This year, money is pouring in for Egyptian startups. Flat6Labs, a regional Seed Program and Fund, is the latest to enter the list, of freshly formed funds for entrepreneurs in the North African country, having announced the second closure and increase of its Egypt fund from EGP50 million to EGP207 million ($13.2m) to help Egyptian early-stage entrepreneurs. Flat6Labs has also announced that the cash seed offering for its Cairo Seed Program will be increased to up to EGP1.5 million ($95k), with up to EGP3 million ($190k) in post-program follow-on funding available for selected startups.
“I am extremely proud of our fund’s second close and the incredible support we have received from all our investors,” Marie-Therese Fam, Managing Partner at Flat6Labs Egypt, said.
The International Finance Corporation, the MSME Development Agency, the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund, and Egypt Ventures are all current Anchor Investors in the FAC fund, and have all expanded their investments to support more early-stage technology startups in Egypt. The fund’s second close also saw participation from Sawari Ventures. Sawari Ventures is the Fund’s most recent major investor.
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Why The Investors Invested In The Latest Fund
“Flat6Labs Egypt plays an integral role at the seed stage within the local and regional ecosystems; successfully providing the foundational support startups need through funding and mentorship, which is appealing for us. At Sawari Ventures, our fund strategy has always been to allocate a percentage of our fund to the seed stage which is a completely different proposition in terms of process, culture, and support needed. As investors in Flat6Labs Accelerator Company, we get the opportunity to profitably participate in Egyptian companies at a very early stage, get early indicators on ecosystem trends, and visibility into the ecosystem,” Wael Amin, Managing Partner at Sawari Ventures, said.
“Flat6Labs is participating in the development of the startup ecosystem in Egypt. We are proud to support them in helping our community embrace the digital economy”, added Ahmed Gomaa, CEO of Egypt Ventures.
Highlighting Flat6Labs’ role in nurturing a promising startup ecosystem and closing the financing gap for entrepreneurs in Egypt, James Harmon, Chairman of the EAEF, said “We believe that startup accelerators are instrumental to building a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, we are proud of Flat6Labs’ efforts and role in building the startup ecosystem in Egypt and will continue to support them as they fill an important financing gap in the market.”
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Hany Emad, Head of Central Sector for SME Finance at MSMEDA, added, “We consider Flat6Labs as one of our strategic partners and due to the success achieved during implementing the first close, we decided to increase our commitment to reach EGP 35 million.”
“We are very excited to expand our partnership with Flat6Labs and increase our commitment to up to $2.5 million. We invested in Flat6Labs back in 2017 as part of IFC’s Startup Catalyst program and have since supported its growth and expansion in Egypt and more broadly in the region,” said Walid Labadi, IFC’s country manager for Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.
Flat6Labs Launches New Seed Program For Startups
Applications are now open for Flat6Labs’ Cairo Seed program, apply here.
A Look At What Flat6Labs Does
The Flat6Labs Accelerator Company (FAC) Egypt fund was founded in 2017 with the aim of investing in 100+ creative startups across Egypt over a five-year period, with a focus on tech-enabled solutions. The Flat6Labs Cairo Seed Program has run seven cycles in the last three and a half years, investing in 62 startups, training over 350 entrepreneurs, and creating over 1,000 jobs, with 96 percent of those employed being young people aged 19 to 35. In Egypt, approximately half of Flat6Labs’ portfolio companies have secured follow-on funding totaling EGP145,000,000.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer