Egyptian ecommerce platform ExpandCart accepted into Hong Kong accelerator Betatron

Cairo-based ecommerce platform ExpandCart has been accepted into the fifth cohort of Hong Kong accelerator Betatron.

ExpandCart is the only African startup that was accepted into the cohort which is comprised of seven other companies from Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and the US.

Betatron director of marketing Sam Ameen said in a post on the accelerator’s blog last Thursday (3 October) that Betatron had invested $150 000 into each startup in the cohort.

ExpandCart was founded in 2013 by Yasser Seleem and Amr Shawqy

Founded in 2013 by Yasser Seleem and Amr Shawqy, ExpandCart is a comprehensive cloud ecommerce platform with native Arabic support.

ExpandCart also enables individuals and businesses to create a professional online shop in minutes by themselves without the need for any technical experience or assistance.

Over the next three months Betatron will work with the eight startups in its fifth cohort to refine their business models and fast-track them to grow and scale.

Cohort has 0.61% acceptance rate

Ameen pointed out in the post that the the accelerator will assign each of the eight startups a lead mentor from Betatron’s network of venture capitalists (VCs) and selected industry experts.

The eight will benefit from hands-on mentorship and support on marketing, sales, tech development, legal, accounting, as well as user interface and user experience (UI/UX).

Betatron said it had received 1301 applications for its fifth cohort. Of these, the accelerator interviewed 247 startups, with 65 being selected for due diligence — before the final eight were selected.

This translates into an overall acceptance rate of just 0.6% of the 1301 startups that applied.

Feature image: ExpandCart.com via Facebook