Eight new companies have joined the technological incubators programme in the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC), which is affiliated to the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), after they won the award for the best innovative ideas in the field of information technology and communications applications in the fourth session of the Start IT competition. The competition aims to encourage and increase awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship in the field of communications and information technology as well as qualifying potential candidates for incubation, spreading an integrated incubation programme, spreading a network of incubators for entrepreneurs. The incubation period of the eight winning companies in the "Technological Incubators" programme is one year, through which they obtain in-kind services of EGP 120,000 in the form of consulting and marketing services, in addition to headquarters equipped with the basic office equipment, internet connection, basic applications, and computers during the incubation period, with technical guidance available. According to ITIDA, the list of companies that won in the events of the 10th session of Start IT includes 3roodk company, which works to launch its phone application to help traders promote their offers to large numbers of consumers in a few minutes, which helps them get introduced to the nearest offers available to where they live. Elephas Store application also won in the competition. It is a virtual reality platform for tourism and shopping where users can explore shopping malls, restaurants, and tourism agencies after turning GPS on. The application collects discounts and offers made by these places in the form of points stored in an electronic wallet, and customers can ask for their value later. E-Rezk application is another winner. It is an application to build electronic trade platforms on mobile phones. It is designed to help the non-specialised achieve this purpose. Hommect also won. It is an application that helps house owners find the best designs that suit their tastes and find the best designers who can cooperate in the implementation of this project. Io Tech won in the category of wearable devices through which children can be tracked at homes, schools, clubs, and shopping malls. Drug CATcher, another winner of the competition, provides pharmacies owners with the tools necessary to help them manage their resources and increase their profitability through a platform on the Internet to display the products subject to recession then resell them through special offers and discounts. Another application is Otmost, which helps conduct financial transfers without using cash, enabling projects to transfer money in a specific currency in the application. Tazcara.com, another winner, is a platform to operate buses and help travellers look for buses as well as book tickets and pay online. It also helps companies that manage and operate buses to increase their sales and cooperate with travel agencies as well as trade unions and government agencies. It is worth noting that the TIEC was established in September 2010 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of information technology and communications in Egypt. The centre works on promoting Egypt as international competition in the field of innovations. It is the first centre of its kind in Egypt, the second in Africa, and the fourth in the Middle East in terms of being an accredited member in the European Business Network (EBN).
