More than 5,000 entrepreneurs and start-up managers gathered over three days in the heart of Cairo this week for the annual RiseUp Summit in order to exchange ideas, get exposure and seal deals. For the fourth consecutive year, RiseUp took place at the American University in Cairo in downtown Cairo, where start-ups were able to showcase their products and services, learn tips from entrepreneurs, pitch their ideas to investors and build solid connections. Moving between buildings, attendees were able to catch up on an array of sessions given by local and international entrepreneurs on finance, clean technology, the creative economy and technological innovation. After its launch in 2013, the RiseUp Summit established itself as an international entrepreneurial meeting place that has been able to bring together all the ecosystem's players. CEO and founder of RiseUp Abdel-Hamid Sharara said that emerging companies often lacked funds and relevant experience, which was what had brought them together at the summit. Over its three days, each start-up was trying to attract potential customers or partners, he said.
Online shopping and delivery Website Lynks was participating in the summit for the first time. “We came this year to showcase our services as we feel that RiseUp is bigger now and it has got huge interest from the media,” said Ayman Al-Hakim, marketing manager at Lynks, in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly. Founded in 2014, Lynks is one of two companies in the Middle East trained by leading American incubator Y Combinator. “We obtained $120,000 in investment from Y Combinator to start the company, but we felt we should come to RiseUp for more exposure and networking,” Al-Hakim said. Cairo-based Lynks allows customers to shop online for products from the US to be delivered to them without having to pay customs duties. It expanded to Saudi Arabia in 2016 and has plans to encompass other Gulf countries over the next three months. Start-up accelerator Flat6Labs, a founding partner of the summit, was also present this year. “We are here every year to look for more collaboration and ideas,” Monica Ibrahim, community manager at Flat6Labs, told the Weekly. This year's RiseUp was special for Flat6Labs as it was celebrating the graduation of eight start-ups from a 14-week acceleration programme for entrepreneurial ideas focusing on financial technology in cooperation with Barclays Bank, Ibrahim said. One of the sessions at this year's meeting was about how entrepreneurs can thrive in tough economic conditions. Board member of Nahdet Al-Mahrousa, an incubator of social enterprises, Ayman Ismail said that start-ups should focus on adopting services that help people save money, time and effort. “Entrepreneurs should always allocate part of their investment portfolio to developing their talents,” Ismail said. Egyptian start-ups should think of exporting to maintain their businesses in the tough economic climate, he added. Among the dozens of booths at the event, there were many major companies in the Egyptian market. Hani Suleiman, a business banking development manager at the Commercial International Bank (CIB), told the Weekly that the Bank was offering new products and solutions for SMEs at little or no cost. Suleiman said that the CIB products aimed at helping start-ups to make financial transactions through the Internet, in addition to finding new solutions for cash management. The bank was also offering SMEs new credit facilities, he said. “We are reducing our lending criteria to small businesses and becoming more flexible in order to meet their expectations,” he added. “The CIB is here today to establish itself as a service-provider for SMEs… We are in action to support them,” Suleiman said. The CIB is also investing in AUC-based start-up accelerator the AUC Venture Lab. Community manager at the Lab Farah Ayoub told the Weekly that “we need a presence at RiseUp in order to publicise the programmes we offer that match the needs of entrepreneurs.” Listing the Lab's programmes, Ayoub explained that it helped entrepreneurs to run their companies, preparing them for the legalities of establishing companies that focus on financial technology and helping them to reach potential customers. At the end of the third day of the event, British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson gave a talk about the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Egypt. The writer is a freelance journalist.
