The initiative seeks to mobilize $1 billion in funding over five years for the startup sector through government resources, guarantees, and joint investments with venture capital funds and other private-sector investment and financing entities.
Dr. Al-Mashat added that several national entities are
participating in the initiative, including the Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), the Credit Guarantee Company, the
Central Bank of Egypt, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), the
Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), and the Ministries
of Investment, Finance, and Environment.
The announcement was made during the launch of the “Startup
Charter,” held at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), in the presence of Prime
Minister Moustafa Madbouly, members of the ministerial group, and
representatives of startups and entrepreneurs.
The minister explained that the unified financing initiative
aims to stimulate private-sector and venture capital investments across all stages
of growth of Egyptian startups through a government framework and diversified
financing mechanisms.
She added that the initiative’s pillars include ensuring the
continued flow of funding to startups, establishing a unified database to
monitor their progress, forming a coordination framework that brings together
all relevant stakeholders, engaging the entrepreneurship community in reviewing
outcomes to ensure market needs are met, linking startups with international
investors, and implementing proactive and corrective interventions to address
funding gaps.
She also noted that the initiative provides diverse
investment mechanisms tailored to companies at different growth stages, from
the idea phase to becoming billion-dollar companies (unicorns) or exiting. She
added that the initiative targets supporting around 5,000 companies, including
500 existing companies and five billion-dollar unicorns.