Four Egyptian startups selected for Misk 500 accelerator

At least four Egyptian startups are among the 20 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) companies that have been accepted into the second cohort of the Misk 500 Accelerator programme.

The cohort, which kicked off last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will conclude with a demo day on 3 December.

The four Egyptian startups are: footwear producer and ecommerce platform In Your Shoe, construction marketplace El-Mawkaa, tech recruitment platform TechieMatter and food ordering platform Ordera.

Each of the startups in the Misk 500 Accelerator programme will receive $50 000 in equity funding

500 Startups MENA said in a statement on Saturday (12 October) that the cohort also includes companies from Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

These include Xcute, OTO, Hulexo, Funnell, Simplifia Labs, Tee Arabia, YallaParking, Akalati, WorkHint, Spareslab, Trteeb, Greenish Co, Esar, The Scalable CFO, Ordera, Telp and StyleNow.

The accelerator, which 500 Startups runs in collaboration with Misk Innovation, features a 14-week curriculum that is structured to help pre-seed and seed stage startups create successful companies and scale.

In addition, participants will over the next two months be coached and mentored on product design and how to define their customer base.

500 Startups MENA also said each of the participating companies will receive training and an investment of $50 000 in exchange for seven percent equity from the 500 Startups regional fund, 500 Falcons.

It added that with the inclusion of this batch, the total number of its investments in the region will be 120 companies.

Sharif El-Badawi, 500 Startups MENA managing partner, said the accelerator programme aims to help MENA startups by raising the level of training standards for young entrepreneurs in the region.

“On completion, we look forward to seeing our startups actively contribute to MENA’s burgeoning tech entrepreneurship ecosystem,” added El-Badawi.

Featured image: Misk 500 Accelerator second cohort (Supplied)