Cairo, Egypt – 25-26 October, 2010
On October 25, TechWadi hosted the launch of the first Plug and Play incubator in Cairo. Over 1000 leading US and local VCs, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders joined together in Smart Village to build bridges and promote entrepreneurship in Egypt.
The next day, on Oct. 26, pre-selected entrepreneurs met with mentors from Silicon Valley and MENA in a friendly roundtable to gain advice, refine business plans and expand networks. That afternoon, TechWadi mentors addressed a packed audience.
Read our post-event coverage below, and tell us what you think via our website or email to feedback@techwadi.org
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The morning began with presentations from TIEC CEO Tarek El Sadany, and the two-person team that is bringing Silicon Valley to Cairo; Ossama Hassanein, Chairman of TechWadi, and Saeed Amidi, founder and CEO of PlugandPlayTechCenter. Ossama gave a quick overview of the history and current trends in Silicon Valley, including the increasing importance of angel financing, seed camps, incubators and early-stage venture capital, and discussed TechWadi’s most recent efforts in creating a mentorship network. Minister Dr. Tarek Kamel announced Egypt’s comittment to contribute $5 million of matching funds to a seed fund targeted at technology entrepreneurs in PlugandPlay Cairo. |
| Egypt-based venture capitalist Ahmed El Alfi, Chairman of Sawari Ventures, moderated the afternoon VC panel. Of venture capital investing, Ahmed remarked "if you need a calculator to figure it out, you shouldn’t do the deal", it either makes sense or it doesn’t. Ideavelopers Managing Partner Tarek Assaad spoke of his optimism for Egypt’s technology sector: "there is a myth that Egypt is only a consumer of technology, but if you look at our portfolio companies and others, Egypt is creating and reapplying technology as well. Silicon Valley VC Ayaz Ul Haque discussed some of his most interesting startups: "replication plays. Taking an idea successful in the US, Europe, even India or China, and reapplying it to the local market." Ahmed agreed: "localization takes the same innovation and ingenuity". |
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 The entrepreneurs panel was next, moderated by Abdullah Assal, the entrepreneur in charge of launching PlugandPlay Cairo. Ziad Aly, founder of me3almobile.com, highlighted the largely untapped market of mobile applications for feature phone vs smart phones in Egypt and the Middle East (more than 50M subscribers in Egypt alone). Khaled Bassyouny, co-founder of elCinema.com, spoke about the opportunities in filling-in the infrastructural gap. He gave an example with his company: when they tried to launch an online movie theater booking system they discovered a whole new opportunity of developing the back end systems for theaters. Samer El Sahn, CEO of eSpace Technologies, one of the best software houses in the region, stressed on the high quality of Egyptian engineers that is on par with the western educated engineers. Moustafa El Kholy, CEO of SilMinds, offered a unique insight on how he was able to produce fabless semiconductor patented designs that sell to US semiconductor giants. |
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During the Forum we also heard from Alex Shalaby, Chairman of Mobinil and of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Egypt; the national team from French University of Egypt (UFE) has won the SIFE global championships two years in a row, demonstrating the potential of Egyptian innovators. World Bank MENA Sector Manager Simon Bell shared a rich overview of the region’s productivity, fundamentals, and potential for the future. He emphasized the need for partnerships with Silicon Valley as well as improvements in the competitive environment for businesses to flourish. BDNA founder & CEO Constantin Delivanis shared his journey from Alexandria, Egypt to Stanford University and finding success in Silicon Valley. He also discussed his perspective on the emerging opportunities in the internet’s rapidly growing infrastructure, as well as the most important consideration of a young startup: the needs of its customers. |
Andy Duncan, CEO of Boardwalktech and a successful serial entrepreneur, shared key words of advice for Egyptian entrepreneurs:
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Other leading mentors were TechWadi100 Charter Members from Silicon Valley and the broader MENA region, including Sam Badawi, CEO of Perceptia Devices, Samir Kamal, Chairman of Ascendiente, and Ahmad Al Sari, Executive Partner at Malaz Capital. At the day’s end Ossama Hassanein presented an overview of the social media, social gaming, and mobile application markets with some amazing facts and statistics. A low-barrier, high-growth industry, the new frontiers of the internet represent a strong potential area of new growth for Egypt’s entrepreneurs. |
 Dr. Tarek Kamel Minister of CIT Government of Egypt |
 Tarek El-Sadany, PhD CEO TIEC |
 Saeed Amidi Founder & CEO PlugandPlayTechCenter |
 Ossama Hassanein, PhD Chairman Rising Tide Fund |
 Sherif Kamel, PhD Dean AUC School of Business |
 Alex Shalaby Chairman Mobinil |
 Ayaz Ul Haque Managing Director ePlanet Ventures |
 Constantin Delivanis Co-Founder & CEO BDNA |
 Essam Badawi President & CEO Perceptia Devices |
 Hanan Abdel Meguid CEO OT Ventures |
 Ahmed El Alfi Chairman Sawari Ventures |
 Andy Duncan Chairman & CEO Boardwalktech Inc. |
 George Chammas Founder & Vice-Chairman NavLink Inc. |
 Wael Ghonim Head of Marketing Google MENA |
 Ahmad Al Sari Executive Partner Malaz Capital |
 David Marcus Founder & CEO Zong |
 Simon Bell Sector Manager World Bank |
 Tarek Assaad Managing Partner Ideavelopers |
 Abdullah Assal EIR Rising Tide Fund |
 Samir Kamal, PhD Chairman Ascendiente |
| 9:30 | Registration & Check-In |
| 10:00- 11:00 |
Opening Session How to make the dreams of Egypt’s entrepreneurs come true by providing a complete ecosystem and interconnection with Silicon Valley Tarek Sadany, PhD - Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) Ossama Hassanein, PhD- The Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Silicon Valley Saeed Amidi – Launch of PlugandPlay Cairo: a Bridge to Silicon Valley Minister Dr. Tarek Kamel – Egypt’s Commitment to Promoting Entrepreneurship |
| 11:15- 11:30 |
The World Bank’s Perspective The importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in promoting economic development in the MENA Region Simon Bell (Sector Manager, World Bank) |
| 11:30- 12:15 |
Entrepreneurs: Challenges, Opportunities, and Aspirations Egypt’s best and brightest share their journey to launch, operate, and expand vibrant startups…and the challenges they face Ziad Aly (founder, me3almobile.com) Abdullah Assal (EIR, Rising Tide) Khaled Bassyouny (co-founder, elCinema.com) Samer El Sahn (CEO, eSpace Technologies) |
| 12:30- 13:15 |
Seed Financing, Angel Investors, and Venture Capital Investors from Silicon Valley and Egypt discuss the creation of an effective Angel network and vibrant VC industry in Egypt Ahmed El Alfi (Chairman, Sawari Ventures) Tarek Assaad (Managing Partner, Ideavelopers) Ayaz Ul Haque (Managing Director, ePlanet Ventures) Walid Bakr (Director, Riyada Enterprise Development) |
| 13:15- 14:00 |
Emerging Opportunities: Mobile, Digital Media, and the Internet
Leading CEOs and serial entrepreneurs from the US discuss lessons learnt and targeted advice for Egyptian business leaders on the rise Constantin Delivanis (co-founder & CEO, BDNA) Andy Duncan (Chairman & CEO, Boardwalktech) David Marcus (founder & CEO, Zong) |
| 14:00- 15:00 |
Lunch and Networking
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As recovering economies seek to create jobs, spur innovation, and remain competitive globally, entrepreneurship has rightly been recognized as the engine of future growth. TechWadi is a California-registered non-profit organization seeking to build bridges between the United States and the MENA region in order to promote entrepreneurship and foster economic development. TechWadi is leading a grass-roots movement pioneered by Silicon Valley-based diasporas to provide effective, targeted business mentorship, support, and angel financing to high impact entrepreneurs.
The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) was formed in association with academia, the government, and the private sector to develop and support Egypt’s workforce through educational, technological and financial resources. As part of the IEC, viable ICT start-ups can receive support such as funding space in the Smart Village incubator buildings, expertise in taking a product or service to market, and help with intellectual property protection.
