EgyptInnovate Platform

by

Nahel Muhammad Amirh | Sep 8, 2020 | in Ecosystem best practice challenge | Guiding Innovation Dynamics

State your goals.

Vision

To Create leading, and Self-Sustaining online Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem to connects various players, stakeholders, and community members that are critical for innovation, reflects real interaction between them, representing Egypt worldwide, and nurture technologically based ventures that creating economic Impact on nation at Large.

Mission

• Create an open, fear free, risk taking, and collaborative culture of innovation within Egypt ecosystem.
• Lead with the customer experience.
• Promote, facilitate and encourage proximity to innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Create venues where ideas are explosively generated.
• Establish fruitful and active multilateral partnerships that create mutual win-win situations aligned for a focal value proposition to materialize.
• Collaborate with experts and investors, bring them on the platform to provide: awareness, training, mentoring, coaching, support and investments.
• Provide news of innovation and entrepreneurship in Arabic rapidly.
• Nurture innovation ecosystem that serves to improve the quality of life.

What problems (particularly in value chain competitiveness and global disruption) are your community’s stakeholders facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic?

Many reports asserted that it is going to be harder for startups to get new funding, attract consumers and show real traction. There is a completely different consumers experience, Startups need to understand and capture changes in their customers and acting according to it. The growth of these startups will suffer making it even more difficult for them to raise a new round of funding.

In a report by IFPRI and Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development: "The COVID-19 crisis may lead to a 1.1 percent decline in Egypt’s GDP during the 4th quarter (April to June) of the 2019/20 fiscal year, compared to the same quarter in 2018/19. Without the Government of Egypt’s COVID-19 emergency response package, GDP in Q4 may have declined by 8.7 percent" and "The services sector is hit hardest, falling by 10.9 percent, followed by industry at -8.3 percent."
During this time of extreme uncertainty, Innovation and startups ecosystem in Egypt needs to survive. It is also some how difficult to get complete picture about the effect of COVID-19 crisis, which stake holders, sectors and industries are most affected, how to eliminate and reduce losses and how to gain or making positive results if there is any opportunity.

Concerning Egyptian ICT startups and innovation, They are in a good position to respond to the pandemic. According to a report from MAGNiTT, Egypt remained the most active venture capital market in MENA during 1H2020 with 25% of all transactions in the region, according to the 1H2020 update to Magnitt’s MENA Venture Investment Report.

A report, How can Egyptian startups scale right now? by American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, stated that "startups in the following industries are likely to see immense growth and higher investment activity:

• Logistics
• B2B & enterprise software engineering
• Agritech
• Grocery applications
• E-commerce
• Education
• Digital fitness"

Entrepreneurs should evaluate their offering and customers’ needs in the current situations and pivot their business model using innovative ideas and strategies to ensure they are addressing current needs in suitable channels.

It is clearly visible the importance of creating a new online platform for communication, sharing information, ideas, news and preforming of all interactions that was previously done face-to-face (Sharing). It is crucial for startups to increase their contacts with supporters, investors, and customers and other ecosystem players (Communicating). Finally, it is very clear the significant Impact of free trading of information and data to become easy to get and open to all (Open Data). 

What minimum viable solution(s) are you proposing to address the challenge(s) in your community?

Online platform (Arabic and English) open for all ecosystem stakeholder to contribute to it or get data from it. The main features could be grouped in the following sections: 

1. Get Inspired (News)
2. Learn and Share
3. Connect and facilitate
4. Opportunities

Including the following new and very important features:

• Platform Database: EgyptInnovate database is the ultimate resource of information about Innovation and entrepreneurship in Egypt. Open-Data tables available to download into customizable data sets
• User Generated Content portal.
• Startup Gallery: A new feature that is socially enabled where the entrepreneurs can showcase their startups and present their pitch decks and videos for the sake of attracting investment/ fund/ incubation opportunities. On the other hand the potential investor/ incubator can easily browse and locate the startups they are interested in or looking for.
• Chatbot:
• Mentors and Consultants Network:
• Dynamic Event Calendar:

Share your story (your narrative)

In any journey we always our dependence on the map and data, evening if you are traveling or vacation, the map and data is the most important thing that makes the road easier for you and you will conveniently get you to your destination without being lost.

Startups and the entrepreneurial community in Egypt and the world are facing difficult challenges in recent times and there is no better solution than simulating the natural environment in the face of challenges. Hence the idea of an ecosystem is shined. As in nature, the main components of any ecological system cooperate together to survive together. But cooperation and interaction today have become a new challenge in the face of the COVID crisis. So we thought about finding a new way to communicate, find out what's new, make information and data available, and connect people in a more effective way.

In the innovation ecosystem, access to information is difficult and in need of a lot of effort because  there is not defined sources and no clear ways to obtain it. We hear a lot about startups that have no investments, no support, no specialists to work in. We also hear about investors and business incubators that do not find startups investing in them. With EgyptInnovate Platform and Map, you can easily know more, connect, and introduces you to everything related to entrepreneurship, whether you are tribal or marine ... You will know how to reach all those in your province and community, as well as its content in Arabic and English and all its data and information is open data and available to anyone to get it.

If you are searching for startup in a particular tech field or you are startup looking for investment entities or incubator or accelerator that will make your company journey easier on the path to success, or even a workspace for thinking and working, EgyptInnovate platform and map providing you with all that you need without being confused and able to get all the data that you want with ease.

Also, You can announcing and telling the ecosystem inside and outside Egypt more about your startup and your innovation and your needs. Then, you will be get easily connected by any one searching for you. Very few steps to add yourself, your startup or entity or to the map and all ecosystem will know about you, your company and its location, and what you are looking for.

What are you wait for! start the journey of discovering the entrepreneurial and innovative landmarks in Egypt and be on the map!

Please provide any additional relevant information that you would like to share.

The numbers below show the main achieved metrics of platform till last July 2020:

• 49898 Resisted User.
• 245304 Platform Visits in 2020
• 1050 Entities on the Map.