Barclays Bank Egypt and NM announce eight incubation winners
Mohamed Sherif, CFO of Barclays Bank Egypt - Photo by Mena Assad
The winners of NM’s 7th round of incubation are Agora, Thaat, Zambaleta, Nakhla, Yadaweya, Misriyati, Mashrou3 ElSharq, Lahlooba. For short profiles on each winner, scroll down.
“You are the infrastructure that will bring this country forward,” Mohamed Sherif, CFO of Barclays Bank Egypt, told the winners. “Nahdet El Mahrousa helped Barclays Bank to set foot into something that we will continue doing in the future.”
Focusing on Social Innovation for Employment, both organizations started a competition in August 2013, looking for sustainable, “Egypt-building” startups and providing them with life, enterprise, and financial skills. Under the message “For every startup that is born, at least five people are employed”, they targeted young professional Egyptians between the ages of 20 and 35, who actively participate in building the community they live in.
After receiving 262 applications, startups went through a rigorous filtering process to be minimized to eight, who will get technical assistance, infrastructure support, consultancy, mentorship, seed funding and a chance to attend networking events.
The winners ranged throughout the fields of urban farming, conflict resolution, handicrafts, recycling and upcycling, logistics, R&D, employment for adults with disabilities and street children.
Short profiles of the winners:
Mashrou3 El Sharq (Cairo): Off ering support services to develop and open new markets for Egyptian street vendors.
Misriyati:Creating multiple diverse and functional spaces where the principles of peaceful living are fully enacted at all levels of life in our Egyptian Society.
Zambaleta (San Francisco and Egypt):A platform that facilitates musical learning and collaboration.
Thaat (Cairo):Empowering local artisans and emerging designers through holistic tailored solutions that combine design thinking approach with R&D.
Nakhla (Aswan):Turning palm tree waste into sustainable furtniture.
Lahlooba (Cairo): Aims to train and employ 250,000 men and women working informally in housekeeping.
Agora (Alexandria):Economic development through the Arts.
Yadaweya:An online fair-trade marketplace, serving as a platform to discover Egypt and its cultural heritage. Documenting and showcasing handmade productsstories of crafts, artisans and geographic locations.