RiseUp and Egypt’s startup scene: two tales of growth

RiseUp and Egypt’s startup scene: As the seventh RiseUp Summit concluded with its Pitch by the Pyramids event seeing 15 startups from across the MENA region compete for thousands of USD of investment, Wamda’s Triska Hamid looks at the extent to which the growth of the summit reflects the development of Egypt’s entrepreneurship sector as a whole. This year, RiseUp drew over 8k attendees from 56 countries and was populated by innovative startups that demonstrate an understanding of their local market, Hamid says. As a result, sectors including healthtech, edtech and fintech are starting to thrive, Egyptian talent has become sought after by startups around the world, and even the thorny issues of access to capital and creating a friendlier regulatory environment are being seriously addressed by accelerators and the government.