1.2 EUROPE, Finland. Startup Refugees Success story Baghdad Barbers (BGD Barbers): a hairdressing service Startup Refugees enabled refugees with hairdressing skills to meet and collaborate as Baghdad Barbers. The business first offered its service in a pop-up shop concept (meaning no permanent location, they move around and pop up in events, festivals or in a series of scheduled times and locations). Through opt-in social media engagement and tech solutions such as online booking for appointments, and good connections to the start-up network of Helsinki, the business has gained much visibility and now has a permanent shop. Source: BGD Barbers Facebook page Press: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meet-iraqi-refugees-shaking-start-scene-finland-1609645 https://finland.fi/business-innovation/startup-refugees-innovate-integrate-finland/ 1. Basic information 1.1 Initiative A mix of incubator and job-matching service provider 1.2 Country and locality Finland (based in Helsinki, but also works in 10 other cities, and planning to expand to 4 new cities) It began as a community initiative started by a media company which attracted volunteers and professionals doing pro bono work (e.g. web developers, lawyers). But after getting traction in the country, they spun out into an NGO. 2. Description 2.1 Objectives In 2015, like other European countries, Finland received an influx of refugees. Owing to a lack of integration initiatives, this influx created some discontent domestically. On the refugee side, they experienced a long wait time in reception centres (a lot of the refugees who came in 2015 have yet to receive asylum status or a residential permit), and this long waiting time represents a productivity loss for both refugees and host country. Startup Refugees is working to integrate refugees into Finnish society through entrepreneurship. They found that a significant number of refugees in Finnish reception centres are interested in entrepreneurship, and so they are working to help these refugees become entrepreneurs. Throughout the process, they also create platforms to enable interactions between Finnish citizens and refugees. The support that they offer includes business incubation (helping refugees who have entrepreneurship aspirations to draw-up a business model, connecting them with investors, helping them navigate Finnish regulations), and providing refugees with the social capital necessary to start a business in a new country, such as mentorship programmes and networking with domestic businesses 2.2 Target groups Refugees in Finland with entrepreneurial aspirations and those wanting to add a professional skill, or seeking work 2.3 Approaches and activities Startup Refugees visits refugee centres to collect data on refugees’ professional skills, goals and entrepreneurship potential. These data are used to match refugees with local entrepreneurs and businesses to facilitate business creation and to create jobs and new businesses. Most of the organization’s resources have been channelled into collecting these data. The next stage of the project is to use this data to build a web portal, called “Match Made in Start-up”, through which refugees can be matched with Finnish investors or employers. In addition, the portal will also be a platform through which Finnish citizens can interact with refugees in a variety of ways, such as at cultural events and workshops. Another stream of activity is a recent partnership with the city of Helsinki, which is seeking better ways to engage with potential entrepreneurs. Ten entrepreneurs from Startup Refugees joined the programme and will receive assistance to start their businesses. This assistance will include designing a business plan, navigating permits and paperwork, meeting investors and training to pitch their business plans. 2.4 Institutional setting Startup Refugees is now an NGO that receives funding from various donors and grants. For staff support, it has relied on volunteers and pro bono work in its activities. For example, the current Startup Refugees website was developed pro bono by an IT service company, and the same company is helping them to develop the “Match Made in Start-up” project. 1.3 Time of implementation Initiated in 2015, officially operational as an NGO in 2016 1.4 Implementing organization(s) Startup Refugees 1.5 Nature of the implementing organization(s) NGO 2.5 Funding arrangements Multiple donors. 2.6 Impact and results In the period from 2016 to 2017, Startup Refugees profiled the skills and professional goals of 1,800 newly arrived refugees in 11 cities, offered 125 jobs, 42 traineeships, 70 business workshops for 589 participants, 379 courses and education opportunities, 16 profession-specific networking events for 151 participants and supported 35 businesses of newcomers. 3. Analysis and discussion 3.1 Success factors and challenges Key success factors: • Great initial publicity, which has created momentum and has helped to attract the engagement of private partners and communities in the programme • An excellent network of local professionals and entrepreneurs, universities, private sector companies and city governments, which has created an ideal environment to support the growth of new entrepreneurs –particularly important for refugees, who would otherwise face great difficulties in building contacts in a new country • A team of committed volunteers, which has helped a lot in the groundwork data collection in reception centres • A well-made digital platform that will be able to connect refugees and local businesses and investors Main challenges: • Legal status: Without certainty in length of stay (without asylum status granted or a residential permit cleared), it is difficult for refugees to imagine a business plan, let alone commit to one. In many instances, refugees who were previously interested in starting a business have had to focus instead on securing wage employment. • Logistical challenges: Finding volunteers for the groundwork was quite easy for Startup Refugees, because of the publicity and attention they received when they started up. But they are short of translators. In the refugee centres, communication can be tough as it is difficult to find translators who speak Arabic, Pashtun or very specific dialects in a relatively small country such as Finland. Currently, the web portal enables volunteers to offer their skills to help the initiative which can make finding translators easier. 3.2 Replicability Startup Refugees has scaled up its operations to 11 cities and is looking to expand in another 4. Considering that it has been fully operational for only one year, this represents significant expansion. Given its reliance on volunteers, well-established private sector partnerships and IT capabilities, this initiative is more suitable for replication in developed countries with good IT capabilities. One of the most important lessons to emerge from this initiative, in addition to the importance of having a strong network of volunteers and professionals willing to do pro bono work, is that the “Match Made in Start-up” portal represents a potential source of revenue which would help Startup Refugees to become less dependent on donations.
