The third edition of Techne Summit, organized by the angel investor Tarek El Kady, starts in Egypt at the end of September. Its main goal is to close the gap between investors and rising entrepreneurs by emphasizing the role of technology and communications in the process.
According to El Kady, improving the investor climate in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe has been one of the challenges among all the countries in the region.
His peer, Hicham Amine, Head of Growth at Hidden Founders added that measures were needed as the gap between the resources available to MENA-based startups and those based in the Western world were still big. Amine said that the MENA Private Equity Association listed 34 venture capitalist firms while there were between 500 and 800 in Europe or the U.S. According to Amine, the local demand for funds could not be met without outside interest.
This year’s edition of the Techne Summit features fintech, marketing, startup academy, women empowerment, and e-commerce. It will give a scene to the local startups to present their innovations and increase their market visibility. It will also connect them with potential investors.
The investment track of the forum aims to promote the direct investment in MENA startups. It brings together foreign investors, local sovereign fund managers, angel investors, and venture capitalists to participate in master classes and workshops.
Next to that, the Techne Summit will also launch some startup competitions with over USD 1 million in prize money, including the Seedstarts Alexandria 2017 Startup Competition.
Techne Summit founder, Tarek El Kady commented:
Over the past two years we have been experiencing inspiring growth figures. The number of participants have doubled, so have the numbers of startups and international speakers involved. This astounding growth is a clear indicator of the thirst that existed for an event like Techne Summit, one that was the first of its kind in the region.
MO4 Network and its entrepreneurial platform, Startup Scene ME and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development are among the main sponsors of the event.
Techne Summit 2017 takes place from 30th September to the 1st of October 2017 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria. Tickets are available here.