RiseUp, a leading entrepreneurship company in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), held on Sunday a press conference to announce the details of the tenth edition of the "RiseUp Summit 2023". The summit comes in a completely updated form under the slogan "Stay Real", which will be held at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) from 16 to 18 March 2023, with the attendance of more than 14,000 people from 60 countries around the world. On that occasion, Abdelhameed Sharara, founder and CEO of RiseUp, stated that it was decided to hold the press conference in Cairo's downtown. This was because it was the place where the summit began in 2013. "In RiseUp, we have always been keen to select distinctive locations for the summit, starting with the downtown area, the pyramids area for the previous summit, and the Grand Egyptian Museum for this summit, to link ancient culture and civilization with the bright future of successful models for Egyptian entrepreneurs," Abdelhameed Sharara said in a speech during the press conference. Sharara explained that RiseUp's goal since its inception has been to become a platform that facilitates the process of communication between startups and each other. This platform creates an integrated community that embraces creative youth who have innovative ideas and solutions in all sectors, according to Sharara. Sharara added that for 10 years, RiseUp was able to attract 5,000 investors. "Egyptian startups were able to collect about $3.5bn in the ten years, which contributed to boosting foreign investment in Egypt, encouraged young people to start their startups, and spread the culture of entrepreneurship in the Middle East and Africa," Sharara added. Sharara expressed his pride that Rise Up Summit 2023 will take place at the Grand Egyptian Museum which is considered one of the largest historical edifices in the world. He stressed that the tenth edition of the summit comes with a distinctive character in terms of events, venue, and partners. With more than 400 investment opportunities for startups, the summit will provide solutions and serious steps to advance entrepreneurship. This year's summit will feature more than 300 speakers and experts from all over the world, most notably Ronaldo Moushawar, VP of Amazon in MENA and Founder of Souq.com, Shinez Chalabi – Business Acceleration Head – Google, and Shaloo Garg – Managing Director of Microsoft, in addition to speakers from LinkedIn, Disney, Meta, Snapchat, DreamWorks, and others are the most important international companies. This year, the summit will provide several advantages for startups, namely finding investment opportunities for startups that will be held through one-to-one meetings between entrepreneurs and investors. Also at the summit, start-up companies will be able to find employees by displaying the "Opportunity Wall," where the required opportunities will be provided to those seeking employment. Consulting sessions will also be held for startups by experts in the field of entrepreneurship. This year, the summit is held with a group of distinguished partners such as Marakez, Halan, Banque Misr, Intilaq, PepsiCo, Agora, Pay Mob, NGage, Alchemy, Ticketmarche, Stardust, Startopia, and Beanos Café. Meanwhile, Ashraf Makled, Head of the Commercial Sector at Marakez Company, stressed that the "Rise Up" summit is considered the largest gathering of entrepreneurs in the region, as it brings together entrepreneurs and startups in Egypt and the Middle East region. Makled affirmed that Marakez Company is interested in entrepreneurship and innovation and considers them a cornerstone of its social responsibility initiatives. During the press conference, a cooperation protocol was signed with (Entelaq) to support entrepreneurship as a strategic partner for the summit. The partnership aims to address the most critical challenges facing the Egyptian entrepreneurship sector and find quick solutions to them. Notably, "RiseUp" was established in Egypt in 2013 to create a network of communication between entrepreneurs and support them in obtaining investment opportunities for their startups. The company operates as a platform for entrepreneurship in the Middle East and Africa. It organizes an annual global event that brings together all parties working in the field of entrepreneurship, including entrepreneurs, investment funds, and business incubators.
