linked or matched to creative solutions using the “wisdom of the crowd”. These challenges range from product development, production process optimization, usage of alternative raw material etc.
2. A market place, where innovators and creative people can publish their innovative projects and patents, market researches to with the aim to link with financial vehicles to get support financial support or other collaborators who can assist in further developing their projects

Yomken also offers a series of other products:

• Innovation and Management Innovation: Yomken through its diversified networks has the capacity to link the challenges it identifies through its online community with academic institutions and other innovation circles to provide support in:
• Consulting on innovation management and policy.
• Monitoring and evaluation of projects.
• Economic analysis at the micro, medium and macro levels.
• Technology foresight for business planning.
• Workshops to identify linkages and possible gaps.
• Data analysis using social network analysis tools, econometrics and other advanced tools.
• Capacity-building services: It provides training manuals on areas related to e-marketing, product life cycle, and project management.
• Open-Innovation services:
• Design, management of innovation competitions in product design ideas.

Key achievement of Yomken so far:

• 78 Projects and innovations have been funded to solve specific challenges in the society.
• Five different training modules have been established by Yomken for students, innovators, potential entrepreneurs, NGOs, and Civil servants.