Egypt’s Startup Ecosystem Highlights from 2023

Embarking on an exciting journey into Egypt's burgeoning startup ecosystem reveals a landscape ripe with innovation and opportunity. Throughout 2023, the country witnessed a series of strategic initiatives and investments aimed at nurturing and accelerating the growth of its startup community. We can also see some highlights:

1. In October 2023, the Cabinet of Egypt introduced a silver license for startup companies, which would help facilitate the entry of startups into Egypt, allowing entrepreneurs to begin their activities without complicated procedures.
2. In June 2023, President Abdul Fattah El Sisi announced a five-year tax exemption for startups, to boost the country’s ecosystem and retain its talent.
3. In June 2023, Egypt’s Prime Minister, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, issued a decision to establish a permanent ‘Startup Ecosystem Advisory’ Unit in the Egyptian Cabinet tasked with proposing appropriate policies, laws, and regulations for the growth and prosperity of startups in Egypt.
4. Nine new Creativa Innovation Hubs were established in new governorates, bringing the total of Creativa Innovation Hubs to 20. Creativa Innovation Hubs incubated 164 startups, trained 14,690 trainees and supported 6,369 freelancers in 2023. The first blockchain hackathon for students and graduates was also organized in Egypt, targeting students and graduates from across 13 governorates across the country.
5. The Rowad 2030 (entrepreneurs 2030) project of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development celebrated the graduation of about 700 women from the (Ra’aidat 2030) (Womenpreneurs 2030) program, which is carried out in cooperation between the project and the community enterprise Enterprenelle, which was launched at the World Youth Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh in January 2022.
6. TIEC concluded the 20th round of the InnovEgypt program in the Summer of 2023. The program ran for 13 weeks in 29 universities in different governorates, with more than 3500 participants. TIEC additionally supported 6 start-ups in the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA) program.
7. USAID celebrated the graduation of 23 Egyptian startups from its 3rd Cohort of its Startup Accelerator Program.
8. 500 Global announced its Scale Up Program, which aims to support the acceleration of pre-Series A startups in Egypt. The first batch of 15 startups successfully completed the program, representing various sectors such as fintech, proptech, healthtech and logistics.

Join us as we delve deeper into the transformative initiatives and milestones driving Egypt's startup revolution.

Read more in the Special Report, ‘Investing in Egypt’s Startup Ecosystem’.