The Netherlands-based Talent Acceleration Platform or TAP announced that it has secured €951K in a funding round led by Wamda Capital to scale up its career acceleration programmes in Palestine and similar overlooked communities.
Other investors in the round include the World Bank, Loyal VC, and several angel investors.
Career acceleration programmes are essential as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region must open 300 million new jobs by 2050. There will be 150 million additional unemployed youth if unemployment issues remain unsolved.
In 2022 alone, the unemployment rate in Palestine was over 40 per cent for highly educated people under 30. It was even worse for women in this group, in which over 60 per cent were unemployed when TAP was launched there in the same year.
Companies are equally struggling to find the right talents to fill their positions. In Europe, more than 3 per cent of all available jobs in the region are vacant, and the unemployment rate reached 6 per cent, a new record since 2001.
Bridging universal talent and career opportunities
TAP is a Dutch-Palestinian initiative to contribute to solutions to address both challenges. The company specifically targets high-potential young people in overlooked regions in MENA by jump-starting their remote careers through 16-week online programmes.
The company upskills talents for roles in software development, sales, and digital marketing with additional classes in the future. To deliver programmes in both a scalable and personalised manner, TAP also aims to build its edtech platform concurrent with its other goals.
“We have developed our own curriculum for ‘Power Skills’, which develops effective communication, networking and other 21st century skills,” says Tabea Muller, TAP’s head of product.
“This unique content empowers our TAPers not only to be job-ready, but also instals a critical mindset, and creativity and fosters strong personalities with a growth mindset,” adds Muller.
Investment for growth and future goals
TAP has already trained over 100 students, of which over 80 per cent of them are now working full-time. In the coming years, the company seeks to scale its programmes to train over 1,000 university graduates each year.
Currently, the majority of companies that hire TAP graduates come from Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Fadi Ghandour, executive chairman of Wamda Capital, says, “We are really excited to support TAP and be part of their important work. Young Palestinians require new skill sets to enable them to fill the demand gap for tech talent in Europe and globally.”
“We think TAP is the company that is able to do this work and we will work closely with them to fulfil their mission of helping young talent in areas like Palestine find rewarding careers globally,” adds Ghandour.
TAP will expand its services to other countries in the MENA region in the coming years beyond its current activity in Palestine.
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