{"id":554821,"date":"2021-11-15T14:04:45","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T14:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/11\/15\/tonight-the-ppp-act-passes-the-house-its-a-good-day-for-vc-investment-in-edtech\/"},"modified":"2021-11-15T14:04:45","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T14:04:45","slug":"tonight-the-ppp-act-passes-the-house-its-a-good-day-for-vc-investment-in-edtech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/11\/15\/tonight-the-ppp-act-passes-the-house-its-a-good-day-for-vc-investment-in-edtech\/","title":{"rendered":"TONIGHT: The PPP Act passes the House + It\u2019s a good day for VC investment in edtech"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a busy day here in the local press<\/strong>, ladies and gentlemen, with key legislation getting approval from the House of Representatives and new funding lining up for edtech. Meanwhile, US-China relations dominated the conversation in the foreign press.<\/p>\n

<\/a> The government is not allowing unvaccinated civil servants into their offices as of today.<\/strong> Ministries and other public sector bodies are strictly implementing the cabinet directive<\/a> barring employees from entering these buildings without proof of at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine or a PCR test, according to statements from the finance<\/a>, agriculture<\/a>, irrigation<\/a>, and local development<\/a> ministries, among others.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORIES TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- The House of Representatives gave final approval to the <\/strong>PPP Act<\/a><\/strong> today <\/strong>after a number of amendments were given the go-ahead in the plenary session, having received approval from the House Planning Committee in January<\/a>, according to Masrawy<\/a>. The act aims to streamline public-private partnership (PPP) contracts in fields including transport, energy, communications, and healthcare. It would also add provisions meant to ensure higher quality standards and simplify the tender process through which government contracts with private businesses. The bill will now move on to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to be ratified into law.<\/p>\n

#2- It\u2019s a busy day in the world of edtech: Edventures is investing USD 200k in career <\/strong>advice startup Career 180<\/strong>, the VC firm said in a press release<\/a>. The funding is set to help Career 180 build a new integrated job-search platform that integrates freelance gig site The Freelance Yard<\/a>. It\u2019s the second investment for Edventures in as many weeks, after the VC arm of Nahdet Misr for Publishing last week<\/a>announced it would pump USD 400k to distance-learning platform OTO Courses.<\/p>\n

\u2026And one edtech startup is acquiring another:<\/strong> Tyro, which offers one-to-one and group distance-learning courses, is acquiring edu-content creator Nafham in a share swap transaction, according to a press release<\/a>. Flat6Labs, and NXL Partners will invest in a kickoff fund for the merger of the two companies, which the release says will together form one of our biggest edtech firms. We hope to have more details on both of those edtech stories for tomorrow\u2019s EnterpriseAM.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> CORRECTION- We incorrectly reported net income figures in our coverage of e-Finance\u2019s <\/strong>earnings this morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a nine-month basis, net income rose 35% y-o-y to EGP 374.8 mn during 9M2021<\/strong> while revenues rose 59% y-o-y to reach EGP 1.3 bn, according to their maiden earnings release (pdf)<\/a> as a publicly-listed company. We\u2019ve updated the story on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Executive Chairman and CEO Ibrahim Sarhan emphasized in a call with us this afternoon that the company\u2019s spending in 3Q2021 rose as e-Finance continued to invest in its growth strategy. <\/strong>Sarhan noted that costs associated with the rollout of that strategy hit the income statement \u201cprimarily during the third quarter\u201d as opex rose through new subsidiaries on the back of \u201cnew hires and the development of new infrastructure and solutions to roll out new lines of business\u201d including offerings in tourism (among them for the nation\u2019s museums) and transport. The company announced new e-card transportation solutions at TransMea last week and expects the solution to be launched and operational at the start of 1Q2022. \u201cThis is all a clear investment in our strategy and in our growth \u2014 and revenues will ramp up to more than cover the uptick in expenses<\/strong>,\u201d Sarhan noted.<\/p>\n

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** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from today\u2019s EnterpriseAM:<\/strong><\/p>\n