UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, Economic and Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Tokyo, and Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME) organized the Egypt Startup Investment/Partnership Webinar “Exploring Egypt’s Innovation & Startup Ecosystem” on 7 March 2024, in coordination with Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) in Egypt. The webinar included pitches from eight Egyptian startups and was attended by 113 participants including Japanese venture capitals and innovation funds.
The webinar was opened by H.E. Mr. Mohamed Abubakr, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Japan, Eng. Ahmed EL Zaher, CEO of ITIDA, and Mr. Mitsuo Tamura, Managing Director of JCCME. They expressed their expectations for the seminar, noting the presence of many talented young people in Egypt and the growing presence of the Egyptian startups in the MENA region.
As a keynote speaker, Dr. Ahmed El Karrany, Director of Entrepreneurship Section of ITIDA, introduced Egypt’s startup ecosystem highlighting that it is one of the fastest-growing in the MENA region. According to Startup Genome’s report, Egypt has one of the top ten most competitive talent pools in the world. Egyptian startups are growing in the areas of e-commerce, fintech, health tech, and logistics digitalization, and play a leading role in the country’s innovation. He also introduced organizations that support startups and business plan, as a part of the ecosystem.
The pitch session featured eight Egyptian startups, who presented their businesses in health tech, green tech, AI industry, DX, smart meters, GRC platform, and smart manufacturing for apparel production.
It was followed by a crosstalk titled “Exploring Startup Opportunities in the MENA Region” with speakers from JETRO Cairo Office, ME Innovation Fund, Sunny Side Venture Partners, and Double Feather Partners. The speakers shared their knowledge and expertise on startup support, ecosystem development and promising sectors for business cooperation with Japanese companies.
The seminar was concluded with closing remarks by Ms. Fumio Adachi, Head of UNIDO ITPO Tokyo.
Seminar Outline
Date: Thursday, 7 March 2024
Time: 16:00-18:00 (Japan) / 9:00-11:00 (Egypt)
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Organizers: UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
Economic and Commercial Section, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Tokyo
Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME)
Language: English – Japanese (Simultaneous interpretation)
MC: Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim, Counsellor (Head of Economic and Commercial Section)
Embassy of Egypt in Tokyo
Programme
16:00 Welcome
H.E. Mr. Mohamed Abubakr, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Japan
Eng. Ahmed EL Zaher, CEO, Information Technology Industry Development Agency, (ITIDA)
Mr. Mitsuo Tamura, Managing Director, JCCME
16:15 Introduction to the Egyptian Start-up Ecosystem
Dr. Ahmed El Karrany, Entrepreneurship Sector Director,
Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)
16:35 Pitch Session 1
– SehaTech HealthTech
– Noor Nation GreenTech
– Aeye tech AI Industrial Sector
– Arabic SS DX – Data Analysis
17:00 Pitch Session 2
– Amjaad IoT, Smart Metering
– Jadeed IoT, Green Energy Solution
– Pianat.ai AI, GRC Platform
– Garment IO IoT & AI Garment factories
17:25 Cross Talk: Exploring Startup Opportunities in the MENA Region
– Mr. Shigeyo Nishizawa, Managing Director, JETRO Cairo office
– Ms. Reem Mostafa, Assistant Director, JETRO Cairo office
– Ms. Risako Kawanaka, Assistant Manager, Mitsubishi Electric Innovation Fund
– Mr. Sadaharu Saiki, General Partner, Sunny Side Venture Partners
– Mr. Kohei Muto, CEO, Double Feather Partners
17:55 Closing
Ms. Fumio Adachi, Head, UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Imazu/ Ms. Horiguchi, UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
Email: EventTokyo@unido.org