By : Basel Khaled
Impact- centered startup accelerator Changelabs is back in Egypt to hold its second cohort demo day.
Following the success of the first round last year, where over 4 million EGP was given to ambitious startups as funding, 13 graduating startups are pitching to investors, industry experts, and entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders on the 30th of September as part of the program’s demo day.
The startups, who are poised to create significant economic value while leveraging technology and delivering jobs have joined the Changelabs accelerator program in partnership with several leading sponsors like Green for Growth Fund, Amazon Web Services, and FMO the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. Building on the importance of sustainable impact and its effect on Egypt’s growth and development, five of this year selected startups tackle the issue of green energy, with other startups focusing on various impact tracks like FinTech, HealthTech, and EdTech.
The participants will pitch their innovative and game changing business models at the September 30 demo day drumming up investor interest and aspiring to penetrate the Egyptian market. Karim Samra Co-Founder of Changelabs highlights the importance of entrepreneurial initiatives for Egypt’s economic and sustainable development “With the Government of Egypt’s vision to achieve a sustainable footprint,
we believe entrepreneurship, shifting to new business directions dictated by the challenges we know and face every day, and the potential of Egypt’s youth are the ultimate levers that will help put Egypt in a leading position - Sustainable impact is emerging as one of the key verticals in the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem” The Changelabs accelerator program provides training, mentorship, and support to the selected innovative startups, so they are able to face the challenges of the real-market practically,
turning their ideas into investment-ready businesses. Last year ten graduating startups experienced a world class curriculum and a network of global mentors, with several of them receiving funding from Changelabs and its partners. “We are proud to be showcasing the progress of our accelerated startups this year.
We’ve got some innovative ideas and concepts among our 13 startups, from green energy providers like electric vehicle charging and electric scooter rentals, to FinTech services and fashion retail” says Changelabs Co-founder, Jamal Khayyat. It is worth mentioning that several of the beneficiaries from last year’s program have gone on to achieve great success with one of the graduates, for example, Youspital - an online platform providing access to discounted healthcare services - has served 9,000 patients so far and is offering home testing to clients, providing a safer alternative to administering drive-through coronavirus tests.
OTO courses, another of the 2019 graduates that offers general and specialized English language courses to individuals and businesses, recently announced the launch of a new platform “Dardsh English” in sight of Covid-19 implications - they now have 100+ employees have served 15,000 customers. The startups that will be showcasing their business
models at the Demo Day are: Delta Oil: Egyptian green energy startup focused on oil recycling. Dizaria: First electric vehicle charging service provider in Egypt. Hand Over: Green design and build company specialized in delivering environment-friendly building solutions Seavo: Egypt’s first designer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly watercrafts. Vesstoss: offers an energy-efficient, public transport solution for ‘closed communities’ in Egypt - electric scooter rentals. Baramoda: Agri-tech start-up that is focused on developing organic fertilizers from the waste products of sugar factories.
Dayra: The company sells pre-owned high-quality clothing online at affordable prices DomDom: User-led digital graphic design platform offering a graphic editor with 1000s of design assets and exclusive Arabic stock photos.
El-Dokan: Enterprise e-commerce software designed for large and growing retail stores in MENA. Hospitalia: In-home healthcare services marketplace. Mawelny: Online platform that connects individuals and SMEs in need for credit finance with banks and other lenders. PraxiLabs: Virtual lab environment for schools and Universities seeking to deliver online education.
Square Corner: Platform focusing on culture enhancement by providing fun and engaging gamified virtual team building activities. Over the last 10 years, Changelabs has been turning ideas into startups, with programs in Amman, Cairo, and Beirut, training over 10,000 people, launching over 40 startups, and providing more than 400 job opportunities.
