The 500 Global in Egypt Scale Up Programme, which helps founders grow their companies, has chosen 15 Egyptian tech startups for its inaugural class.
The initiative is a seven-week program run by 500 Global, one of the most active venture capital firms in the world, in collaboration with the Egyptian Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). It is targeted at pre-Series A and Series A startups in Egypt.
The program prepares founders for future success by providing them with individualized mentoring and growth strategies. On October 1, the program began at the ITIDA-run Creativa Giza Hub, also known as The Factory. On November 16, the Scale Up Showcase will serve as its climax.
Birdnest, a company that creates and manages tech-enabled rental properties, Blnk, an AI-enabled digital consumer finance platform that is promoting financial inclusion in Egypt, Convertedin, an e-commerce marketing operating system, Dresscode, a fast fashion company that helps customers find reasonably priced, high-quality clothing, and FriendyCar, a P2P car-sharing provider, are among the startups chosen for funding.
ILLA, a logistics holding company that provides door-to-door solutions for FMCG businesses, Khazenly, an omnichannel technology platform for on-demand logistics and fulfillment, MQR, which provides widely accessible, high-quality gathering spaces with hospitality-led service and amenities, Nowlun, an online freight forwarding platform, and NowPay, a fintech startup developing a financial wellness platform for employees, are also participating.
The remaining members of the cohort are: Orcas, which provides customized live learning experiences for K–12 students; Rology, an AI-assisted teleradiology platform; Suplyd, which is creating a digital infrastructure for restaurant supply chains; and Sylndr, Egypt’s top used-car marketplace. O7 Therapy is revolutionizing wellness and mental health by building MENA’s largest all-in-one mental health platform.
“Despite a challenging global and local macroeconomic backdrop, we found Egyptian founders proving that Egypt remains a thriving technology market in the Middle East and Africa. This was evident in the highly competitive process for the Scale Up programme where we met stellar calibre continuing to build resilient and healthy companies with enormous potential. We aim to provide a nourishing environment for the selected leaders to grow and scale their reach sustainably. The programme brings to Cairo seasoned mentors, investors, and exports to equip the founders with needed learnings and support on their growth trajectory” said Amal Enan, Partner at 500 Global.
“With this programme, we aim to develop talent in the region even further for local startups to achieve greater scale, expand in their respective regions, and bring their unique concepts and technologies to consumers and enterprises globally. We’re grateful for ITIDA’s continued partnership in developing Egypt’s startup ecosystem.”
