Egypt’s entrepreneurship ecosystem saw the official launch of Startup Egypt on Tuesday evening, a non-profit civil society organisation designed to support Egyptian startup founders and connect them with sources of expertise, funding, market access, and institutional support across the government and private sectors.
The launch ceremony, held at a major hotel in Greater Cairo, was attended by Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Mohamed Farid Saleh, alongside senior officials, representatives of the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship, investors, entrepreneurs, and public figures.
Bridge Gaps
The event also brought together Hossam Osman, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Ahmed Hassan Elzaher, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA); and Bassel Rahmy, CEO of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA).
Startup Egypt, launched under the slogan “Grow with those who get it,” aims to bridge gaps in Egypt’s entrepreneurship ecosystem by creating a structured community that brings founders closer to investors, mentors, government entities, private-sector partners, and service providers.
The organisation is built around a simple premise: many Egyptian startups have strong teams, promising ideas, and scalable products, but often lack the networks, guidance, and institutional access needed to move from early traction to sustainable growth.
Supporting Entrepreneurs
Speaking at the launch, Maged Ghoneima, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Startup Egypt, said Egyptian startups are among the strongest in the Middle East and Africa, adding that the state has shown clear political will to support entrepreneurs and remove obstacles facing the sector.
Ghoneima pointed to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s decision to establish the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship, as well as the launch of the Startup Charter, as key steps in creating a more coordinated national framework for the sector.
He said Startup Egypt would act as a bridge between government initiatives and startup founders, bringing together investors, officials, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem players around one objective: supporting Egyptian founders inside and outside Egypt throughout the different stages of building and scaling their companies.
Programmes and Strategic Partnerships
Ghoneima also announced a set of programmes and strategic partnerships that will begin in July, including sector-focused accelerators in food industries in partnership with Domty, machinery and manufacturing with Simplex, and education technology with Almentor. Seven additional partnerships are expected to follow.
Participation in the accelerators will be free for Startup Egypt members, he said.
Startup Egypt will also provide founders with access to digital benefits and support packages through partnerships with global technology companies, including AWS, NVIDIA, Huawei, and Microsoft.
Mentorship Programme
The organisation is also launching a mentorship programme that will bring together more than 350 Egyptian volunteer mentors from 20 countries, who will offer their expertise through a free digital platform for members.
Other planned services include medical insurance programmes for startups without a minimum employee requirement, as well as El Rosheta, a programme launched in partnership with Bokra to prepare startups for investment.
Ghoneima said Startup Egypt will also work on improving the media representation of entrepreneurs and helping founders navigate procedural challenges related to taxation, company establishment, import, and export.
Approaching Entrepreneurship
For his part, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said the ministry is approaching entrepreneurship not as a purely regulatory issue, but as a genuine partnership with innovators.
He said the Ministry of Finance is working with specialised entities and concerned institutions to simplify the legislative and tax environment, making it clearer, easier, and more predictable for investors and entrepreneurs.
Kouchouk also highlighted the state’s recent move to establish Egypt’s first services export council, which he said would support exporters of services, particularly in information technology and business services, starting with the new fiscal year.
The minister also announced that the Ministry of Finance is opening the door for startups to propose innovative solutions that can improve efficiency and productivity within the ministry itself.
Technological Solutions
Given the ministry’s wide range of operational needs, Kouchouk said it is ready to work with entrepreneurs to adopt technological solutions that serve both government performance and startup growth.
He praised Startup Egypt for creating an organised space for communication, knowledge exchange, and collective problem-solving among entrepreneurs, particularly by involving private-sector representatives who have experienced the challenges of building companies firsthand.
Different Kind of Platform
Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Mohamed Farid Saleh said Startup Egypt represents a different kind of platform because it is directed at startups themselves, not only at investors or financiers.
He said the new organisation can serve as a meeting point between startups, the state, and investors, unlike many traditional gatherings that focus primarily on venture capital funds.
Farid said the Egyptian state sees entrepreneurship and risk-taking as key drivers of sustainable economic growth and job creation over the medium term.
He added that the government is working to provide the legislative and financial flexibility needed to help startups expand both locally and internationally.
Investment
The minister revealed that the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, together with the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, is close to finalising a regulatory package and amendments to the executive regulations of the Companies Law to simplify procedures for startups.
According to Farid, the package includes measures to address challenges related to convertible debt, facilitate the use and interpretation of shareholders’ agreements, and revise the approach to company valuation during capital increases.
Egyptian Market
He said the new approach would recognise valuation standards issued by the Financial Regulatory Authority, which assess the idea and the alternative opportunity rather than focusing solely on physical assets and equipment.
Farid also stressed that the Egyptian market alone may not be sufficient to build long-lasting billion-dollar companies, saying startups should use Egypt as a base while targeting regional and African markets through the export of products and services.
Egypt’s Universities and Research Community
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Hossam Osman called on Startup Egypt to establish a dedicated working team with the ministry to connect the entrepreneurship ecosystem with Egypt’s universities and research community.
Osman said Egypt’s 4 million higher education students and 100,000 researchers represent a major source of potential ventures, adding that cooperation with Startup Egypt could help turn tens of thousands of untapped ideas into investment-ready projects.
Important Time
ITIDA CEO Ahmed Hassan Elzaher said the launch of Startup Egypt comes at an important time, given the growing number of ideas and projects emerging from across Egypt’s governorates.
He referred to ITIDA’s work through the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centers, known as TIEC, noting that the agency has expanded startup support beyond Cairo and into several governorates.
Elzaher said around 570 projects and startups applied in the latest cycle of Creativa initiatives in the governorates, with approximately 30 accepted and incubated. He added that around 270 companies applied to the Start IT programme, of which only three were ultimately selected.
These figures, he said, demonstrate the volume of promising ideas that require broader institutional collaboration, as no single body can support the full ecosystem alone.
Future Plans
For his part, MSMEDA CEO Bassel Rahmy praised Startup Egypt’s vision, saying it is based on promising ideas, clear future plans, and well-defined stages.
Rahmy said MSMEDA follows a similar approach in supporting entrepreneurs and is fully prepared to cooperate with Startup Egypt and provide the support needed to help it achieve its objectives.
Startup Egypt said Egyptian startup founders inside and outside the country can join the organisation through its website:
www.startupegypt.org.eg
Membership is available through a symbolic annual subscription, while a free track is offered to idea-stage entrepreneurs and those interested in entrepreneurship.