Egypt Startup Ecosystem Canvas (Draft v1) 

 
See the most recent infographic at
https://fi.co/insight/egypt-s-startup-resources-list-for-entrepreneurs-accelerators-incubat
ors-investors​.

Contributions below will be included in the next release!  

General Tips​:
● Do not edit the highlighted areas.
● Each resource should only be linked, and listed once​, or else the list will become unwieldy.
○ When deciding an appropriate category for a resource, simply choose the ​earliest
category or startup phase that the resource ​primarily​ serves.
○ Also, if one resource has several "brands" (ex. a co-working space that has a separate
event series), it is perfectly appropriate to list out those brands as separate resources
(listed under their different brand names).
● List all resources in alphabetical order​. This helps deter favoritism and keeps your canvas as
objective as possible.
● Open up contributions to your local community.
● The Startup Ecosystem Canvas was created to make your ecosystem more transparent and
inviting to newcomers.​ Keep this goal in mind.
● Download the worksheet, see all guidelines, and view examples at ​http://fi.co/canvas​.

This community resource was created by the F ​ ounder Institute​, the world’s premier pre-seed
startup accelerator. If you are building a company in Egypt learn more at ​http://FI.co​.

Startup Stages
 
There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, 
sequential framework. 

1. IDEA-STAGE 
This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team 
and product. 

1. Inspire  
a. Startup Media:​ Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB
groups/ newsletters, Startup Digest)
i. Disrupt Africa Egypt
ii. Egyptian Streets Technology
 iii. EgyptInnovate
iv. MENAbytes Egypt
v. Startup Digest Egypt
vi. Startup Scene Egypt
vii. Wamda Egypt
viii. WeeTracker Egypt

b. Inspirational Events: ​Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and
inspirational meetups)
i. Egypt Entrepreneurship Summit (Alexandria)
ii. RiseUp Summit (Cairo)
iii. Startup Weekend Alexandria (Alexandria)
iv. Startup Weekend Cairo (Cairo)
v. Tech Revolution (Cairo)
vi. Techne (Alexandria)
vii. Techne Summit (Alexandria)

2. Educate
a. Best Practices:​ Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than
inspire, like Startup Founder 101, etc).
i. Cairo AI Meetup (Cairo)
ii. Cairo Bitcoin Meetup (Cairo)
iii. Cairo R Users Group (Cairo)
iv. Cairo Women in Machine Learning & Data Science (Cairo)
v. Cairo's Data Science Community (Cairo)
vi. DevOps Egypt Meetup Group (Cairo)
vii. Egypt Blockchain Meetup (Cairo)
viii. Geek Developers (Cairo)
ix. PyData Cairo (Cairo)
x. Startup Founder 101 (Cairo)
xi. Startup Grind Alexandria (Alexandria)
xii. Startup Grind Cairo (Cairo)
xiii. Tafra.io (Cairo)

b. Training & Feedback:​ Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like
Founder Institute, etc)
i. Agile Egypt (Cairo)
ii. Alexandria Startup: Idea to IPO (Alexandria)
iii. AlMakinah (Cairo)
iv. Cairo Kubernetes Meetup (Cairo)
v. Cairo Startup: Idea to IPO (Cairo)
vi. Egypt Scrum (Cairo)
vii. EgyptJS (Cairo)
viii. Founder Institute
ix. GDG 6 October (Madinat Sittah Uktubar)
x. GDG Alexandria (Alexandria)
xi. GDG Cairo (Cairo)
xii. GDG Helwan (Helwan)
xiii. GDG New Cairo (New Cairo)
xiv. GDG Shorouk (El Shorouk)
xv. GeekFactory (Cairo)
xvi. Google Cloud Developers Community Egypt (Cairo)
xvii. IBM Developer Egypt (Cairo)
xviii. icealex (Alexandria)
xix. Lean Startup Machine (Cairo)
xx. ProductTank Cairo (Cairo)
xxi. Passion Point (Cairo)
 xxii. Startup Pitch Bootcamp: Learn from Alexandria's Top Entrepreneurs (Alexandria)

3. Validate
a. Team Formation: ​Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage
recruitment and cofounder matching”)
i. Alexandria Startup Traction and Funding Network (Alexandria)
ii. Business Women of Egypt (Giza)
iii. Cairo Women Techies (Cairo)
iv. CoFoundersLab
v. Egypreneur
vi. Endeavor Egypt (Cairo)
vii. Founder2be
viii. FounderDating
ix. Global Entrepreneurship Network Egypt
x. Startup Co-Founder Matching: Find the Right Partner in Alexandria (Alexandria)
xi. Startup Co-Founder Matching: Find the Right Partner in Cairo (Cairo)
xii. Startup Networking Mixer: Meet Cairo Entrepreneurs (Cairo)
xiii. StartUs
xiv. TechWadi MENA Roadshow (Cairo)
xv. Women Entrepreneurs Network

b. Build First Product​: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and
resources)
i. Cairo Hackerspace (Cairo)
ii. Cairo Robotics Meetup (Cairo)
iii. Cairo Software Architects (Cairo)
iv. Code Wild Egypt: Zoohackathon (Alexandria)
v. Divi Egypt (Cairo)
vi. Docker Cairo (Cairo)
vii. FabLab (Alexandria)
viii. Hackaday Cairo Meetup (Cairo)
ix. Hivos Green Hackathon (Cairo)
x. InsurTech Egypt Hackathon (Cairo)
xi. Space Apps Challenge (Cairo)
xii. Void Makerspace (Cairo)

2. LAUNCH-STAGE 
In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and 
prepare for the next step. 

1. Start 
a. Establish:​ Law firms & banks for startups
i. ALEXBANK
ii. Bank ABC
iii. Bank Audi
iv. Banque du Caire
v. Banque Misr
vi. Challenge Law Firm (Cairo)
vii. Commercial International Bank
viii. Credit Agricole Egypt
ix. Dentons (Cairo)
x. EGBank
xi. Eldib Advocates
 xii. Emirates NBD Bank
xiii. HSBC Egypt
xiv. Levari (Cairo)
xv. Marghany Advocates (Cairo)
xvi. Mersaw (Alexandria)
xvii. Mishkat Law Firm (Alexandria)
xviii. NAL & Partners (Cairo)
xix. National Bank of Egypt
xx. QNB Alahli
xxi. SAIB Bank
xxii. The Legal Clinics (Cairo)
xxiii. The United Bank of Egypt
xxiv. Youssef & Partners (Giza)

b. Workspace:​ Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
i. 3alnsya Coworking Space (Cairo)
ii. 302Labs Coworking Space (Cairo)
iii. Alex Lab Coworking Space (Alexandria)
iv. AlMaqarr Coworking Space (Cairo)
v. Aristo (Cairo)
vi. Blooms Coworking Space (Alexandria)
vii. Coursida (Cairo)
viii. ESKA (Cairo)
ix. Flat6Labs (Cairo)
x. Flux Coworking Space (Alexandria)
xi. icealex (Alexandria)
xii. icecairo (Cairo)
xiii. Laila Coworking Space (Cairo)
xiv. M3mal (Alexandria)
xv. My Coworking Space (Alexandria)
xvi. New Cube Coworking (Cairo)
xvii. O Coworking Space (Alexandria)
xviii. Peak (Cairo)
xix. Startup Haus Cairo (Cairo)
xx. TWENTY ZONE (Cairo)
xxi. Urban Station (Cairo)
xxii. WOORK HUB (Cairo)
xxiii. Work Lounge (Cairo)
xxiv. Workstation (Alexandria)

2. Develop
a. Formalize: ​Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.
i. Adel Saad & Co. (Cairo)
ii. Axcell (Giza)
iii. BFG-Egypt (Alexandria)
iv. Enjaz (Cairo)
v. Enozom (Alexandria)
vi. Fathalla-CPA
vii. Inova (Alexandria)
viii. JOBNILE (Alexandria)
ix. Keys HR & Recruitment Services (Cairo)
x. Mazars Mostafa Shawki
xi. Nahr Development (Cairo)
xii. Nilecode (Cairo)
xiii. PILLARS (Cairo)
xiv. Premier Egypt (Cairo)
xv. RunProf (Alexandria)
 xvi. TAWZEF (Cairo)
xvii. The App Concept
xviii. The Seven Layers (Cairo)
xix. Valux (Cairo)

b. Prepare for Seed:​ Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events
and resources for startup TEAMS)
i. AfriLabs
ii. AIM Incubator
iii. Egypreneur
iv. AUC Venture Lab (Cairo)
v. GESR (Cairo)
vi. Hemma Incubator (Assiut)
vii. icealex (Alexandria)
viii. INJAZ (Cairo)
ix. INNO 101 (Alexandria)
x. ITIDA/TIEC Incubation Program
xi. MINT Incubator
xii. Nahdet El Mahrousa (Cairo)
xiii. StartEgypt
xiv. Startups of Alex (Alexandria)
xv. Sustaincubator (Cairo)
xvi. The GrEEK Campus (Cairo)
xvii. TIEC Incubation Program

3. Launch
a. Seed Accelerators: ​Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
i. 1864 Accelerator (Cairo)
ii. Changelabs (Cairo)
iii. EFG EV Fintech (Cairo)
iv. Falak Startups (Cairo)
v. Flat6Labs Cairo (Cairo)
vi. Inno101 (Alexandria)
vii. Startup Reactor
viii. Startupbootcamp FinTech Cairo (Cairo)
ix. TIEC Entrepreneurship Accelerator

b. Pitch & Demo:​ Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
i. AUC Venture Lab Demo Day (Cairo)
ii. BETAPITCH (Cairo)
iii. Changelabs Demo Day (Cairo)
iv. Falak Startups Demo Day (Cairo)
v. Flat6Labs Cairo Demo Day (Cairo)
vi. Founder Hotseat: Pitch Your Startup to Alexandria Investors & Advisors (Alexandria)
vii. Founders' Support Demo Day (Cairo)
viii. Get in the Ring Cairo 2020 (Cairo)
ix. Pitch by the Pyramids (Giza)
x. Seedstars (Cairo)
xi. Startupbootcamp FinTech Cairo Demo Day (Cairo)

3. GROWTH-STAGE 
Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to 
connect them to startups. 

1. Recognition  
 a. Investor Networking​: Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate
connections with professional investors)
i. Alexandria Angels (Alexandria)
ii. AUC Angels (Cairo)
iii. Egyptian Business Angels Network (Cairo)
iv. Glint Consulting (Cairo)
v. Kamelizer (Cairo)
vi. Ki Angels (Cairo)
vii. Middle East Investment Network
viii. Nile Angels
ix. Startup Angels (Cairo)
x. The Cairo Angels (Cairo)

b. Major Media: ​Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently
champion local businesses)
i. Ahram
ii. Al Wafd
iii. Arab Finance
iv. Cairo Scene
v. Daily News Egypt
vi. Egypt Today

2. Funding
a. Angels / Micro-VCs:​ Seed-stage investors (search AngelList, Gust, Crunchbase)
i. Adel Boseli
ii. Ahmed El Kalla (Cairo)
iii. Aly El Shalakany (Cairo)
iv. Amr Helal (Cairo)
v. Heba Ali
vi. Karim Elsahy (Cairo)
vii. Karim Khorshed
viii. Marcos Vicente Blanco
ix. Menna AbdelRahman (Cairo)
x. Moataz El Etreby
xi. Noha El Ghazaly (Cairo)
xii. Rasha Kamal (Giza)
xiii. Sherif Saleh
xiv. Tarek El Kady (Alexandria)

b. Venture Capitalists:​ Series A and beyond

i. A15 (Cairo)
ii. Accelero Capital (Cairo)
iii. Actis (Cairo)
iv. Algebra Ventures (Cairo)
v. CVentures (Cairo)
vi. Delta Inspire (Giza)
vii. EdVentures (Giza)
viii. Egypt Ventures (Cairo)
ix. Endure Capital (Cairo)
x. Ezdehar (Cairo)
xi. Gemini Capital (Cairo)
xii. HIMangel (Cairo)
xiii. Ideavelopers (Cairo)
xiv. innoventures (Cairo)
xv. Lorax Capital Partners (Cairo)
xvi. Pride Capital (Cairo)
 xvii. Sawari Ventures (Cairo)
xviii. Tanmeya Capital Ventures (Cairo)

3. Growth
a. Infrastructure: ​Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for
capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
i. Aims
ii. Allianz
iii. Aqarmap
iv. Boyden (Cairo)
v. Chubb
vi. Coldwell Banker
vii. Instant Offices
viii. Lockton Insurance (Cairo)
ix. MatchOffice
x. OLX
xi. Property Finder
xii. Regus
xiii. Signium (Cairo)

b. Expansion:​ Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich
companies to grow and scale)
i. Acumen Consulting (Giza)
ii. BDO Egypt
iii. Booz Allen Hamilton (Cairo)
iv. Consulting Pad (Cairo)
v. Deloitte
vi. Ernst & Young (Cairo)
vii. Foresight Consulting (Giza)
viii. Ghaya Consulting
ix. Grant Thornton (Cairo)
x. Hill+Knowlton Strategies (Cairo)
xi. Kantar Millward Brown (Cairo)
xii. Kantar TNS Global (Cairo)
xiii. KPMG
xiv. McKinsey & Company (Cairo)
xv. Moore Stephens Egypt
xvi. Passion Point (Cairo)
xvii. Protiviti (Cairo)
xviii. PwC

4. SUCCESS STORIES 
Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved
liquidity.
a. Aqarmap (Cairo)
b. Bashar Soft (Cairo)
c. Bosta (Cairo)
d. Dsquares (Cairo)
e. Edfa3ly (Cairo)
f. elmenus.com (Cairo)
g. Elves (Cairo)
h. Fawry (Cairo)
i. Forasna (Cairo)
j. GoodsMart (Cairo)
 k. Hawaya (Formerly Harmonica) (Cairo)
l. Mumm (Cairo)
m. Halan (Cairo)
n. homzmart (Cairo)
o. Instabug (Cairo)
p. Lynks (Alexandria)
q. Robusta (Cairo)
r. Swvl (Cairo)
s. Synapse Analytics (Cairo)
t. Vezeeta (Cairo)
u. WUZZUF (Cairo)
v. Yaoota (Cairo)
 
 
Supporters
 
To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters. 

1. EVANGELISTS 
Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies. (i.e. Local leaders who have taken a leadership
position, speak at a lot of startup events, mentor all the programs, etc)

a. Abdelhameed Sharara (Cairo)

b. Ahmed Bastawy (Alexandria)
c. Ahmed Bolica (Cairo)
d. Ahmed Ramadan (Alexandria)
e. Ahmed Sabbah (Cairo)
f. Ameer Sherif (Cairo)
g. Amira Swilam (Cairo)
h. Con O'Donnell (Cairo)
i. Dina El-Mofty (Cairo)
j. Dina el-Shenoufy (Cairo)
k. Gamal ElDin Sadek (Cairo)
l. Hani W. Naguib (Cairo)
m. Inji Amr Borai (Cairo)
n. Mahmoud Noaman (Alexandria)
o. Moataz Kotb (Cairo)
p. Moe Hafez (Cairo)
q. Mohamed Abd El Aziz (Alexandria)
r. Mohamed Bakry (Cairo)
s. Mohamed Belal (Alexandria)
t. Mohamed Rady (Alexandria)
u. Mohamed Tohami (Cairo)
v. Mostafa Farahat (Cairo)
w. Mostafa Kandil (Cairo)
x. Nabil Shalaby (Mansoura)
y. Nagla Akl (Alexandria)
z. Norhan El Sakkout (Cairo)
aa. Rafeh Saleh (Cairo)
bb. Ramez Mohamed El-Serafy (Cairo)
cc. Rania Ayman (Cairo)
dd. Rawan El-Sayed (Alexandria)
ee. Riham Adel (Alexandria)
ff. Sami Al-Ahmad (Cairo)
 gg. Tamer Azer (Cairo)
hh. Valentina Primo (Cairo)
ii. Waleed El-Ramly (Cairo)
jj. Walid M. Eid (Alexandria)
kk. Yasmine Nagaty (Cairo)
ll. Yousef ElSammaa (Cairo)

2. GOVERNMENT 
Public organizations that facilitate local economic development
a. Alexandria Business Association (Alexandria)
b. Alexandria Chamber of Commerce (Alexandria)
c. AmCham Egypt (Cairo)
d. Cairo Chamber of Commerce (Cairo)
e. Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
f. EgyptInnovate
g. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
h. GAFI (Cairo)
i. Information Technology Industry Development Agency (Giza)
j. Information Technology Institute
k. Invest in Egypt
l. Micro, Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA)
m. Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (Giza)

3. TALENT 
Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

1. Local Universities ​(universities with prominent technical or business programs)

a. Ain Shams University (Cairo)
b. Alexandria University (Alexandria)
c. American University in Cairo (Cairo)
d. Arab Academy for Science Technology & Maritime Transport (Alexandria)
e. Assiut University (Assiut)
f. Cairo University (Cairo)
g. Future University in Egypt (Cairo)
h. German University in Cairo (Cairo)
i. Mansoura University (Mansoura)
j. Misr University for Science & Technology (Cairo)
k. Nile University (Cairo)
l. October 6 University (Giza)
m. The British University in Egypt (Cairo)

2. Local Employers ​(Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices)
a. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (Cairo)
b. Amazon.com (Alexandria)
c. Dell (Cairo)
d. DXC Technology (Giza)
e. Ericsson (Giza)
f. Etisalat (Giza)
g. GE (Cairo)
h. HP (Giza)
i. Huawei (Giza)
j. IBM (Giza)
 k. Intel (Cairo)
l. Microsoft (Giza)
m. Nokia (Cairo)
n. Oracle (Giza)
o. Orange (Giza)
p. Samsung (Cairo)
q. Siemens (Cairo)
r. Vodafone (Giza)

Note: The Startup Ecosystem Canvas is a perpetual work in progress. Learn more at
http://fi.co/canvas,​ and comment on this document to provide your feedback.

This community resource was created by the ​Founder Institute​, the world’s premier pre-seed
startup accelerator. If you are building a company in Alexandria or Cairo learn more at ​http://FI.co​.