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Empowering Refugee Entrepreneurs: Liliana Amundaraín on the Impact and Growth of the THSN by SINGA Incubator in Strasbourg

‘Their resilience, unwavering determination and ability to adapt are real assets when it comes to entrepreneurship.’

Liliana Amundaraín is the coordinator of the THSN by SINGA incubator in Strasbourg, one of the youngest in the network, which opened its doors in 2022. Liliana takes stock of its first two years.

What are the special features of the Strasbourg incubator?

We're the first SINGA incubator with a European vocation, with a Franco-German bi-national presence. We firmly believe that people of foreign origin have something to contribute to international cooperation, to make it even more diverse and intercultural.

Cross-border cooperation is a reality in our region, and we are making our entrepreneurs very aware of this point. Our experts and partners are French and German business actors, and we regularly organise events at the German SINGA office in Karlsruhe. For our entrepreneurs, this opens new horizons and development prospects, particularly for English speakers.

Our second special feature is our focus on the Social and Solidarity Economy. This sector is a very important economic vector in our region, with many structures and partners very committed to the subject. We also present these models to our entrepreneurs, because we know that they can be very promising for their business.

How are project sponsors selected?

Our project leaders must be beneficiaries of international protection and have refugee status. We then look for applicants who want to set up in the area on a long-term basis, with the intention of developing their business over several years. Above all, we support high-quality projects that contribute to the development of the local economy and bring wealth to the region.

How does the support programme work?

Each time, we support a group of 15 project leaders over a period of 6 months. The idea is to introduce them to the market as early as possible and enable them to quickly test the feasibility of their project.
To do this, we offer group support, with around twenty workshops (70 hours) on a variety of subjects such as legal training, value proposition, etc., and individual support with regular follow-up every three weeks.
The group dynamic is very positive, enabling the male and female entrepreneurs to forge strong links with each other. Most of them have fallen down the career ladder and no longer have any social or professional ties. Getting to know new people and other cultures encourages them and gives them strength.

We have also decided to offer individual French as a Foreign Language (FLE) lessons to everyone, for one or two hours a week. By making rapid progress in French, the people we incubate are able to express themselves better, improve their skills and regain their confidence.

How would you sum up the first two years?

We have supported three batches and 31 refugee entrepreneurs, seven of whom had a pre-existing structure. In two years, two businesses have been set up, two others are in progress and one of our entrepreneurs has been granted a loan from France Initiative, which is a great source of pride for us. We're still a young incubator and we need to give some projects time to grow, but we're confident about the future.

What is the nature of your partnership with The Human Safety Net?

The Human Safety Net is a partner of Singa, which helped set up our Incubator in Strasbourg. As such, The Human Safety Net leads the incubator consortium, alongside all our partners, and takes part in the high points of the promotions, such as the selection committee and the end of the support period. In some cases, The Human Safety Net co-organises these events with us. We also mobilise the Foundation to give entrepreneurs' projects a helping hand.

In Strasbourg, we are lucky enough to have Generali agents, who put their extensive professional networks at the service of our project leaders. We call on them regularly and they are a great support to us.

What are the development prospects for THSN by SINGA in Strasbourg?

Our ambition was to support 30 people a year, and we've achieved that, with equal numbers of men and women in our latest intake. We're going to continue our initiatives to raise awareness of entrepreneurship, with the addition of a third person who has just joined the team. The aim now is to make ourselves more visible to newcomers and to support more mature projects.