Medina Labs is a unique space in Canton, Michigan, designed to empower students and professionals looking to explore entrepreneurship, engineering, business, and technology. This unique incubator was designed and established by the Muslim Community of Western Suburbs (MCWS) to create a space that offers an accelerator, a makerspace, and a mentor hub.

Medina Labs was started in June of last year by local attorney Harris Ahmed, who is the president of MCWS.

Nearly a decade ago, Ahmed had the idea to create a place where local community members, especially the youth, could come together, develop their ideas, and help strengthen the community. The main organizers, Fahad Sidduqui and Ahmed, brought in the third co-founder, Ali Dado, who now handles all the technical aspects, including website automation and AI systems. The founders did the buildout, bought the tools, and after raising enough money, officially launched Medina Labs.

In an interview with Fahad Siddiqui, he mentioned, “What we do is upskill the Muslim community locally. We’re in Canton, so we serve surrounding areas and nearby Masjids. The whole idea is to help the community get skilled and be able to produce something out of it. We provide classes and workshops that may spark an idea. Then people think, ‘Hey, we can build something.’ That’s where the incubator comes in; we help them take that idea and bring it to fruition.”

Medina Labs has organized its space to ensure assistance and inspiration, no matter what stage individuals find themselves in. Whether they are uninspired but interested, they may seek such inspiration by attending workshops. After which, the incubator will bring the possible vision to reality.

“The biggest thing that we have is the Mentor Hub,” Siddiqui says, “No matter what you’re working on, you can come seek help. We have close to 50 mentors across different sectors: business, tech, health, sales, and more.”

The mentor hub at Medina Labs helps individuals looking to take their ideas, prototypes, and inspired products to the next level. Siddiqui offered an example: “someone might build a medical app. They may not be developers, so they partner up with someone. Then they need guidance, like whether the app is HIPAA compliant. They can speak to the doctors within our network here at Medina Labs.”

Medina Labs offers 3D printers, laser cutters, Raspberry Pis, and more to help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. “If someone already has an idea and a minimal viable product but needs teammates or exposure,” Siddiqui explained, “we have an accelerator program for that.”

Medina Labs has a large WhatsApp community of about 800 people, mainly locals. Using this outlet, Medina Labs hosts large events that often get around 200 attendees. These big events include demo days, hackathons, and workshops. “For example, we hosted a demo day with eight start-ups in collaboration with a university muslim business association. About 200 people attended. We also had a bazaar where small businesses showcased and sold their products. We also run hackathons. It is a three-day event where participants work in teams to solve a problem and present their solution at the end,” Siddiqui explained.

Medina Labs hosts fireside chats with industry leaders. In one event, Medina Labs hosted LinkedIn’s VP of Sales and the VP of The Humane Company.

“Each area is run by different team members,” Siddiqui mentions, “and I oversee everything; brainstorming ideas, coordinating speakers, and making sure everything runs properly. We also have a tech team that manages the website and WhatsApp group.”

Medina Labs runs its WhatsApp community system using artificial intelligence. Bots create flyers and handle various tasks; once they are released to the public, individuals and members will be referred to the bots for questions about events or staff contact information based on their interests or problems.

Aasiya Shoeb heard about Medina Labs through a hackathon they had organized at the Medina Activity Center. Shoeb said, “At the time, I had never attended a hackathon before, but since it was local, I figured it was worth showing up. Alhamdulilah, it ended up being a really impactful experience for me. It was a three-day event. Over those three days, I learned so much from the mentors and the domain experts, who were so generous for volunteering their time and knowledge. I ended up teaming up with three other women (who I’m still friends with to this day!), and we actually won the hackathon.”

For her winning project, Shoeb explains, “We built a tool that maps Canton addresses to their corresponding zoning laws. It was designed for use by an architect to help navigate local compliance. After the hackathon, my teammates and I became more involved with Medina Labs, and I got to know more about their mission.”

Medina Labs plans to expand beyond Canton, Michigan. During the short time Medina Labs has been around, they have been contacted by other communities nationally, such as Princeton University, and groups in Texas, who want to start similar initiatives.

Medina Labs is an amazing example of local Islamic institutions empowering young Muslims in Metro Detroit and America, supporting their goals and creating unique environments for individuals just like them.