AUC, MIT Enterprise Forum Hold First Startup Competition on Campus

AUC is partnering with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum (MITEF) of the Pan Arab Region to co-organize its annual Arab Startup Competition, which is being held for the first time on the New Cairo campus.

The MITEF competition will bring together 150 entrepreneurs from around the Arab world to receive one-on-one coaching in a two-day workshop from May 20 to 21, and winners in the startups and ideas tracks will be honored at anawards ceremony to be held at AUC New Cairo on Thursday, May 22. Bill Aulet, senior lecturer and managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, will be delivering the keynote speech at the ceremony.

“The MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region has been holding its competition for several years, and this year it is their biggest ever,” said Ayman Ismail, assistant professor and Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at AUC’s School of Business. “We are celebrating a large number of Arab startups, and Egypt has the highest number of startups represented as finalists.”

Several of these finalists are startups that are associated with AUC. Alumni Nesma El Far and Youssef El Samaa are finalists for their startup ElWafeyat, an online obituary platform that honors deceased family members and friends. Moreover, three of the startups incubated in the first cycle of theAUC Venture Lab — En2ly, Mubser and Kashef Labs — are finalists in the competition. “AUC is a leader in supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Egypt and a hub for many of its activities,” Ismail said. “By hosting this event, we bring entrepreneurs and mentors from MIT and all over the region, as well as from the University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program and AUC Venture Lab to Egypt to connect, network and share their knowledge and experience." Hala Fadel, chair of the MITEF Pan Arab Region, shared the same viewpoint. “We are very much looking forward to receiving the entrepreneurs in Cairo…, where they will be able to learn more, network, share their ideas with peers and receive feedback from experts,” she said. “We are empowering them through participation in a three-day, MIT-style entrepreneurship forum, and are providing them with the necessary resources to inspire and motivate them to continue their journey and grow.” The competition, which is held in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, will include intensive workshops attended by mentors, investors and the media. Representatives from Strategy (Formerly Booz & Company), Google, Yahoo, TechWadi and PepsiCo will be present to share their expertise with the young entrepreneurs. “I am convinced we will see a lot of innovative ideas, which will have the opportunity to meet the right investor and succeed well into the future,” said Fady Jameel, president of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives. Targeting 21 countries in the Arab world, the MITEF Arab Startup Competition has helped train more than 900 entrepreneurs and has led to the introduction of more than 200 companies in Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and other countries. Last year, 40 percent of the applicants to this competition were startups from Egypt, proving Cairo’s big market for entrepreneurs. Targeting 21 countries in the Arab world, the MITEF Arab Startup Competition has helped train more than 900 entrepreneurs and has led to the introduction of more than 200 companies in Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and other countries. Last year, 40 percent of the applicants to this competition were startups from Egypt, proving Cairo’s big market for entrepreneurs. Targeting 21 countries in the Arab world, the MITEF Arab Startup Competition has helped train more than 900 entrepreneurs and has led to the introduction of more than 200 companies in Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and other countries. Last year, 40 percent of the applicants to this competition were startups from Egypt, proving Cairo’s big market for entrepreneurs. Targeting 21 countries in the Arab world, the MITEF Arab Startup Competition has helped train more than 900 entrepreneurs and has led to the introduction of more than 200 companies in Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and other countries. Last year, 40 percent of the applicants to this competition were startups from Egypt, proving Cairo’s big market for entrepreneurs. “The partnership with the MITEF Pan Arab Region brings together the best ideas and startups in the Middle East together in one place to give youth the necessary guidance and to turn their ideas into a sustainable business,” said Sherif Kamel, dean of AUC’s School of Business. The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition is one of several activities that are a product of the recent partnership between the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at AUC’s School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region. The partnership, which was established in Fall 2013, aims to foster entrepreneurship in Egypt and the Arab world. AUC's School of Business collaborates with MITEF Pan Arab to organize workshops, lectures and events that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the business world. “Being an MIT alumnus, I’m happy to work with other Arab MIT alumni to bring the energy and innovation of the Boston entrepreneurship ecosystem to Egypt and the region,” Ismail said. “Entrepreneurship and innovation bring a contagious positive energy that we want to spread around in Egypt and the region and to contribute to economic development, job creation and global competitiveness.” The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition is one of several activities that are a product of therecent partnership between the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at AUC’s School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region. The partnership, which was established in Fall 2013, aims to foster entrepreneurship in Egypt and the Arab world. AUC's School of Business collaborates with MITEF Pan Arab to organize workshops, lectures and events that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the business world. "Being an MIT alum, I'm happy to work with other MIT alumni to bring the energy and innovation of the Boston entrepreneurship ecosystem to Egypt and the region,” Ismail said. “Entrepreneurship and innovation bring a contagious positive energy that we want to spread around in Egypt and the region and to contribute to economic development, job creation and global competitiveness.” MITEF of the Pan Arab Region is one of 28 chapters of the MIT Enterprise Forum, a nonprofit networking organization that has been serving the entrepreneurial community for more than 35 years. The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition is one of several activities that are a product of the recent partnership between the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at AUC’s School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region. The partnership, which was established in Fall 2013, aims to foster entrepreneurship in Egypt and the Arab world. AUC's School of Business collaborates with MITEF Pan Arab to organize workshops, lectures and events that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the business world. “Being an MIT alumnus, I’m happy to work with other Arab MIT alumni to bring the energy and innovation of the Boston entrepreneurship ecosystem to Egypt and the region,” Ismail said. “Entrepreneurship and innovation bring a contagious positive energy that we want to spread around in Egypt and the region and to contribute to economic development, job creation and global competitiveness.” The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition is one of several activities that are a product of the recent partnership between the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at AUC’s School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region. The partnership, which was established in Fall 2013, aims to foster entrepreneurship in Egypt and the Arab world. AUC's School of Business collaborates with MITEF Pan Arab to organize workshops, lectures and events that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the business world. “Being an MIT alumnus, I’m happy to work with other Arab MIT alumni to bring the energy and innovation of the Boston entrepreneurship ecosystem to Egypt and the region,” Ismail said. “Entrepreneurship and innovation bring a contagious positive energy that we want to spread around in Egypt and the region and to contribute to economic development, job creation and global competitiveness.” MITEF of the Pan Arab Region is one of 28 chapters of the MIT Enterprise Forum, a nonprofit networking organization that has been serving the entrepreneurial community for more than 35 years. Photo caption: AUC's School of Business, represented by Dean Sherif Kamel, and MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region, represented by Hala Fadel, sign their official partnership at the New Cairo campus in December 2013