Mapping the Iraqi Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Growth Domains, Involved Actors, and Leading Programs

Executive Summary
As Iraq has been transitioning from a socialist economy, based on a welfare state model, into a more capitalist economy. The entrepreneurship scene has been developing over the last decade in a very evident way. Many support organizations, training centers, institutions, coworking spaces, etc. have emerged and led to the proliferation of the scene, where many startups have been founded, transforming the Iraqi economy by attracting investors and creating job opportunities. This has also encouraged the development of financial technologies, policies, and infrastructure to keep up with this transformation.

Therefore, this research aims to track down the entrepreneurial growth over the years in Iraq by properly structuring the ecosystem into categories and creating a database for entrepreneurs, founders, SMEs, stakeholders, investors, and the many other actors who are involved in the development of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. The research offers a roadmap for the main actors by presenting the collected results as a series of infographics which could serve as a reference point and a guide to advise future actions for all the actors within the ecosystem. The research builds upon a series of researches that KAPITA has undertaken that dives into the entrepreneurial scene. Namely: “Iraqi Startups Ecosystem Monitor'' V1.0 & V2.0, “Iraqi Entrepreneurs Journey v.1: An In-depth Analysis” and “Iraqi Entrepreneurs' Journey V.2: New Trends and Insights”.