The Startupbootcamp-Pride FinTech Cairo accelerator programme has held its first demo day, with 10 graduating startups pitching to investors, industry experts and entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders. The international accelerator Startupbootcamp and VC firm Pride Capital partnered late last year to launch the Startupbootcamp-Pride Fintech Cairo programme, a corporate-backed accelerator that provided participating startups with access to industry expertise, exposure, and a network of mentors and experts. The Demo Day comes after a three-month intensive acceleration programme, more than 180 one-to-one matchmaking sessions, awareness, engineering, validation, pitching, and growth-hacking modules, all resulting in 14 proof-of-concept engagements. Building on the importance of financial inclusion and its effect on Egypt's GDP, the 10 FinTech startups took center stage and pitched their innovative business models and ideas at the Demo Day drumming up further investor interest, actualising their aspirations in penetrating the Egyptian market. "With Egypt's commitment to financial inclusion and the recent focus on digital finance, FinTech is emerging as one of the key verticals in the country's entrepreneurship ecosystem," Managing Director of Startupbootcamp-Pride FinTech Cairo, Ahmed Elsherif, said. "We are proud to be showcasing the progress of our accelerated start-ups. We've got some innovative ideas and concepts among our 10 start-ups, from cloud-based retail management, peer-to-peer saving tools to micropayment mobile wallets, and automated syndicate services" said Pride Capital Co-founder and CEO, Rami El Dokany. The participating start-ups are Clix peer-to-peer money transfer, Compareha online marketplace for financial products, ElGameya peer-to-peer savings tool, El Zatona cloud-based retail management system, Fawaterak billing and online payment service, Neqabty platform for automated syndicate service, Netsahem fundraising platform for charities, seventail: open-source SaaS for local merchants, XPay platform and mobile app for smart, cashless communities, and Youspital digital healthcare services platform. The programme was held in partnership with key industry giants, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Pharos Holding, AlexBank, German Agency for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (GIZ), Visa, Ayady, Sanad's Entrepreneurship Academy, and Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE).
