Before coming to Iran, we weren’t sure of what to expect apart from what we had read online and in the Lonely Planet. Here we have a look at what happens behind closed doors.

Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, millions of Iranians have migrated to other parts of the Middle East, to the US, Europe, and other areas of the world. With the new government in place, people are hopeful and many Iranians feel they want to give back to the new generation — either by mentoring or funding them.

Every year, 5,000 engineers graduate from university, out of which 1000-1500 are of world-class standards. And yet, we were told that there are currently 400,000 unemployed engineers in Iran and underemployment is a rampant problem. Using this “lost generation” of engineers could be a great way for the country to innovate. The rate of entrepreneurship is low in Iran, but a few things can be done in order to solve this problem.

During our trip to Iran, we met the founders of Shafajoo.com, a local startup based in Tehran. Shafajoo means “health/cure finder” in Persian and their goal is to improve healthcare access across Iran.