Bahrain Fintech Bay (BFB) and the US State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), have teamed up to launch a virtual acceleration programme called “Build for Bahrain”.

The programme aims to enable local startups to develop innovative solutions that address the challenges in the health and business continuity sector while supporting the economic recovery of the Kingdom and future-proof its digital economy.

“We are proud to be launching this first of its kind programme in the Kingdom of Bahrain with our partners at the US Department of State Middle East Partnership Initiative and we believe tangible cross border collaboration will pave the way for future impactful projects.

‘Build for Bahrain’ is one of several programmes introduced by Bahrain FinTech Bay’s ‘Innovate for Bahrain’ initiative which aims to accelerate economic recovery, health, and prosperity and as an outcome crystalise the kingdom’s long-term commitment to innovation,” said Khalid Dannish, CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay.

The programme will first accept and review 20 tech-enabled proposals from local startups.

The shortlisted teams will be put into an incubation programme at the BFF, through which they receive mentorship from industry experts and work on developing their minimum viable product (MVP).

The finalists will have the opportunity to pitch at a demo day, where only three teams will receive funding to further develop their solutions.

source: wamda

Amanat will act as their principal strategic partner for the MENA region to help drive growth and business development opportunities

Amanat Holdings has invested AED 18.4 million in BEGiN, a US-based leading education technology company, as part of their Series C financing round.

As part of the investment, Amanat becomes BEGiN’s principal strategic partner in the MENA region, leveraging Amanat’s deep industry expertise and unparalleled network to help drive growth in the region.

The acquisition is Amanat’s first ever venture capital investment and is in line with Amanat’s strategic goals to invest in rapidly-growing education and healthcare technology players with strong regional growth aspirations, demonstrating commitment to playing a key role in the ongoing digitization of the education and healthcare sectors in the region.

BEGiN is focused on early childhood education through its platform aimed at children between two and eight years of age.

The company will be partnering with some of its investors for both content and distribution. Amanat will act as their principal strategic partner for the MENA region to help drive growth and business development opportunities.

Amanat joins other strategic and financial investors including LEGO Ventures, Sesame Workshop, Gymboree Play & Music, 3One4 Capital, Trustbridge Partners and Interlock Partners. “

Earlier this month, BEGiN launched the industry’s first comprehensive early learning program, HOMER Learn & Grow, expanding the brand’s reading program to additional subjects including math, creativity, socio-emotional learning and critical thinking skills delivered across digital, physical and in-person learning experiences.

source: sme10x

The Algerian Confederation of Citizen Employers (CAPC) has launched a support program for innovative projects, based on applied knowledge and creativity, called “Innovate Algeria”. 

“Innovate Algeria is a catalyst program for the knowledge-based economy. It aims at the development of entrepreneurial projects that are based on applied knowledge, creative development and autonomy in the design and engineering of new products and services “, the president of the Startups commission at the CAPC, Mr. Bezzitouni Chams-Eddine said. “Through this program, investors under CAPC, but also all interested investors, will embark on venture capital to encourage startups, which are companies generally not eligible for bank loans.”

president of the Startups commission at the CAPC, Mr. Bezzitouni Chams-Eddine

Here Is What You Need To Know

The new initiative of the employers’ confederation will offer promoters of innovative projects support ranging from training to opportunities for fundraising and internationalization, including strategic advice and business development.

The president of the CAPC, Mohamed Sami Agli, noted that the “Innovate Algeria” program included, as a first action, the support of the winners of HackAlgeria.

Thus, winners of HackAlgeria will be able, thanks to this initiative, to promote their projects during important meetings dedicated to innovation such as the Emerging-Valley, in December 2020 and VivaTech during the year 2021, but also at MIT.

These winners will also join, at the beginning of October, the “Innovate Algeria” program, which will support them, until the end of Aprill, 2021 in the realization of their projects, after the end of the fundraising operations, which would start in May. 2021.

source: afrikanheroes

Startups that understand the new definition of ‘normal’ will try to bring out the best in themselves by grabbing new opportunities and identifying new customers.

Undoubtedly, it is a time to despair. But it is also a time to hope. Yes, the rapidly spreading Coronavirus pandemic has put immense strain on large businesses and startups alike. And yes, investors are on edge, valuations have come down and skilled workers are being laid off across industries. However, I still believe that we have reasons enough to remain hopeful—to see the silver lining in the form of unique opportunities that the crisis will soon throw open.

As we prepare to go back to a world which will be changed forever, the time is ripe to reset everything as we knew it. If ever there was a time where it is a level playing field for both celebrated startups and the more modest ones—it’s now. Startups that understand the new definition of ‘normal’ will try to bring out the best in themselves by grabbing new opportunities and identifying new customers.

Also, the pandemic that has gripped the planet will be over soon enough. Keeping this optimistic outlook in view, India’s burgeoning startup ecosystem should remain vigilant for the birth of new ideas that will compel it to re-imagine business for the post-pandemic world. In this article, I examine key pockets of opportunity that the Coronavirus human tragedy is opening across sectors.

Healthcare tech to lead the way
Patient care and public safety have come to the forefront ever since the fight to contain the lethal virus started. As of May 30, there are close to 6 million Coronavirus cases have been reported worldwide. Innovative HealthTech companies are on the cusp of a major transformation that will create virtual health solutions by leveraging AI (Artificial Intelligence), biomedical engineering, 3D printing, nanotechnology and robotics, among other digital technologies to counter the Coronavirus.

U.S.-based HealthTech company Metabiota has deployed machine learning capabilities to present an early and accurate analysis of the geographical spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. Other technology-driven solutions to tackle the virus are also emerging, such as behavioural and biometric data from medical wearables that detect positive cases of Coronavirus.

While startups are on an overdrive to mitigate or suppress the spread of the infection, Microsoft has also pulled out all stops to find innovative patient care solutions. The tech major has partnered with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) to deploy its AI-powered chatbot called Clara to assess symptoms and risk factors associated with the Coronavirus. The technology aims to track high-risk individuals and suggest a contingency plan to help them gain access to medical resources in a timely manner.

There are an estimated 4,800 HealthTech startups in India that are leveraging cutting-edge technologies to help the government fight the pandemic. Bengaluru-based startup Bione has developed a genetic test using predictive analysis tools to check every individual’s immunity against the virus. In the weeks ahead, more technological innovations will be seen in the HealthTech sector to identify Coronavirus patterns and enable healthcare professionals to effectively focus on patient care.

ACT (Action Covid-19 Team), a collaborative effort led by VCs and leading entrepreneurs, with the active support of State governments and other stakeholders, has backed several homegrown HealthTech startups to combat the pandemic. In particular, the State governments of Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab have initiated rapid action task forces to accelerate scalable solutions to fight the lethal virus.

For instance, with direct support from the Telangana government, ventilator manufacturers Ethereal Machines and Max Ventilators have been shortlisted to manufacture and deploy ventilators to the Army and COVID wards. Ethereal is creating moulds of ventilator splitters to help hospitals cope with the shortfall of the crucial life-support device.
Another HealthTech startup, MolBio, has developed an indigenous, portable and battery-operated RT-PCR machine to scale India’s testing capabilities, even in the remotest areas. Since MolBio is not only making testing kits but the PCR machines itself, they have pitched in to address the huge bottleneck in testing capacity.

The massive shortage of PPE in the country has led HealthTech startup Karkhana.io to deploy 3D Printing, injection moulding, machining, fabrication, and design facility, to produce PPEs. This includes face shields, aerosol boxes and goggles. The startup also produces tools for manufacturing other PPEs (mask machines, gown machines), and ICU equipment valves, connectors and ventilator parts.

A new path for mobility
The novel Coronavirus has potentially altered the definition of a hyper-connected world. The global transportation system and urban centres will never be the same again. The crisis has been an eye-opener for the transportation ecosystem to adapt quickly to travel restrictions, social distancing and other measures to contain the spread of the virus at the local, national and international levels. With massive disruptions impacting commuters worldwide, it is time to pause and think creatively about enabling an agile and seamless mobility system.

The phase after Coronavirus abates will be pivotal as it will set the trends for the future of urban mobility. The strict lockdowns imposed by governments across the world has spurred mobility companies to take unique initiatives to create a safer world for everyone.

The CORE MaaS (COvid-19 REsilient Mobility as a Service) is a project developed by Iomob- a decentralized, open source mobility marketplace-- in partnership with Factual, a boutique consultancy that specialises in all things mobility. The initiative calls for ideas to develop an open SDK-based middleware platform that integrates available mobility service providers (MSPs), public transport, taxis, and other mobility services across multiple cities and regions within Continental Europe. The platform uses intermodal routing algorithms to allow users select available mobility options within a selected geography that optimises social distancing.

Experts opine that the time is ripe for humankind to adopt driverless vehicles as social distancing is likely to stay. It is believed a drastic shift in consumer behaviour due to the Coronavirus will lead to a spurt in driverless cars and eventually mark the decline in shared mobility.

Coronavirus has resulted in other innovative solutions too. For instance, the stay at home directive issued by governments has put a new spin on how future deliveries will be handled by restaurants, pharmacies, and grocery owners, among other businesses. Contactless delivery is the new paradigm of innovation to emerge that ensures the safety of customers and delivery personnel.

In the U.S., Zipline, a medical drone delivery company, is awaiting FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) approval to roll out deliveries without human contact. Its objective is to deliver critical medical supplies to hospitals and ensure that home equipment reaches individuals to enable telemedicine appointments. Autonomous robot vehicles for delivery have also emerged as one of the best practices employed by the transportation sector. Such vehicles were deployed in Wuhan—the epicentre of the Coronavirus—to supply essentials to the city’s residents. Going forward, more such innovations are in the anvil to minimise human intervention in logistics.

The EdTech sector is poised for further growth as expenditure on AR/VR technologies for digital learning is expected to increase to $12.6bn in 2025. Strangely, it took the Coronavirus tragedy to show that technology-enabled education is the new horizon of opportunity for EdTech startups everywhere.

E-commerce and changing customer behaviour
As the Coronavirus threat continues to spread, self-quarantines and social distancing have become the norm. In these gloomy times, e-commerce businesses have received a boost as consumers have turned to online shopping and other digital options, in lieu of physical shopping environments. Further, with an increasing number of people working from home, consumer behaviour will be affected by the current disruptive economic and social circumstances created by the Coronavirus.

Recently, e-commerce players such as Amazon, Grofers, Flipkart and Bigbasket saw a sudden surge in demand, resulting in product shortages in certain categories. In the coming months, online retailers can expect a further spike in orders as the average consumer’s shopping patterns have undergone a radical change. I believe now would be a good time for the e-commerce industry to capitalise on the new opportunities that the shift in consumer behaviour presents.

Redefining the new norm of Work from Home
The rapidly spreading Coronavirus has heralded a new era in the future of work that is here to stay. Work from Home has become the new norm adopted by organisations. It has emerged as a potential gamechanger in how businesses will operate once the crisis blows over. However, in the face of uncertainty, businesses can use the remote learning paradigm to create an enabling environment for their workforce.

The mandatory social distancing policy has led to businesses investing in new technology tools to make work from home seamless and efficient. Organisations across the world are using newer technologies and virtual web conferencing/meeting tools to facilitate remote working. Zoom, GoToMeeting, G Suite and Webx are some leading tools that have enabled organisations to communicate with employees, clients, vendors and other partners. The significance of remote working hits home when technology behemoths Google and Facebook announced an extension of working from home policy until end 2020. It’s not likely employees will return to office full-time anytime before 2021.

As it turns out, the new rules of work have important implications for workforce productivity and the way we will work and interact in the future.

Startups: Change the world order in the age of Coronavirus
The world as we knew it before the Coronavirus has already transformed since the virus outbreak. With social distancing and work from home being the new normal, stakeholders in the Indian startup ecosystem are pivoting to channelise innovation.

From basic apps to complex diagnostic algorithms, startups are developing innovative tech solutions –across industries—to give back to the society. The Indian government has also trained the spotlight on innovation. Its flagship Startup India initiative has launched a competition for budding innovators and companies to contribute creative solutions to fight the Coronavirus crisis.

In the weeks ahead, agile startups will gain further visibility as innovation enablers that aid people and businesses deeply affected by the pandemic. Thus, the need of the hour is for startups to swiftly adapt to the new changes and seize the unique opportunities presented by the pandemic. These organisations should rise to the challenge and assume a larger role to support local communities, the country and the world during this difficult time.

The question everyone is asking is whether we will ever go back to the earlier normal after the outbreak ends. I don’t see the clock being reset. The Coronavirus will usher in a new normal that will create a unique set of opportunities. Startups across the world should seek opportunity in chaos and capitalise on the new trends to build the new normal.
If a journey of growth has to be continued, now is the time for startups to display resilience, chutzpah and creativity. Only when they think outside the box can they innovate and create future opportunities for business.

source: economictimes.indiatimes

The fund will help early-stage Indian and Southeast Asian companies to set up base in Masdar City

ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies, launched a Dh1.1 billion venture fund to invest in early-stage Indian and Southeast Asian start-ups and help them set up a base in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City.

Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) Fund will be based at the emirate’s financial hub, Abu Dhabi Global Market, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The programme will be managed by New York-based Falcon Edge Capital.

AWI will help the budding Asian businesses gain market access to the UAE and the broader Middle East North Africa region.

These companies will benefit from the “exceptional digital infrastructure” already in place as well as highly advanced regulatory frameworks and other R&D initiatives, it said.

“As a national champion for the Abu Dhabi government, we are working to embed a performance culture across our broad portfolio that includes many of our emirate’s most important strategic commercial entities,” Mohammed Hassan Alsuwaidi, chief executive of ADQ, said.

ADQ is looking to maximise long-term impact of its investment on society, and will invest in companies that are “pioneering cutting-edge technologies and developing new and innovative business models”, he said.

“Nurturing Abu Dhabi’s start-up ecosystem will attract entrepreneurial talent, create jobs and other opportunities, particularly for those working in data science, artificial intelligence and other knowledge-based industries,” Mr Alsuwaidi said.

Mayank Singhal, head of venture capital and technology at ADQ, said AWI will help the company invest in start-ups that will generate sustainable, long-term financial returns and bring young entrepreneurs to Abu Dhabi.

"We will aim to support them in ways that accelerate their development to create a new wave of winners in the tech landscape," he said.

"These start-ups will also benefit from access to ADQ’s leading companies in sectors such as healthcare, food and agri-business, utilities and FinTech.”

ADQ, formally known as Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, has a portfolio of conglomerates, spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy, including utilities, tourism and hospitality, aviation, transportation, logistics, industrial, real estate, media, healthcare, agri-foods and financial services.

Its portfolio includes Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, Abu Dhabi Airports, Abu Dhabi Ports, Etihad Rail, Abu Dhabi Health Services (Seha), insurer Daman, media companies Abu Dhabi Media and twofour54 and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, among others.

Last week ADQ agreed to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Al Dahra Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based multinational animal feed and essential food commodities specialist firm, as it expands its portfolio of food and agriculture businesses.

The move is part of state-controlled ADQ’s strategy to support the country's agri-foods sector ecosystem and boost sustainable and diversified food supply in the UAE, it said in a May 13 statement.

In April, ADQ fully acquired National Petroleum Construction Company after buying 30 per cent stake it did not control from minority shareholder Consolidated Contractors International Company for an undisclosed sum.

Abu Dhabi–based NPCC is an engineering, procurement and construction company involved in a number of oil and gas projects in the GCC, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

source: thenational

Schools and universities were among the first institutions that shuttered their doors around the world in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. According to UNESCO, more than 150 countries have implemented nationwide closures, forcing over 80 per cent of world’s student population, estimated at more than 1.4 billion learners, to stay at home.

These closures have placed unprecedented challenges on governments to ensure learning continuity, likewise on teachers, students and parents. The only viable solution has been e-learning, paving the way for a boom in education technology (edtech) startups.

Across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), edtech was rarely at the forefront of investment deals prior to the pandemic.

Back in 2017, just $2 million was invested in edtech startups in the region, but as schools looked to upgrade their system and incorporate more technology into their curricula, the level of investment rose to $21 million by the end of 2019.

The number of edtech startups has also increased, on Magnitt’s database there were just 270 listed on the platform in 2017, but this has now exceeded 800 edtech startups as investors seek opportunities that are proving to be “pandemic-resistant”.

Most recently, the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa) awarded Jordan-based Little Thinking Minds a $100,000 equity-free grant to boost its development in the emirate.

Three other edtech startups, BoBu, Narrativa and almentor.net were each awarded $20,000 grants.

An Inescapable Need

Various facilities available on digital platforms, which were until now considered as a secondary learning option, are becoming a necessity according to Holon IQ’s Global Education Outlook amidst Covid-19, which states that “the time for online learning has come”.

“There is no running away from education technology,” says Mounira Jamjoom, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at Aanaab, an online platform specialised in the professional development of Arab educators through open learning. “The education sector is being transformed like there is no tomorrow.

I see online learning becoming the norm, not the second option.”

The company recently raised $1.5 million in its seed round with participation from Wamda.

Similarly focusing on teacher enablement, UK-based online teaching platform Teacherly, which has presence in Europe and Mena, provides teachers with an opportunity to work collaboratively, fostering a community of peer-to-peer coaching.

“By 2040, 70 per cent of the population will be urbanised and this will have an impact on education,” says Atif Mahmood, founder and CEO at Teacherly.

“We did not know this [outbreak] was going to happen, but we already had the vision to promote remote lessons and enable teachers to connect across schools and work remotely.

This put us in a really good position now to take a massive leap and grab the opportunity.”

Teacherly has an increase of 30 per cent in the number of leads it is receiving every day.

The team aimed to shorten the sales cycle by approaching the middle leadership, who are more receptive and quicker to take decisions. Currently, a big chunk of their inquiries come from principals and CEOs.

Teacherly was already present in more than 2,000 schools around the world, and in the first week of home learning, the company onboarded 80 new schools while more than 6,000 teachers and 2,000 students have signed up during the coronavirus period.

“There will be a huge demand post-coronavirus for home schooling, which has been rising significantly year-on-year.

This is a lesson to learn during this experimentational process, it has shed more light on home-learning,” adds Mahmood.

Startup Response

Edtech companies are navigating through the situation in multiple ways, from fast response to strategic shifts, product development, scaling and pushing for high conversion rates. UK-based Century Tech, an artificial intelligence (AI) company whose autonomous machine identifies areas that students find challenging and supports them with content to lead them through initially changed its business model and then its product in response to the virus.

“Century is an autonomous machine that essentially learns how the student is learning, so you do not need to sit next to the child.

It constantly adapts based on every mouse movement the child makes,” says Priya Lakhani founder and CEO at Century Tech. “This is very fast. We looked at the crisis in January and we changed our model. We then looked at consumer demand and we changed our product.”

Century implemented several infrastructure changes in order to scale up and be able to meet the rise in demand.  

“[The outbreak] also affected the business model itself. At Century, we suddenly got an influx of parental interest. While the schools are using a standard LMS [learning management system], the parents are working and cannot sit next to young children all day to go through a scanned textbook, print it, take pictures of their child’s learning progress and send it back to teachers,” says Lakhani.  “A lot of parents started reaching out to us asking to have access for their kids, so at least for one or two hours a day they are supported by AI.”

This is a welcome respite for many parents juggling their own work with their children’s education.

“Parents are much more involved now with their children’s day to day education.

We operate mostly in schools, but as a result of this distance learning we saw much more engagement from parents on our platform,” says Rama Kayyali, founder and CEO of Little Thinking Minds.

“A lot of parents now are thinking why are we paying crazy amounts of money for schools? This is a great opportunity to up our game.”

Little Thinking Minds creates advanced digital solutions and platforms aimed at improving learning outcomes. It is also geared to help teachers manage their classrooms remotely.

Regional Inequality

“We had some schools who we were not able to reach before, now coming to us after realising the importance of edtech solutions,” says Kayyali. “At the same time, some schools are worried and freezing purchasing decisions until things are clearer. We have heard of plans for schools mergers and closures.”

The online learning readiness of schools and universities varies across the region.

Governments in the GCC embraced the technological progress of public schools early on and private schools that charge hefty fees were already well-prepared with edtech solutions.

“Not a lot of schools could afford having the online component, but today schools and governments have no choice,” says Dina Shawr, CEO at Adam Tech Ventures, which recently invested in Jordan-based online learning platform Abwaab. “Investors in general do not like edtech because it is a volumes game and the multiples on it are low, the more students you have, the more traction you can achieve and the higher valuation you can get. However, the engagement numbers today are unbelievable, no one had expected this in such a short period of time.”

But investors and governments needs to be aware that online learning goes beyond providing students with a laptop and tablet and offering online tuition or education videos.

The efficacy comes down to the technological infrastructure of the country and access to the internet. With the uptake of digital learning as an alternative solution for providing education to students at home higher than before, internet and servers capabilities need to be boosted in order to keep up with the surge in users.

“Going forward, the majority of the education sector would have understood how to use these technology effectively.

The big challenge for ministries of educations around the world will be how to ensure that every child has access. There is always going to be this small percent of the population that do not have strong enough bandwidth, nor access to devices,” says Lakhani.  

The education sector has witnessed a paradigm shift in both learning and teaching that calls for public-private partnerships more than ever. Governments can avoid reinventing the wheel by working with edtech companies that already came a long way.

Moreover, many startups are looking to form partnerships with others working in the same field. With the demand rising for a holistic solution, there are a lot of edtech companies who seek to join hands as a conglomerate.

“Edtech companies that are rising to the challenge have to think about their cost-base.

They should consider benefiting from government schemes and be as smart as they can to get through this time by mitigating the risks as much as possible,” says Lakhani.

“Companies are thinking about how they can [grow] not just to thrive, but to survive. If people are not radically thinking of how to change their business right now, they are on the route to failure.”

source: wamda

$277M was invested in 108 startup investment deals in MENA, an increase of 2% in total funding from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, MENA's startups saw an increase in funding in Q1 2020, according to a special Q1 2020 MENA Venture Investment Report launched by MAGNiTT.

This 67-page report includes Insights into 28 industries, with a deep-dive into top industries by deals and total funding including rankings and trends of 17 countries, with a deep-dive into top countries by deals and total funding.

The report also highlights funding trends of MENA-based startups, including the top 10 deals, pre-money valuation by stage with average pre-money valuation at Seed & Series A.

Moreover, while the funding in Q1 2020 has slightly increased compared to Q1 2019, it can be seen that the majority of the top 5 funding rounds were announced before the crisis forced many countries into lockdown.

While investors highlighted to MAGNiTT that they are still actively looking to invest, the true ramifications of the crisis are not expected to be seen until several months after the start of the crisis.

The fundraising exercise often takes several months for founders and investors, delaying the impact of the current situation.

March saw a significant slowdown in number of deals, which is expected to continue over the next few months as the ramifications of COVID-19 come into play.

"Historical data highlights that investment rounds across MENA tend to take, on average, 6 months to come to fruition,” explains Philip Bahoshy, MAGNiTT’s founder & CEO.

“We will most likely not see the full impact of COVID-19 on the venture funding space yet for a few months. However, early indications have already shown a slowdown in funding announcements, as startups and investors re-evaluate their positions in this new environment.”

source: sme10x

Cairo Angels, a global network of angel investors focused on supporting startup opportunities in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa, is delighted to announce its top finalists who will move to the final round and pitch their solution virtually on Wednesday at 6:00 PM CT.

Finalist Startups are: 

• Kofoof under iNet.works, founded by Mohammad AboAli, iNet.works is a software company that specializes in business software development that helps worldwide businesses succeed. 

- Markazzy, founded by Omar Nasser, the first platform in Egypt that helps homeowners find, choose and use home improvement products with ease and convenience. 

- NIoTEK, founded by Anas Naguib, NIoTEK is a startup that joins hardware and Software and apply them in Internet of Things (IoT) to help companies make better. 

- Tactful AI, founded by Mohamed Elmasry, Tactful is AI-powered and data-centric customer engagement technology. Unlike traditional contact center and helpdesk solutions that only optimize the workload, Tactful uses AI and real-time analytics to provide 360-view of the customer and empower customer care agents to deliver personalized and rewarding experience across digital platforms.

The initiative was launched by Mr. Ayman Ashour, Advisory Board Member at The Cairo Angels has decided to support the campaign  #نحنا في ضهرك ("We’ve Got Your Back") one week ago with EGP 100,000, which aims at helping elderly or vulnerable people living alone complete their shopping and errands. lowering their risk of infection from the novel coronavirus.

The network is seeking to establish a secure and updated database for volunteers, whose identity can be verified through social media accounts and ID cards, with the inclusion of reviews.

Zeina Mandour, General Manager at The Cairo Angels said “We are launching a series of activities to support startups in MENA region.“ 

Also Zeina highlighted that Cairo Angels believes in the importance of solidarity with the most vulnerable and the idea of this campaign is to bring the ingenuity of startups, technology for a societal support and solidarity effort at this time of global crisis. 

Finally she mentioned “We at Cairo Angels are grateful for the support of our partners Mayday and Microsoft who have agreed to provide additional important awards to the ultimate winner of the competition.“ 

The winner will be announced on Thursday after the voting is done and will start working directly with The Cairo Angels team who will provide mentorship and support for his solution besides the funding.

source: magnitt

From medical consultations to free services, local startups become more agile in light of crisis

More startups and entrepreneurship stakeholders have started to adapt and enhance their services in light of the COVID-19 - known as the “coronavirus” - spread, in an aim to help customers and partners get through this phase safely and healthy.

Highlights from the ecosystem:

• The Cairo Angels seeks solutions for “We’ve got your back” initiative with EGP 100,000

Angel investment network The Cairo Angels is supporting the #احنا_في_ضهرك (“We’ve got your back”) initiative with EGP 100,000, which aims at helping elderly or vulnerable people living alone complete their shopping and errands.

The network is seeking to establish a secure and updated database for volunteers, whose identity can be verified through social media accounts and ID cards, with the inclusion of reviews.

Hence, existing startups and/or startup founders are needed to develop the product and launch it within one week. Applications are accepted until March 25th, 2020.

• Taskty offers sanitization services for companies, factories

Home improvement website Taskty built teams to offer sanitization services for companies and factories alike at cheap prices, following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Egyptian Ministry of Health. Additionally, Taskty is conducting phone training with the cleaners, technicians and workers that are registered on their website on how to best keep themselves and their customers safe.

• estshara launches “Salamet Masr” initiative

Medical consultation platform estshara launched the Salamet Masr initiative to help fight COVID-19, by providing free medical consultations on the coronavirus through its application by consulting a doctor via a voice call or text chat.

Moreover, the app spreads awareness and educates the community about the symptoms and methods of preventing the disease.

Users can access the free consultations by entering the Promocode “freedoc” in the estshara application, available until March 31, 2020. estshara is a platform that provides online healthcare consultations, aiming to make healthcare services accessible to everyone in the MENA region.

• WideBotbuilds free Arabic-speaking chatbots for businesses

Arabic chatbot company WideBot is offering three months of bot building for free on their platform, so that businesses can completely shift their communication with other brands, employees and customers online. Using the Promocode “BeSafe” allows interested businesses and startups to set up their chatbots, and thus, reduce face-to-face interactions. Widebot is the first Arabic-focused bot-builder platform, which does not require coding and uses AI to maximize conversions and increase loyalty.

• TakeStep offers free sessions, launches COVID-19 symptom-checker with Al-Tibbi

Egyptian healthcare startup TakeStep now offers startups and their families free psychiatric sessions in order to help them cope with the psychological impact of the COVID-19 spread worldwide. Psychologists are coining the term “corona phobia” to describe how people are affected by the panic and fear that comes along with the virus-spread. This could include anxiety, depression, as well as severe fear of germs. Additionally, TakeStep partnered with Al-Tibbi to launch a free symptom-checker for the coronavirus, in which website visitors can enter the symptoms they feel, and be diagnosed either positive or negative for COVID-19.

• Brainy Squad launches free online consultations for businesses

Creative agency Brainy Squad launched free online consultation sessions to support businesses facing economic consequences of the spread of COVID-19.

These sessions provide expertise to help businesses adopt the best digital transformation tactics to ensure continuity and growth under the current conditions. Brainy Squad is a creative one-stop-shop for businesses’ digital and creative needs.

• Breadfast waives delivery fees, adds more products for customers’ convenience

Online native grocery application Breadfast added more commodities to its offering at their customers’ convenience, in support of the ''stay at home'' safety measures.

These products include fruits, vegetables, groceries, hand sanitizers and face masks. Additionally, the company applied special safety standards at all stages of production, packaging, and delivery, while customers can leave a note to have their order left at the door.

Breadfast also waived all delivery fees until the end of the month in support of customers’ circumstances during the current times.

Breadfast is an online grocery application that produces fresh bakeries using products like eggs and flour also produced by Breadfast, in addition to providing other groceries delivered daily to their customers’ doorstep.

source: zawya

Elmenus, the Egyptian startup that is fast-becoming a leader in the food discovery, ordering, and delivery sector, has secured USD 8 Mn in funding in a Series B round co-led by UAE-based VC fund, Global Ventures, and Egypt’s Algebra Ventures.

Founded in 2011 by CEO Amir Allam, and having previously raised USD 1.5 Mn in Series A funding from Algebra Ventures in 2017, Elmenus has achieved rapid success.

Since its founding, the startup has launched online ordering operations and, more recently, its own fleet service while also scaling from 20 to 200 employees, attracting top-tier talent, experiencing double-digit growth monthly, and eliminating that “What to eat today” concern for many people.

“We are incredibly excited to announce Global Ventures’ investment in a leading food-tech startup such as Elmenus, and look forward to working closely with the team in terms of driving further value creation opportunities that result in continued growth,” states Basil Moftah, General Partner at Global Ventures. 

With its foundation of loyal users built via a comprehensive platform targeted to enable users to discover and order food online (app and website), elmenus has grown rapidly within the Egyptian market.

The startup claims to have onboarded over 8,000 restaurants and while serving approximately 1.2 million monthly active users in a short period. And this would have had a bearing on the Series B raise.

“With their first raise of USD 1.5 Mn, Elmenus proved our original investment thesis that a strong local player with a broader offering can have disproportionate achievement. The company has unique efficiencies and this round could be enough to secure its leadership in the rapidly growing digital market in Egypt.”, says Ziad Mokhtar, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures.

The latest funding round also drew participation from Tarek Sakr and Hamad Al Homaizi, who are both prominent entrepreneurs most notable for having partially exited 4Sale, the leading Kuwait-based classifieds platform to NBK Capital last year.

The duo would be hoping to profit off of what is fast-becoming the leading food-tech startup in Egypt with a focus on personalizing food recommendations to users at the dish-level through digitized restaurant menus, reviews, and photos via its online food discovery and ordering platform.

“We believe our success as a startup is a combination of innovatively solving the right user problems, great team, and laser-focused execution. We have been able to grow the market in Egypt and accomplish great milestones very efficiently, we are excited about what we will do with this additional funding and the support of Global Ventures coming on board as we continue to scale across Egypt and help millions of more users to discover and order the food they will love,” states Amir Allam, Founder of Elmenus.

Egypt’s food discovery/ordering/delivery scene appears to be one of the most active on the African continent with a number of vibrant players including Uber Eats, Carriage, and Otlob.

With the latest investment, Elmenus seems to be strengthening its grip on a market that recently lost one of its bigger players in Glovo.

source: weetracker