Zain Innovation Campus

About Zain Innovation Campus

Zain Innovation Campus, known as ZINC, is an innovation and entrepreneurship platform established by Zain Jordan in 2014. Wamda reported its launch on 23 November 2014 during the MENA ICT Forum, describing it as the first incubator of its kind in Jordan. It is not a startup or an independent company but an initiative of the telecom operator.

At launch ZINC occupied more than 630 square metres at King Hussein Business Park and represented an investment of over one million Jordanian dinars. Its facilities included a multipurpose room, a robotics corner, a gaming corner, a tele-presence room, a simulator and virtual reality labs. Wamda listed partners at launch including 500 Startups, Coventry University, Cisco and Lean Startup Machine. Ahmed Hanandeh, then Chief Executive Officer of Zain Jordan, said the aim was to make Jordan a base for entrepreneurs and startup incubation.

ZINC's flagship funding track is Zain Al-Mubadara. According to MENA Startup Digest, its most recent edition awarded a total of 75,000 Jordanian dinars: three early-stage ideas received 15,000 dinars each and three startups received 10,000 dinars each plus a year of incubation. The next cycle raises total support to 100,000 dinars. In 2021 Jordan News reported that the fifth edition provided 150,000 dinars to eight startups and seven business ideas.

Other programmes include YESJO for school and university students, a cybersecurity skills course run with Cyber Shield Academy, a hackathon on technology for people with disabilities, and DeZain Space for local designers, launched in 2018. In 2025 ZINC launched the ZINC.JO digital platform and worked with Wamda and Beyond Capital on a report on startups in Jordan covering 2018 to 2024. It also partnered with the Crown Prince Foundation to set up a joint innovation platform in Aqaba, and hosted the first phase boot camp of the Aqaba Sword-Fish Fund.

As of its 2025 review, published in January 2026, ZINC reported 253 incubated startups, more than 6,000 events, nearly 400,000 beneficiaries and nearly 150 strategic partners, with branches across Jordan including university campuses.