In 2018, Tunisia was the first African country to sign a startup bill into law. Since then, Tunisia has officially recognized more than 650 startups, launched a €100 million fund of funds, and started the Flywheel program to support the ecosystem. Startup Tunisia offers grants of up to TND 200,000 ($63,000) to support the launch of new startup support programs. Air2 offers up to TND 200,000 ($63,000) to seed-stage startups to support them as they raise larger amounts.²

In 2022, KfW Development Bank subscribed €20 million to the ANAVA fund, which reached €60 million. ANAVA invested in two prominent VC funds in 2022: 216 Capital Fund I, a seed-stage fund that backs Tunisian tech-startups managed by 216 Capital Venture, and Badia Impact Squared, a late-stage fund investing in startups across MENA and managed by Silicon Badia. Badia Impact Squared led a $20 million round for Expensya, a Tunisian B2B Expense Management Platform, in 2021.

The Tunisia Support Project for Innovative Startups and SMEs received a $75 million loan from the ANAVA fund of funds, including $17 million to the $43 million INNOVATECH Fund, which launched in February 2022. The government’s 2023–2025 Development Plan includes green projects worth €2.1 billion, including a green hydrogen project, and a national roadmap on green hydrogen was launched in March 2023. Notable deals in the ecosystem include grocery delivery company Appetito’s acquisition of last-mile delivery startup Lamma for $12.5 million in June 2022 and Edtech GOMYCODE’s $8 million Series A the same month.