Powered by the Commercial International Bank-Egypt (CIB), the School of Business at the American University in Cairo (AUC) celebrated the graduation of the first batch of the AUC Venture Lab FinTech Accelerator. Last July, CIB-Egypt and AUC announced their partnership to support entrepreneurship in Egypt by founding the AUC Venture Lab FinTech Accelerator, powered by CIB, creating a platform to bridge the gap between the financial services sector and the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem to encourage new startups in the FinTech space. The FinTech accelerator, a 12-week programme for FinTech startups, aims to provide a specialised support to take their business further, gain invaluable insights from some of the smartest people in the startup and FinTech world, and increase their impact on the Egyptian economy. AUC Venture Lab held the FinTech Accelerator Demo Day on February 14, allowing the incubated entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas and showcase their products and services. Mohamed Sultan, CIB's chief operating officer, said that the celebration has in fact been a learning process for everyone, adding that all parties acquired better knowledge and experience of designing a strong, successful accelerator to help FinTech entrepreneurs. He noted that the FinTech Accelerator is just the beginning of a long journey, during which CIB has laid the foundation of an ongoing, genuine collaboration model between CIB and the entrepreneurship field. "This collaboration will lead to promising opportunities, which will boost the productivity of these untapped segments and accelerate the financial inclusion in the Egyptian society," he stressed. CEO of CIB Technological Banking Solutions and head of CIB Global Transaction Services Mohamed Farag, said that the Egyptian market is big, promising, and filled with opportunities for everyone. "Each project owner must think carefully in what they can offer," he added. Farag noted that CIB pledges to help all innovators turn their ideas into projects that benefit them and the state. "FinTech has the potential of transforming the financial services sector towards more inclusion, growth, and product innovation. AUC Venture Lab, in partnership with CIB-Egypt, is taking the lead in growing the pipeline of FinTech startups in Egypt and supporting their growth," said assistant professor Ayman Ismail, director of AUC V-Lab and the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship. During the ceremony, five startups presented their ideas, including 7esba, Neqabaty, Roznamgy, Pochy, and Insanyah. Roznamgy aims to assist small and medium enterprises unlock funding, while Neqabaty works to link unions and syndicates to their members and provide payment solutions to members. Meanwhile, Insanyah targets linking individuals with the various charitable organisations to help them choose the right case for making donations. 7esba intends to facilitate relations between buildings' unions and apartment owners, while Pochy works to assist its users gather money between themselves when they want to support each other. Source: Daily News Egypt
