INNOVATION – Innovators and partners of THE NEXT SOCIETY gather in Cairo for a great round of events
Published on 01 July 2019
On June 19 to 20, 2019, Cairo hosted two major events initiated by ANIMA Investment Network in the framework of THE NEXT SOCIETY to support and spread the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Egypt and in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Organised by ANIMA, TIEC and ITIDA on 19 June 2019, the Matchmaking Forum for Investment and Innovation promoted Egyptian stakeholders of the innovation ecosystem to an international delegation of business and innovation support organisations, thus strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean community with creative and inspiring exchanges. The day after, THE NEXT SOCIETY partners gathered in TIEC premises to discuss the steps forward of the initiative during its 3rd Annual Conference.
200 participants representing startups accelerators, business federations, investors and public agencies from Europe and the MENA region gathered in Cairo, Egypt, last week to take part in THE NEXT SOCIETY Matchmaking Forum for Investment and Innovation. This open forum brought together Egyptian entrepreneurs to present their solutions and opportunities to an international audience eager to discover the assets of the Egyptian ecosystem. 70 tailor-made BtoB meetings were scheduled prior to the event through a matchmaking platform and were organised during the day along with networking sessions and roundable discussions aiming at connecting participants interested in developing business in Egypt and the MENA region.
As explained by Rasha Tantawi, Head of Business and Entrepreneurship at TIEC, the value of investments received in the top 5 MENA countries (United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon) increased by 1% in 2018, reaching a total amount of USD 673,519,071 which represents 255 investment deals, 16% less than the number of deals achieved in 2017. Indeed, while the number of investment deals decreased, the size of investments has grown. Venture and Growth Capital, Accelerators and Corportates lead the investment deals developed in the MENA region and particularly in the top 5 countries receiving most investment deals. That data clearly reflects the transformation of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the MENA region from traditional business and investment ecosystem to start-up and innovative business development.
Challenges in mobilising foreign investment for developing innovation ecosystems; innovative mechanisms to scale start-ups; public policies to be implemented to boost access to finance in the MENA countries; and novel strategies for financing innovators in the MENA region were some of the topics that animated the day’s discussions.
THE NEXT SOCIETY 3rd Annual Meeting
On June 20, 2019 the 3rd Annual Meeting of the initiative was organised by TIEC on its premises. The event brought together all partner organisations of THE NEXT SOCIETY who presented the key achievements, challenges and successes of the consortia after two years of activities implemented in Egypt and in the MENA region through several presentations and parallel workshops.
The Coordination Team of THE NEXT SOCIETY presented to the partners THE NEXT SOCIETY video which has been released on the occasion of the Egypt round of events to highlight the actions developed by the consortium so far.
This meeting was also the perfect time to celebrate the growth of THE NEXT SOCIETY community. Indeed, after two years of activities, several organisations have joined THE NEXT SOCIETY as ecosystem partners or members of THE NEXT SOCIETY Club (click here to know more about them).
Yomken.com (Egypt), Aix-Marseille University (France), Emerging Valley (France), Marseille Innovation (France), and Flow (Palestine), Factory 619 (Tunisia), Factory 319 (France), Zebox (France), P.Factory (France), Brenco (Algeria), Seedstars, Welcoming Diaspora (France) have recently integrated the ecosystem partners, making the community grow and spreading innovation culture all around the Mediterranean!
In addition, thecamp and GM Consultant have joined forces with Bpifrance, the Region Sud – Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and GreenFlex, founder members of THE NEXT SOCIETY Club which associate public and private organisations committed to create value in the region to take part in the innovation dynamics and trends between Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa!
Furthermore, a partnership agreement was signed in Beirut, Lebanon, on 14 June 2019 among ANIMA Investment Network, Berytech, Marseille Innovation and the Région Sud under the patronage of Renaud Muselier, President of the Région Sud (France) to further develop collaboration between innovators in both countries.