Ammon News - Endeavor Jordan on Tuesday has announced the selection of 15 High-Potential Growth Companies (HPGCs) to join the first cohort of SURGE - Scale-up Roadmap for Growing Enterprises, a three-year programme co-funded by the European Union’s “Innovation for Enterprise Growth and Jobs” programme “Innovate Jordan”.

The selection came after a multi-step selection process, ending with a virtual pitch event to panellists representing all implementing partners, according to an Endeavor Jordan statement.

The selected HPGCs will benefit from a wide range of custom-tailored services aimed at improving core business functions, and enhancing access to finance and markets. This support will follow a 9–12-month roadmap “uniquely devised” for each HPGC based on their imminent needs to support their growth and market expansion efforts.

The services will tackle a variety of business challenges, and will include mentorship, one-on-one coaching, training, advisory and in-house consulting delivered by local and international subject matter experts.

This support will be extended to the founder(s) and the core management team of each HPGC so as to maximise growth potential, the statement said.

Additionally, and by leveraging Endeavor’s global network, SURGE will support the entrepreneurs’ efforts towards achieving their goals of market expansion and access to capital, according to the statement.

SURGE mandates that HPGCs are selected from wide-ranging sectors. Also, about 10-20 per cent need to have operations outside Amman, and 20 per cent should be women-owned or focused on creating women- friendly jobs.

This cohort has companies spanning across six sectors including: Agriculture; commerce: retail and consumer tech; education; enterprise software and services; fintech; and healthcare.

As for geographical presence, 10 per cent of the selected companies have operations outside the capital Amman, specifically in Irbid and Jerash, read the statement.

Moreover, 40 per cent of HPGCs in this cohort are either women-owned, or are focused on creating women-friendly jobs, significantly surpassing the 20 per cent requirement, according to the statement.

The selected companies are: Medmac, Sager, Aumet, Repzo, Tamatem Games, CertaCure, Maqsam, Little Thinking Minds, Amina’s Natural Skincare, Whyise, Eon Dental, Qistas, Jobedu, POSRocket and Yousef Afandi.

SURGE, which is implemented by a consortium led by Endeavor Jordan (not for profit) and includes Oasis500 and BeyondCapital, aims to foster the demand-driven growth and scaling of 45 HPGCs, 15 companies per year, throughout the three years. It will focus on strengthening their core business functions, and assisting them to identify and seize new market opportunities, according to the statement.