AUC Venture Lab and the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development Launch Training Program to Support Entrepreneurship
The Venture Lab (V-Lab) at The American University in Cairo (AUC) has announced its collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to launch a capacity-building program for business incubators and accelerators as part of the ongoing collaboration with DROSOS FOUNDATION. The collaboration aims at knowledge sharing and improvement of entrepreneurial support programs as part of the entities’ commitment to new job creation and economic development. The program is scheduled to kickstart in May with IncuDev, a program that will help individuals design and establish new incubators and accelerators or develop existing ones.
The new program will enable the teams behind incubators, accelerators, and entrepreneurship support programs all over Egypt to benefit from AUC Venture Lab’s experience as a leading accelerator that has supported more than 200 startups and created 8000+ job opportunities.
The training curriculum will offer participants tools and techniques for program development and design, operations and management, and capacity building for the founding team. In addition, the program will facilitate collaboration opportunities to streamline efforts, create a broader impact and allow participants to reach shared goals.
The newly launched program comes in tandem with the Ministry’s Rowad 2030 project, aiming to stimulate and enrich the innovation process and empower entrepreneurs by creating a supportive startup ecosystem and opening up opportunities for job creation and youth participation.
“We are thrilled to launch this new program in collaboration with the Ministry to support the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems and empower fresh minds all over the country,” said AUC Venture Lab Director and AUC’s Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship Ayman Ismail. He said: “this partnership is part of our continuous commitment to sharing the knowledge and experience we have acquired over the past eight years. We aim to help Egyptian startups better equip supporting organizations and encourage collaboration between the different entities, especially within Egyptian universities.”
AUC Venture Lab is also committed to enriching the entrepreneurship space through training supporting organizations as part of its long-standing collaboration with DROSOS FOUNDATION.
“DROSOS FOUNDATION believes that supporting an enabling environment for youth to innovate and present viable business solutions to systemic social problems is key to sustainable development. The Foundation is proud to support the AUC Venture Lab to promote partnerships between policymakers and education institutions to pave the way for policy frameworks that enhance this enabling environment for young entrepreneurs,” said Wessam ElBeih, country director of DROSOS FOUNDATION.
In addition to the capacity-building program, the announced collaboration includes the expansion of Rowad Meter, a platform that brings together Egypt’s latest entrepreneurship-related data, figures and activities to measure the long-term impact of the program and the development of its participants.
The program will also contribute to Egypt’s 2030 vision that promotes knowledge and innovation as crucial development pillars and promotes a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation.