Tecnopark Morocco, the safe incubator for start-ups

As a major growth lever, the Technopark is part of Morocco's new development model, which relies on digital technology to transform and modernise the economic fabric. 

1. History of technoparks in Morocco
2. This is the strategic roadmap for the Moroccan technoparks
3. Tecnopark in figures
4. Business sectors and ecosystem
5. Services and support

The technopark aims to be a national and regional pole of entrepreneurship and innovation. The aim is to facilitate business support for any innovative project holder.

The Moroccan Information Technopark Company (MTC) is in charge of managing the technoparks in Morocco. It is a public limited company with 4.6 million euros in mixed capital. This project is the result of a public-private partnership. 

The Moroccan state contributes 35% of the company's capital, the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion 17.5%, Attijariwafa Bank 17.5%, the Central Popular Bank 17.5% and the Bank of Africa 12.3%.

History of technoparks in Morocco

The first technopark in Morocco was inaugurated in Casablanca in 2001 to launch the INFODEV innovation centre in 2004. Four years later, in 2008, a strategy was launched to improve the services and regionalisation of these institutions. 

In 2012, the Rabat Technopark was opened and obtained ISO 9001 certification in 2013, when it opened its doors to GreenTech. In 2014, the technopark became a member of the International Association of Sciences Paris (IASP).

In 2015, the northern region saw the inauguration of the Tangier Technopark where creative industries were integrated. While 2017 was the year of the acceleration of business growth and the facilitation of access to innovation and regional development of the Tecnopark.

In 2019, the Innovation City was inaugurated in Sus Massa; signing its existence in four regions of the Kingdom and ambition to further expand in others.

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Tecnopark in 2021, the Tecnopark Agadir was inaugurated, to then move towards the city of Essaouira by providing it with its own Tecnopark in 2023. 

This is the strategic roadmap for the Moroccan technoparks

In 2022, the new strategic roadmap was validated, with the vision of making the technopark the national and regional federator of innovation businesses. 

The defined mission, in accordance with this vision, is to support start-ups, ICT SMEs, Green Tech and cultural and creative industries in Morocco in their development, thanks to services adapted to the constraints of their sectors of activity.

The technoparks aim to expand the network of technoparks in the twelve regions of the Kingdom and adapt the vocations of future technoparks to regional sectoral specificities.

The strategy also specifies the values on which the functioning of the technoparks is based: transparency, fairness, proximity, listening and innovation. 

Tecnopark in figures

Tecnopark Casablanca has a capacity to host 200 companies, Rabat 40 companies, Tangier 100 companies, Agadir 100 companies, Essaouira 40 companies.

The Tecnopark network has supported 3,000 innovative start-ups, 1,400 of which have benefited from direct support from the MITC. More than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs have been generated in twenty years of existence. 

It hosts 450 start-ups as permanent residents and 25% of Tecnopark's start-ups export their services to four continents. The success rate for start-ups in the incubation period is 96%, while the overall satisfaction rate of the companies is 97%. 

In terms of occupancy, it reached 100% for operational sites with an annual turnover rate of 30%. 90% is the sustainability rate of the start-ups post-acceleration (five years).

Business sectors and ecosystem

The sectors of activity are diverse: blockchain, digital marketing, geolocation, cultural and creative industries, payment solutions, software development and integration, IT security, networks and telecommunications, cloud computing services, e-commerce, gaming, internet of things, Green Tech and big data.

The Tecnopark ecosystem is made up of the following:

• Accelerators to accompany the projects via courses, networking, etc.
• Incubators that develop entrepreneurship through advice, mentoring, coaching, etc.
• Investors who invest in innovative companies that generate added value and create jobs.
• Associations that encourage entrepreneurship and create synergy between the ICT sectors and the cultural industry

Services and support

Morocco's technoparks offer various services through: 

• Coworking spaces for the self-employed, student entrepreneurs or project holders.
• Organisation of events: conference room, training rooms and stand space. Proximity services dedicated to the community such as free workshops and seminars, sporting events, cultural and creative events...
• Ready-to-use plug and play premises, 24/7 secure access including maintenance and cleaning.

In terms of accompaniment, the technopark helps start-ups to have:

• Access to the market through innovation programmes, organisation of B2B meetings, pitching sessions, start-up participation in professional trade shows.
• Access to funding: in partnership with financial institutions, linking with structures labelled by the GCC, such as Innov'start, Innov'idea, Forsa, etc.
• Facilitating fundraising
• Access to networking: networking and follow-up with experts and business actors.
• Access to training: multidisciplinary workshops and assistance to start-ups in financial engineering. 
• Access to e-learning digital training platforms.
• Access to innovation: partnerships with technology giants IBM, HUAWEI, Microsoft and Amazon.
• Access to Fab Labs and innovation centres for technological improvement programmes. 
• Access to skills: partnership with national and international universities. 
• Access to a CV library on a digital platform.

It should be recalled that the Technopark Morocco's journey continues and three new structures will soon be inaugurated in Tiznit, Oujda and Fez.