Workshop on entrepreneurship in emerging countries
Resources for entrepreneurs: from patents to international markets
Young and sustainable entrepreneurship in Egypt for a more inclusive society
PoliSocial Award 2014
Supporting entrepreneurs:
business incubators and
accelerators
Boris Mrkajic, PhD
Milan, Italy
October 16th, 2015
Content
• Entrepreneurship ecosystem concept
• Business incubators: concepts, definitions
and relevance
• How to choose an incubator
• How to prepare for and make the most of an
incubator
• Business incubators in Egypt
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
2
Entrepreneurship
ecosystem
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
3
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Babson entrepreneurship ecosystem framework (Isenberg, 2010)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
4
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Finance
• Entrepreneurs of all types and sizes require a range of financial services
• Different phases of start-up financing:
–
–
–
–
Bootstrapping
Pre-seed funding
Seed funding
Later phase financing
• Different sources of financing:
–
–
–
–
–
Personal resources, FFF
Business angels
Debt issuers (e.g. banks, typically micro-loans and micro-credits)
Governmental financial support (e.g. grants, loans, etc.)
Venture capital
• Remains a major obstacle for many aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly in
developing countries (Stein, Goland, & Schiff, 2010).
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
5
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Finance
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
6
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Human capital
• Human capital is a collection of hard and soft skills possessed by an
individual or by population in sum
– Technical and managerial skills, financial literacy, business planning, etc.
– Self-confidence, social networks, risk-aversion, etc.
• Enables individuals to produce economic value, or more generally,
accomplish certain objectives
• Typically gained through education and work experience
– Entrepreneurial education as a key mechanisms
• Existing educational programmes
• Non-traditional training programmes
– Engagement of new agents in the educational process
– Online learning platforms (MOOCS)
– Entrepreneurial experience
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
7
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Policy and regulations
• Principal driver that can influence the role of other
elements of the ecosystem
• Examples of new-venture-friendly legislations:
–
–
–
–
ease of starting business (time and cost)
protection of intellectual property rights
contract enforcement
indirect monetary incentives like specialized tax
benefits, tax waivers, etc.
– stable and long-term policy measure
– quality of governance
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
8
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Culture and social norms
• Influence general behaviour of individuals, and hence
entrepreneurial activity
• Examples:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Legitimacy and awareness of entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs’ social status and related success stories
Tolerance of risk, mistakes and failures
Propensity for innovation, creativity and experimentation
Ambition and hunger for success
Lack of trust in youth and age discrimination
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
9
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Supports
• Can be an essential components of an entrepreneurial
environment
• Examples of supports:
– Infrastructure and logistics
•
•
•
•
Affordable access to energy
Telecommunications
Transportation and logistics
Access to resources
– Business-related supports
• Specialised institutions that support entrepreneurship (e.g. business
incubator and accelerators)
• Auxiliary supporting network of professionals (e.g. legal, accounting, and
technical experts and advisors)
• General Business-related organisations (e.g. MNEs, NGOs, TNOs)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
10
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
Markets
• Market conditions determine how new ventures enter business
arena and subsequently compete for their market share
• Globalization and technological development have opened new
commercialization possibilities and created new mechanisms of
reaching customers, which is particularly important for emerging
markets
• Some important features:
–
–
–
–
–
Access to suppliers (local and global value chains)
Existence of and access to early customers
Local market access
International market access and export channels
ICT diffusion among potential customers
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
11
Business incubators and
accelerators
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
12
Why are incubators important?
1. Improve access to finance
• Provide funding internally
• Connect entrepreneurs with investor
2. Enhance human capital
•
•
•
•
Trainings programmes
Formal and informal mentoring by experts
Sharing between incubated founders
Academic incubators
3. Improve support system
• Provide infrastructure (e.g. working space)
• Boost networking with external
stakeholders and professionals
4. Improve culture
• Legitimize entrepreneurial activity
• Promote successful stories
• Decrease risk of starting up a business
5. Improve access to markets
• Provide easier access to the local and
global value chain (suppliers and
13
customers)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
Incubator definitions
•
•
“Business incubation catalyses the process of starting and
growing companies, providing entrepreneurs with the
expertise, networks and tools they need to make their
ventures successful.”
“Incubation programs diversify economies, commercialize
technologies, create jobs and build wealth.”
(National Business Incubators Association, US)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
14
Incubator definitions
• Incubators are generally characterized by following
features:
•
•
A small management team with core competencies
4 main roles
–
–
–
–
Selection: attracting, selecting and admitting the most
promising entrepreneurs and their business ideas
Infrastructure: A managed working space with shared facilities
providing logistics support
Business support and monitoring: coaching, mentoring, training,
financial and innovation services
Mediation and networking: connecting entrepreneurs to
tangible and intangible resources, which can be internally or
externally available
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
15
Incubator concept
Resources
(human capital,
technologies,
supports, capital,
funding, etc.)
Entrepreneurs
Business
Incubators
Intermediaries
Markets
(suppliers,
customers, etc.)
• Incubators have a twofold objective:
•
•
Business competence development (individual)
Entrepreneurial ecosystem development (individual &
collective)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
16
Incubators history
• Relatively old concept
• More that 50 years old
• Started as a shared spaces for new ventures in 1956
in Batavia, NY (USA)
• Had three main development phases
•
•
•
1st generation: Infrastructure
2nd generation: Business support and monitoring
3rd generation: Networking and value chain
• Business incubators are being slowly overtaken by
business accelerators
Source: Scaramuzzi, E. (2002). Incubators in Developing Countries: Status
and Development Perspectives (pp. 1–35). InfoDev. Washington DC.
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
17
Incubators history
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
18
Incubators history: impact
•
Survival rate: more than 80 percent for the incubated startups as
opposed to the overall survival rate of about 20 percent for all startups
(Carayannisa and von Zedtwitzb, 2005)
•
Startup growth: research suggests that incubated firms grow faster than
their non-incubated counterparts (Colombo and Delmastro, 2002)
•
Job creation: NBIA estimates that North American incubators have
generated about 500,000 jobs since 1980, and every 50 jobs created by
an incubator client generate another 25 jobs in the community
•
In developing countries, incubatee survival rates have also shown to be
very high (e.g. above 85 percent in countries with strong support from
the government and tight links with the university system, like for
instance in Brazil or China)
*Please take this stats with a grain of salt
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
19
Incubator types
They vary according to multiple dimensions:
Mandate
•
•
For-profit
Non-profit
Sponsorship
•
•
•
Public (governmental, academic, NGO)
Private (corporate, investors-supported)
Mixed
Focus
•
•
Niche (technology, social)
Mixed-use
Sector
Location
•
•
•
•
Single
Mixed
Physical
Virtual
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
20
Accelerator definitions
• Sub-type of business incubators
• Relatively recent concept, started in the US
•
•
Y Combinator (Silicon Valley, US) in 2005
Techstars (Colorado, US) in 2006
• Growing phenomenon world-wide
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
21
Accelerator definitions
• “A business accelerator is an intensive (e.g. 3-6 months)
business program which includes mentorship, educational
components, networking and aims at growing business
rapidly, ending in demo-day.”
• “Usually an entrepreneur moves into a shared office space
with other new founders for a period of time to work under
the tutelage of advisors and experts to grow their business
rapidly.”
• “In exchange for the expert mentoring, exposure to
investors/future capital and cash investment that
entrepreneurs get from the accelerator, the entrepreneur
gives a portion of his or her company’s equity to the partners
of the program.”
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
22
Accelerator definitions
• The accelerator programmes consist of these
distinguishing elements (Christiansen, 2009):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Office space
Funding, typically to the (pre)seed level
Company founders are small teams with technical
backgrounds
Companies are admitted in cohorts
Each cohort is supported for a defined period of time
Education programme focusing on business & product
advice (training, mentoring, coaching)
Networking programme to meet and/or contact other
investors and advisors (and usually, a final demo day)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
23
Accelerator definitions
• NESTA organisation definition of accelerators (Miller
& Bound, 2011):
•
•
•
•
•
Provision of pre-seed investment, usually in exchange for
equity
A focus on small teams, not individuals
Time-limited support comprising programmed events
and intensive mentoring
An application process that is open yet highly
competitive
Start-ups supported in cohort batches or ‘classes’
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
24
Accelerator types
Similar to incubators
Mandate
•
•
For-profit
Non-profit
Sponsorship
•
•
•
Public (governmental, academic, NGO)
Private (corporate, investors-supported)
Mixed
Focus
•
•
Niche (technology, social)
Mixed-use
Sector
Location
•
•
•
•
Single
Mixed
Physical
Virtual
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
25
Incubators vs. Accelerators
•
Accelerator usually have a greater focus on companies
closer to the market
•
•
•
•
Accelerators will generally offer all of the services offered by a
business incubator
Acceleration program has limited (relatively short) duration
The key difference is the level of hands-on involvement by
accelerator management - should increase the chances of
success
Accelerators are more likely to be financed by private
investors (venture capitalist and business angels), who are
looking for an opportunity to finance growth potential
through defined action plans (i.e. create a pipeline for
businesses)
•
Good for both entrepreneurs and investors
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
26
Incubator/accelerator services
1.
Infrastructure
•
•
•
•
2.
Financial services / Access to finance
•
•
•
•
3.
Private or shared office space
Office materials and ICT services
Shared laboratory with specialized equipment
Informal areas
Direct funding (pre-seed or seed)
Direct exposure to professional investors (business angels and venture capital
firms) – demo day
Collaboration with banks for specialized micro-credits
Accounting and budgeting services
Networking
•
•
•
•
•
Access to knowledge resources (University, TTO, Techno / Science park)
Access to suppliers and clients
Access to potential employees/human capital
Access to strategic partners
Interaction with the other incubated firms/entrepreneurs, investors, etc.
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
27
Incubator/accelerator services
4.
Training
•
•
5.
Hard skills:
–
–
Technical: Manufacturing practices, product design and development
Business and management skills: business plan writing, marketing and e-commerce,
financial and investment literacy, intellectual property rights protection and
management
Soft skills:
–
–
–
–
–
Team work
Self-confidence
Risk-taking attitude
Focus,
Presenting and pitching skills
Mentoring / Coaching
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Business management and development
Financial management
Product development
Commercialization and marketing
Trade facilitation and internationalisation
Intellectual property rights management and other legal issues
Business etiquette
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
28
How to choose an
incubator/accelerator
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
29
How to choose an incubator/accelerator?
1. Carefully analyse your own needs
2. Carefully analyse what the
incubator/accelerator has to offer
3. Make sure you match them
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
30
How to choose an incubator/accelerator?
1. Carefully analyse your own needs
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Do you just need cheap/free workspace or more?
Do you need business/management mentoring?
Do you need help in refining your business model?
Do you need help in developing your product?
Do you need help in commercializing your product?
Do you need help in access to suppliers and customers?
Do you need help in reaching out to strategic partners?
Are you willing to relocate, if necessary?
Are you willing to listen and have others guide your through
your own company?
How much do are you willing to give away in equity?
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
31
How to choose an incubator/accelerator?
2. Carefully analyse what the incubator/accelerator
has to offer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Is there a co-working space available? Other
infrastructure/logistics support?
Is there a specialized laboratory for product development?
Is there a (pre)seed funding available? How much is it?
What is the cohort/class size? How long is the process?
What are the expectations for graduation?
What kind of training is available? Is it technical or business
focused?
Who are the trainers? Do they have the needed expertise to
provide the trainings?
How many mentors are there per startup? Who are the
mentors? Are they successful entrepreneurs?
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
32
How to choose an incubator/accelerator?
2. Carefully analyse what the incubator/accelerator
has to offer
•
•
•
•
•
Who are the investor? Are they professionals? Do they have a
successful investment record?
Is there a formal demo day to pitch the business? Are there other
types of exposure to investors?
How have the previous incubator's graduates done? How many
got follow-up funding? How much capital have the incubated
firms raised after the graduation?
How is their network? Can they systematically provide
relationship with knowledge/suppliers/customers/strategic
partners/human capital/investors/etc.?
Do they have long-term relationship with their startups (after
graduation)?
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
33
How to choose an incubator/accelerator?
3. Make sure you match them
•
•
Be honest and critical in assessing what you need
• You should not prioritize financial capital as your primary reason for applying,
as a good incubator can typically offer much more than money.
Do your research about the possible incubators/accelerators
• Talk to as many people as possible (mentors, investors, incubator/accelerator
managers, current and previous incubated startups, etc.)
• Understand the resources and services offered & the cost of being involved.
• Do they provide training that you need?
• Do the mentors have experiences that are beneficial for your startup?
• Do the investors invest in startups similar to yours?
• Consider that the location is in line with your business. Can your business
flourish with the resources in the location?
• Evaluate the work-load of the programme and assess if you can follow it.
• Understand if the incubator/accelerator brand is going to help you in the
future.
• How much (equity) do you need to give away? What do you get in return?
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
34
How to choose an incubator/accelerator?
• General examples:
•
If you need knowledge resources
-> university (schools have human capital, a knowledge base,
access to grants and resources and other enabling
infrastructure to help you succeed)
•
If you need quick access to market or capital
-> private accelerator that has strong relationship with the
industry and investors
•
If you need more time to further develop your idea
-> governmental or NGO-supported that provides long
incubation time with low commitment requirements
•
If your idea solves a socially or environmentally relevant issue
-> governmental or NGO-supported that has a strong focus on
the related issues
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
35
How to prepare and make
most of an
incubators/accelerator
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
36
How to do you prepare for an
incubator/accelerator?
•
•
Focus on the right fit between the incubator/accelerator and your
startup (scope, focus, services/needs, funding, location, etc.)
Assemble your team carefully (important!)
•
•
Try to build a business model using standard and well-diffused
frameworks
•
•
For instance, the Business Model Canvas
Try to have some market validation (even simple!)
•
•
Consider adding “missing pieces”
For instance, Google AdWords to drive traffic to a landing page where you
describe the product briefly and request an email address from the visitor
Prepare a good pitch – simple and clear
•
•
•
•
Why is the business idea unique?
Why you can execute it better than others?
Show that you are coachable and easy to work with!
Be prepared to answer questions related to your business idea, budgeting
needs, expansion model, commercialisation strategy, pivoting strategy, etc.
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
37
How to make most of an
incubator/accelerator?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Be proactive – use extensively the services provided
(trainings, mentoring, networking, equipment, etc.)
Startup is more than just technology – learn the commercial
part too
Consider building a board of advisors from the network – it
will be useful after the incubation
Talk to the other incubated startups and entrepreneurs –
learn from their experiences
Develop a fund raising strategy (for after the incubation), by
talking to the investors and mentors in the network
Prepare diligently for the demo day – most of the follow-up
funding is obtained there
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
38
Business incubators
in Egypt
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
39
Entrepreneurship ecosystem in Egypt
Main barriers (GEM Egypt NES Report, 2012):
• Lack of financial solutions
• Educational system inhibits creativity and innovation
• Lack of business supports
• Lack of good pro-entrepreneurship all-round policies
• Vast and cumbersome bureaucracy
• Risk aversion culture
• Corruption
 Business incubators
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
40
Incubators in Egypt
• First initiatives incepted almost 20 years ago
(1995) by government, i.e. Social Fund for
Development in Egypt (SFD) – no remarkable
success
•
•
The Egyptian Incubator Association (EIA) - planning for,
and providing assistance in, the creation of different types
of incubators suited to local conditions
The Egyptian incubator programme - development of a
sustainable network of incubation-related facilities that
would spur the competitiveness and productivity of SMEs
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
41
Incubators in Egypt
•
Vast of governmental initiatives / projects did not fully
succeed (not active today / no info on the web):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tala Incubator
Mansoura University Technology Incubator
Benha Technology Incubator
Doueika Virtual Incubator
6th of October City Incubator
Assiut Incubator
Ain Shams Incubator
Aswan Incubator
Tenth of Ramadan Incubator
Tabbin Institute for Metallurgical Studies Incubator
Number of non-governmental incubators is increasing in the
last couple of years, mainly in Cairo area
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
42
Incubators in Egypt
Name
Type
Mandate/Af
filiation
Location
Activity
Length
(months)
Seed
Funding
Equity
Incubator &
Accelerator
Governmen
t
Cairo area
ICT/Tech
12
No
No
1
Technology Innovation
and Entrepreneurship
Centre (TIEC)
2
AUC Venture Lab
Incubator
University
Cairo area
Tech
5+8
$2.800
No
3
Nahdet el Mahrousa
Incubator
NGO
Cairo
Tech/Social
24
No
No
4
Sustaincubator
Incubator
Private
Cairo area
(4 locations)
Tech/Sustai
nable
3-12
No
No
5
GESR Incubator
Accelerator
NGO
Cairo area
Tech/Social
6-12
$25-65k
<10%
6
Flat6labs
Accelerator
Private
Cairo
ICT/Tech
4
$10-15k
1015%
7
GrEEK Campus
Co-working
space
Private
Cairo
Tech
-
No
No
8
Inno101
Incubator &
Accelerator
Private
Alexandria
Tech/Social
6-12
No
10%
9
JuiceLabs
Accelerator
Private
Cairo
ICT/Softwa
re
6
$20k
<15%
1
0
TechWadi Sprint
Accelerator
Private
MENA +
Silicon Valley
Tech
1
No
No
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
43
Incubators in Egypt
Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC)
incubator
•
•
•
Since 2011, Governmental incubator
18 companies graduated till now
Mainly ICT, but also other tech-based
–
–
•
•
•
Currently 18 companies
Examples: water and electricity consumption reduction, solar street lighting,
improving agriculture production, etc.
TIEC Premises (Smart Village, Cairo)
1-year virtual incubation (no office space)
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
No seed funding
Up to EGP 120K in services only (consultancy services, ICT and marketing)
Work space and basic (hardware and software) tools during incubation
Access to technical, subject-matter advisory, business consulting and mentoring
Business competitions (Start IT)
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
44
Incubators in Egypt
Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC)
accelerator
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Since 2013, Governmental accelerator
8 rounds till now (5-15 start-ups/round)
Mainly ICT, but also other tech-based
TIEC Premises (Smart Village, Cairo)
12 weeks acceleration
Business idea into business plan
Services:
–
–
–
–
No seed funding
Mentoring and coaching
Business plans evaluation by a panel from TIEC, industry and academia experts
The qualified teams will pitch their concepts and prototypes in front of investors
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
45
Incubators in Egypt
AUC Venture Lab
•
•
•
Since 2013, university incubator (first Egyptian university incubator)
29 companies graduated till now
Tech-based start-ups
–
–
•
•
•
6-10 companies twice per year
Mainly ICT
Cairo-area
5+8-month incubation/acceleration
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Funding (US$ 2,800)
Workspace and access to AUC facilities
Business trainings, mentoring and coaching from the AUC’s extended
network
Networking events
Assistance with professional services including human resources and
recruitment, communication, marketing and legal assistance
Access to students for product testing, class projects and interns
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
46
Incubators in Egypt
Nahdet el Mahrousa
•
•
•
Since 2003, NGO-affiliated incubator (first Egyptian social incubator)
20 companies graduated till now
Tech-based social start-ups
–
–
•
•
•
Currently 40 social enterprises incubated
Youth development, education and employment, health services,
environment, scientific advancement, arts and culture, and identity
Cairo-area
Up to 24-month incubation
Services:
–
–
–
–
Capacity building
Technical support
Infrastructural support
Networking and connections
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
47
Incubators in Egypt
Sustaincubator
•
•
Since 2014, private incubator
Mainly tech-based high-impact start-ups
–
•
4 locations in Egypt, all in Cairo area
–
•
•
Water, food, renewable energy and IT-enabled solutions supporting
sustainable causes
6th of October City, Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, Beni Suef, Maadi
3- to 12-month incubation (for 10-20% of equity)
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Mentorship
Training and events
Access to seed investors after the incubation or crowdfunding platform
Networking
Cloud services
Demo day
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
48
Incubators in Egypt
GESR Incubator
•
•
Since 2015, NGO-affiliated accelerator (Misr El-Kheir foundation)
Tech-based social start-ups
–
•
•
•
Energy, food, water, health and education
Cairo-area
6- to 12-month acceleration
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Seed funding (EGP 200-500k = $25-65k, for <10% of equity)
Co-working space
Access to GESR lab (high-tech)
Networking opportunities
Entrepreneurship-focused business training and mentorship
Technical and administrative support
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
49
Incubators in Egypt
Flat6labs
•
•
•
Since 2011, private accelerator
46 companies graduated till now
Mainly ICT, but also other tech-based
–
–
•
•
•
Currently 8 companies
Examples: renewable energy solutions, solar powered solutions, other ICT-based
(mobile/ecommerce) firms
Cairo-area
4-month acceleration
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Seed funding (EGP 70-100k = $10-15k, for 10-15% of equity)
Strategic mentorship
A creative workspace
Entrepreneurship-focused business training and mentorship
Direct support and exposure through an expansive network of partner entities,
mentors and investors
A multitude of perks (up to $300k)
Demo day
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
50
Incubators in Egypt
The GrEEK Campus
•
•
Since 2014, private co-working space
Mainly tech-based high-impact start-ups
–
•
•
•
40+ companies currently present
Cairo
Collaboration with Flat6Labs and AUC
Services:
–
–
Co-working space
Technical support
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
51
Incubators in Egypt
Inno101
•
•
•
•
•
•
Since 2015, private incubator and accelerator
Mainly tech-based start-ups
Accept: Idea/concept only, prototype/working demo, product/service has
paying customers
Alexandria
2-month acceleration
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
No seed funding
$15k in services, for 10% of equity
Educational program, mentoring & Coaching sessions
Access to investment (investor network)
Business & market reach assistance (strategic partner network, strategic planning,
etc.)
Legal and financial/accounting consultation
Technology and technical assistance
Equipped office space at special rates
Demo day
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
52
Incubators in Egypt
JuiceLabs
•
•
Since 2013, accelerator
Mainly ICT (software) focused start-ups
–
•
•
•
A couple of start-ups per cycle
Cairo
6-month acceleration
Services:
–
–
–
–
–
Seed funding ($20k for <15% of equity)
Mentorship
Technical support
Infrastructural support
Networking and connections for further funding
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
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Incubators in Egypt
TechWadi Sprint
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Since 2014, accelerator connecting MENA startups with Silicon Valley
11-13 companies graduated till now
Mainly tech-based high-impact start-ups
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Examples: ICT, music equipment, etc.
MENA (not Egypt only!)
Collaboration with Google for Entrepreneurs and MIT Competition
1-month acceleration
Services:
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Positioning for fundraising with relevant SV investor
Coaching
Mentorship
Networking
Cloud services
Demo day
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
54
Incubators in Egypt
Business idea
Market
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
55
Thank you.
Q&A
boris.mrkajic@polimi.it
Supporting entrepreneurs: business incubators and accelerators
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