Tunisia is solidifying its position as a regional hub for innovation, as highlighted during the Innovation Summit Tunisia 2025 held today in Tunis at the Hotel Laico. The event, organized under the aegis of ICC Tunisia in partnership with Terna Innovation Zone, and supported by Mind the Bridge and Elis, brought together industry leaders, international experts, and key players in digital transformation, reaffirming the country’s strategic role in the North African innovation landscape.

A key moment of the Summit was the presentation of the Tech Scaleup Tunisia 2025 Report, published by Mind the Bridge with the support of Terna, ICC Tunisia, and Crunchbase. The report provides an in-depth analysis of Tunisia’s tech ecosystem, outlining its progress, opportunities, and the challenges that remain.

“There is a global race for innovation among regions and countries –  Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge, commented – Tunisia’s startup ecosystem is emerging and has the potential to become a regional innovation hub in  the broader Africa’s evolving tech ecosystem. To accelerate its innovation journey and establish itself as a key player, more capital, enabling policies and stronger connections with top-tier ecosystems are essential.”

Tunisia’s Innovation Landscape

Over the years, Tunisia has been steadily building its scaleup ecosystem, and as of 2025, it is home to 17 scaleups (0,14 scaleups every 100.000 inhabitants) placing it in the “Early Standup Stage” of the Innovation Ecosystem Life Cycle curve, together with over 600 ecosystems across the globe (and the vast majority of African countries) and among the top 10 tech innovation hubs of the continent. This progress is largely driven by a combination of government-led initiatives, quality entrepreneurial talent and culture, and an increasing number of high-growth potential startups.

Among Tunisia’s standout success stories is Instadeep. Founded in Tunisia, it secured over $100 million in funding before being acquired by BioNTech, marking one of the largest tech M&A deals ever recorded in Africa. This acquisition not only validated Tunisia’s capacity to produce world-class tech companies but also set a benchmark for future success.

Largely driven by this series B, 2022 marked a pivotal year for Tunisia, surging at 13 scaleups and $171 million raised and then maintaining steady growth since then, nearing the $200 million total funding milestone by 2024.

Beyond scaleups, Tunisia’s startup landscape is rapidly expanding, widening the base of what the report describes as the “innovation iceberg”. With more than 1,450 startups (12.5 per 100,000 inhabitants), the country has a deep and diverse pipeline of early-stage ventures that could fuel further growth, provided they receive the right support and funding to scale.
In terms of geography, the capital city of Tunis, along with the surrounding areas of Ariana, Manouba, and La Marsa, accounts for 75% of the country’s startups and 88% of the scaleups. In the meantime other hubs (such as Sousse and Sfax) are emerging.

A vast potential to be unlocked 

However, despite these positive trends (scaleup density ratio and startup density ratio outperforming those of Morocco and Algeria), Tunisia still faces significant challenges in financing innovation. The report reveals that Tunisian scaleups have collectively raised $0.2 billion, representing 0.4% of the country’s GDP. 

While this figure is encouraging, the country still ranks 9th in the African scaleup ecosystem, remaining well below the levels needed to unlock Tunisia’s full innovation potential and compete with more mature ecosystems (like South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya). Bridging this funding gap will be crucial for Tunisia to solidify its position as a regional tech powerhouse and attract further international investment.

A Roadmap for Tunisia’s Innovation Future

Tunisia has strong foundations to become a regional innovation leader, thanks to proactive government policies such as:

  • National Program for Business Incubators, launched in 1999 to integrate business incubation within higher education institutions. 
  • The 2001 Law on Technopoles, which played a key role in creating innovation hubs that integrate education, research, and tech development
  • The Startup Act, which introduced tax incentives, funding support, and legal frameworks to encourage entrepreneurship, and the Startup Act 2.0, aiming at introducing new provisions to address evolving challenges within the startup ecosystem.
  • The Digital Tunisia 2025 Plan, an evolution of the previous Digital Tunisia 2020 strategy, aimed at boosting digital transformation and economic modernization.
  • The Terna Innovation Zone Tunisia, inaugurated on January 29, 2025, as the first innovation hub in Africa and the MENA region managed by Terna, reinforcing Tunisia’s role in fostering innovation.