African Pre-Seed #SpecialEpisode: Egypt Vibe Check + Lessons from VCs and Founders

The African Pre-seed Podcast

In this special edition #APSVibecheck episode, the African Pre-seed podcast travels to Cairo, where we speak to five players in the Egyptian tech ecosystem about what is happening on the ground in Cairo and the broader tech environment. These players are Karima El Hakim, Country Director Egypt, Plug and Play Tech Centre; Diego Garcia, Investor Africa Ventures at Plug and Play Tech Centre; Mahmoud Sabbour, Founder at Baggr; Nour Ahmadein, Founder of Bluworks, and Mohanad Elhartany, Senior Investment Associate at Arzan Venture Capital.

They share their views and insights on what's happening in the ecosystem and what is most relevant for founders in the land of the Nile.

Top 5 insights to unpack in the episode:

1. Lessons from Karima El Hakim, Country Director Egypt, Plug and Play Tech Centre

• Insights from working with governments as a VC [1:11]

2. Lessons from Diego Garcia, Africa Ventures, Plug, and Play Tech Centre

• What is the meta environment that founders are dealing with in Egypt? [6:29]

3. Lessons from Mahmoud Abbour, Founder at Baggr

• The factors influencing the provision of logistics infrastructure for e-commerce businesses in Egypt [14:01]

4. Lessons from Nour Ahmadein, Founder of Bluworks

• Addressing endemic and systemic challenges for the blue-collar workforce in North Africa [16:57]

5. Lessons from Mohanad Elhartany, Senior Investment Associate, Arzan Venture Capital

• The most significant challenges that founders have faced within the Egyptian tech ecosystem [23:40]

CONNECT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA:

• Connect with Karima El Hakim on Linkedin
• Connect with Diego Garcia on Linkedin
• Connect with Mahmoud Sabbour on Linkedin
• Connect with Nour Ahmadein on Linkedin
• Connect with Mohanad Elhartany on Linkedin

Are you a Founder learning the ropes of the Egyptian Tech ecosystem? Please share what you're learning from some of your successes and setbacks on social via the #APSVibecheck #AfricanPreseedPodcast hashtags or email us via [e-mail]

🔌 USEFUL RESOURCES:

• Egypt Deep Dive Part I: Early successes and the rise of bottom-up tech entrepreneurship
• Egypt Deep Dive Part II: An ecosystem awash in concern, resilience, and bottomless potential

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