Google for Startups Accelerator MENA & Türkiye: Applications Closed

Applications for this cohort closed on 31 August 2026. The Google for Startups Accelerator: Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye is a ten-week, equity-free programme for technical startups between Seed and Series A. Applications opened on 13 July 2026 and closed on 31 August 2026; the cohort runs from October to December 2026, ending with a Demo Day and graduation in December. The details below are kept as a record of the call, and as a guide for founders preparing for the next intake.

For the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, this is one of the few accelerators of its size whose eligibility map is drawn around the region rather than around Europe or North America. Founders in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Türkiye are inside the programme’s scope, and no equity is taken in exchange for participation.

Who the Programme Is For

Google lists four entry criteria for this cohort:

• Stage: startups demonstrating traction, ideally between Seed and Series A.
• Market: building a scalable product or service addressing a significant total addressable market.
• Technical depth: deeply technical companies, with a stated preference for those leveraging machine learning and AI.
• Commitment: participation and engagement from the CTO and other technical roles in the required programme sessions.

The programme is aimed at startups headquartered or based in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye. Founders should confirm their own country’s eligibility in the application form itself before investing time in the submission — the form, not this summary, is the authority on who can apply.

What Selected Startups Receive

The accelerator is equity-free: there are no fees and Google takes no stake in participating companies. Over the ten weeks, selected startups receive:

• Mentorship from Google teams and a global network of external experts across AI/ML, Cloud, UX, Android and Google Play, Web, product strategy and marketing.
• Google Cloud and Firebase credits through the Google for Startups Cloud Program — up to $350,000 towards the first year for eligible companies, subject to programme terms.
• Technical bootcamps hosted by Google engineers.
• Early access to new Google AI products through Trusted Tester benefits, plus Cloud TPU access for machine-learning research.
• Support on company and product strategy, delivered through a mix of one-to-one sessions, group learning and sprint projects.

The format is hybrid: remote training and mentoring across the ten weeks, with in-person elements including the Demo Day that closes the cohort.

Key Dates

With the deadline only days away, founders who are still assembling materials should prioritise the parts of the form that cannot be written quickly: traction metrics, the technical description of the product, and the availability commitment from the CTO and technical leads.

A Note on Access Rights for Links

The application form asks applicants to make sure that every link submitted can be opened by a Google representative using an @google.com address. Decks on Google Drive, Notion pages, private demo environments and password-protected videos are a common cause of incomplete reviews. Check sharing settings on each link before submitting rather than after.

How Applicant Data Is Handled

Google states in the application that data collected through the form is used to select startups for a Google for Startups Accelerator programme, and to notify contacts of open application cycles where they have registered interest. Applicants may also receive offers, promotions or other communications from Google if they opt in to marketing emails.

Applicant data is shared with internal parties and external vendors necessary to assess applications and run the programme, with those vendors processing data under Google’s instructions and privacy policy.

• Non-accepted applicants: data kept for a maximum of two years, unless deletion is requested earlier.
• Accepted applicants who graduate: application data archived for seven years after removal of personally identifiable information and uploaded documents. Alumni may separately consent to longer storage of some company data for long-term impact tracking.
• Rectification or deletion: requests can be sent to accelerator-application-info@google.com, with up to 14 days for processing.

Founders should read the privacy terms in the form in full before submitting.

Why This Matters for the Mediterranean

EuroMedAI’s interest in this call is structural rather than promotional. Capital and mentorship networks for AI-first companies remain concentrated on the northern shore, and the practical constraint for many founders in North Africa and the Levant is not the quality of the technology but access to the technical review, cloud infrastructure and investor visibility that turn a working product into a scalable company.

An equity-free, region-scoped programme addresses part of that gap directly — and it does so at the stage where it changes trajectories, between Seed and Series A. It is worth noting the boundary as well: this accelerator covers the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye, so Mediterranean founders based in EU member states fall under Google’s European programmes instead.

Apply

Submit through the official application form before 31 August 2026, and review the full criteria on the programme page first.