TikTok's Project Unicorn drives significant momentum for startups in MENA

Short video platform TikTok's Project Unicorn, launched in May in MENA, has seen significant momentum across the region, according to a report in Arab News.

Project Unicorn aims to aid the growth of the startups and VCs of the region across crypto, convenience services, fintech, healthtech, and edtech.

The report added startups in these areas have seen an uptick in growth on TikTok. It stated those in fintech saw close to a 252% increase in video views and the crypto sector saw close to a 2940% increase in video views.

The Project Unicorn Hub gives access to market intelligence, and industry insights, and also empowers startups to connect with global experts, join exclusive conferences and thought leadership programmes, and also gain access to video content.

Project Unicorn also provides support to startups from TikTok experts to build partnerships with creators and also activate campaigns. Joanne Chehab, head of business partnerships for managed services, global business solutions, MENA at TikTok, told Arab News that since the launch of Project Unicorn, TikTok has engaged and connected with over 80 startups in the region, and has delivered over 20 bespoke consultancy workshops by TikTok for business.

The company stated that startups via Project Unicorn achieve over 1.6 times more on their return on ad spends and close to 44% incremental reach compared with other digital channels. The STC pay wallet also reportedly used the platform to drive awareness about STC Pay in the Kingdom.