Tech in Africa
The Egyptian startup ecosystem is the most vibrant an successful across the MENA region. In 2019, Egypt was the most active venture capital market accounting for 25% of all transactions across MENA.
The success of the ecosystem is seen in the billion dollar valuation of Fawry on the local stock exchange. Other startups like Vezeeta and Swvl have become leading firms in their respective categories.
To capitalize on the rising number of innovative startups that are mushrooming in the 100 million-plus market offered by Egypt, several tech investors are pouring cash into tech ventures. Different players are targeting preferred sectors or finance gaps that are barely tapped into. Foundation Ventures is one of the latest venture capital firms to make an entry.
The fund is run by Omar Barakat, Ziyad Hamdy, and Mazen Nadim who have backgrounds in finance and investment banking. All three players have previously put investment capital into startups before beginning Foundation Ventures. The funds partners are BPE Partners and HOF Capital.
In a disclosure to Menabytes, Mazen Nadim said that they invest in pre-seed to Serie A startups. The average check size is at US$300,000 with an opening for follow on rounds.
Thus far the fund has invested in some companies namely, Capiter (B2B e-commerce marketplace), NowPay (financial wellness platform), and Minly (an online celebrity platform).
