The Minister of International Cooperation: “Egypt Ventures is the first government-backed venture capital vehicle in Egypt, that reflects the government’s commitment in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Ahmed Gomaa: Egypt Ventures has invested EGP 145 million in business accelerators such as FalakStartups, EFG-EV Fintech, and Flat6labs.
By ; Ahmed Helmy
Generation Next Forum has just kickstarted a while ago, in coordination between the Ministry of International Cooperation and Egypt Ventures, under the Auspices of H.E. Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, with the participation of the Ministers of International Cooperation, Communications and Information Technology, Youth and Sports, Trade and Industry, in addition to members of the House of Representatives, alongside multilateral and bilateral development partners such as the World Bank and the United Nations, and over 400 representatives from the entrepreneurship community.
#GenerationNext aims to invest in the future, and highlight the Government of Egypt’s commitment to enhancing entrepreneurship and investing in startups through Egypt Ventures, which works on expanding the startups’ role in stimulating the Egyptian economy, and improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Egypt Ventures also aims to build competitiveness and catalyze GDP growth through direct and indirect investments.
The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al Mashat, stated that the #GenerationNext Forum is an opportunity for showcasing Egypt Ventures’ efforts, the first government-backed venture capital vehicle in Egypt, in enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem, noting that Egypt has the fastest-growing startups scene in the Middle East and North Africa.
H.E. Al-Mashat further elaborated that since its establishment in 2017, Egypt Ventures has directly and indirectly invested in 174 startups, with an amount of EGP 275 million through its accelerators EFG-EV fintech, Falak startups, and Flat6Labs. Egypt’s active entrepreneurial scene has attracted foreign investments and stimulated the private sector to invest in startups with more than EGP 1 billion.
Al-Mashat said that Egypt Ventures has formed a committee of experts in order to propose legislative reforms and ways of enhancing the ecosystem of tech startups, pointing out that the company aims to achieve its short-term goals of providing alternative financing opportunities for Egyptian entrepreneurs, and opening the doors for local investments for experienced Egyptians living abroad.
It also aims to exchange knowledge and strengthen international cooperation with Egyptian counterparts, as well as supporting startups to expand on the regional and international levels, while also building up their portfolios, which in turn will catalyze the GDP growth.
Egypt Ventures’ long term goals encompass the company’s expansion in the Middle East and North Africa, while attracting foreign and local investments. Recently, the investments made by Egypt Ventures managed to attract quadruple its worth from national and global investments, vitalizing its incubated startups.
For his part, Ahmed Gomaa, Chairman and Managing Director of Egypt Ventures, explained that the company was established by the Ministry of International Cooperation, the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, and the Saudi Fund for Development. Egypt Ventures seeks to invest in Egyptian cadres and entrepreneurs, empower youth to innovate, and support the goals of economic development.
Gomaa stated that the company follows a unique system for the governance standards and the selection of investments, and has also succeeded in channeling investments worth EGP 145 million in some of the most eminent business accelerators in Egypt, namely Falak Startups, EFG-EV Fintech and Flat6Labs; in addition to EGP 130 million of direct investments in companies with a maximum of EGP 30 million per company.
Furthermore, Gomaa applauded the government’s support to enable startups to enhance Egypt's position as a leading country in innovation and entrepreneurship by investing in the future, providing direct and indirect investments to emerging companies, and supporting their expansions at the local and regional levels; pushing towards a more versatile and competitive scene for the private sector in order to enhance the Egyptian economy.
The #GenerationNext event will host several discussions covering: the role of international financial institutions (IFIs) in developing the work environment for technology-based startups; the impact of partnerships with development partners to facilitate access to finance; and the action plan put forth for the implementation of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through startups.
The forum promotes Egypt as a destination for investment in the dynamic and tech-savvy startup scene; while also addressing how to create effective cooperation between large companies and startups to stimulate innovation through development projects.
Egypt Ventures was established in September 2017 with a paid-up capital of EGP 451 million, alongside the participation of the Ministry of International Cooperation, the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), and NI Capital.
The company is focused on investing in tech-based businesses in order to facilitate their access to financing, especially bank financing which offers great opportunities for expansion and high investment returns.
