7 of TIEC Incubation Success Stories booklet

7 of TIEC
Incubation
Success Stories
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Dear Readers,
How do people with new challenging ideas
succeed in creating and capturing value? The
answer to this question lies at the heart of this
booklet issued by the Technology Innovation
and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) of the
Information Technology Industry Development
Agency (ITIDA). TIEC’s complementary portfolio
of services is designed to foster innovation
and entrepreneurship in information and
communication technology (ICT). Incubation of
entrepreneurs tops TIEC’s provided services.
Entrepreneurship is all around us these days. In
almost every nation, politicians and economists
have the word on their lips. Spectacular
ICT and ICT-enabled companies have been
created by entrepreneurs who have uncovered
hidden opportunities, have developed products
and services that customers initially did
not demand, and have eventually created
extraordinary value for themselves. Examples
include Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jack
Dorsey of Twitter, Larry Page of Google, and
Amr Awadallah of Cloudera.
High-profile
entrepreneurship
activities
have been launched in Egypt in recent
years. Number of startups has significantly
increased. Thousands have been participating
in events as Startup Weekends in many
Egyptian governorates. TIEC has been soliciting
qualifying entrepreneurs through business
plan competitions, offering an integrated set of
supporting services as equipped office space,
mentoring, networking, and consultations.
This booklet highlights seven out of the different
success stories of startups that graduated from
TIEC incubators. It targets many objectives.
One is to celebrate their successes. Another is
to catalyze entrepreneurial aspiration and helps
more to choose the path of entrepreneurship.
Hopefully the booklet inspires many to cross from
thoughts to actions. It may also give an enjoyable
scene of adventure and/or achievement.
Moreover, it may help explain the entrepreneurial
mindset of friends and relatives.
Let us embark every startup’s success journey
hoping to have yours as part of our next edition
and wishing you an enjoyable read.
Dr. Hossam Osman
ITIDA Acting CEO
algorithms. But then they discovered the local
market was lacking the most basic online
recruitment channels and decided to tackle this
first.
ITIDA incubation facilitated the company
establishment and registration, funding, office
space, and training. The incubation duration at
that time was two years. BasharSoft started their
incubation program in ITIDA in 2009 and in 2010
they moved with the incubation program to TIEC.
Basharsoft...
FROM A LOOMING
CLOSURE TO SILICON
VALLEY
BasharSoft is a success story powered by
persistence, coming back from eminent closure
and bootstrapping for years to building Egypt’s
largest online recruitment platform – WUZZUF –
and then receiving funding from leading Silicon
Valley and European investors and VCs
How did it start?
People might have seen this startup having a
bad luck to first launch in the turbulent 2011,
but, today, “Bashar Soft” celebrates securing
Egypt’s largest funding round, led by European
VCs just after being the first Egyptian startup to
join Silicon Valley’s “500 Startups” seed fund and
accelerator program getting access to top VCs
and investors in the Valley.
In late 2008, Muhammad Algarhy and Ameer
Sherif met while working in TSN – a US company
having a software development arm in Egypt. Both
had an educational background in Engineering.
Muhammad studied Civil Engineering in Cairo
University and later did an MBA and Ameer had
a BSc in Communications Engineering followed
by a MSc in Computer Engineering – both from
Cairo University.
They both wanted to launch their own venture
and decided to work together to create the
missing link between recruiters and job seekers.
Both sides always complained that they
cannot find each other yet both are out
there. They applied together as a team to the
Technology Incubation Program which was at
that time under the umbrella of ITIDA. They
were selected after a rigorous three months
training program ending up with writing a full
business plan and started their incubation in
October 2009.
Not another recruitment
website
“BasharSoft” kicked off with an
idea of talent management and
innovative online recruitment
solutions. The idea was not
to build another
recruitment website
but develop smart
solutions to overcome
deficiencies in existing
systems,
integrating
psychometric/
technical
assessments and utilizing
intelligent
matching
The Blue Eighteen Months
But the road wasn’t paved. Their first product to
launch was BasharJobs – an online recruitment
site to match people with jobs based on
intelligent matching algorithms. It was launched
in Jan 2011 – 1 week before the revolution.
Creating the team behind “BasharJobs” wasn’t
easy given the tough economic situation and
absence of investors in post-revolution Egypt.
The technology firm had its fair share of blue days
in 2012 (after graduating from TIEC’s incubation)
as they had to bootstrap for eighteen months
struggling their way through. 2012 was a
very tough year and at many times they
thought of closing down the business due
to lack of cash. They had to downsize
the team and many team members
had to leave including Muhammad
Algarhy who was then CEO. In mid
2012, Ameer became CEO and
was also considering walking
away and closing down the business as it was
not generating enough revenues.
Great Achievement is
Usually Born of Great
Sacrifice
“Great achievement is usually born of great
sacrifice”, says Napoleon Hill, author of “Think
and Grow Rich”. In mid 2012, however, they
re-branded “BasharJobs” as WUZZUF after
merging with another recruitment site that
was much older but not performing well
too. It took them one more additional year
of bootstrapping and borrowing from family
and friends until reaching profitability in mid
2013.
After reaching profitability, WUZZUF was able
to attract investments from two local angel
investors. Ameer was also able to pitch to
some US investors in Amman, Jordan. This
enabled them to be the 1st startup from Egypt
to join [500 Startups] – one of the leading
global accelerator programs in San Francisco,
CA – at the heart of Silicon Valley.
They joined the 500 Startups program in US
for five months and were able to attract further
investors from US and Egypt till they closed a
series A of $1.7 million from Sweden- based
Vostok New Ventures and UK – based Piton
Capital .
Growth in 2015 until today
Today, “WUZZUF” is the leading player in the
online recruitment market in Egypt with the
biggest market share. More than 30,000 people
found jobs directly through WUZZUF in more than
4,000 companies in Egypt. That’s more impact
than any other private recruitment entity in
Egypt. More than 100,000 job vacancies were
advertised directly by employers and more than
1 Million job application processed. They also
sponsored and supported more than 60 job fairs
and employment events in the past two years.
Started by just two co-founders back in 2009,
the company grew from 8 people in early 2014
to 40 full-timers in this past year alone.
What’s next for
“BasharSoft”?
Dominating the market of online recruitment in
Egypt and expanding regionally. By 2020, the
company aspires to help more than 1 MILLION
people find jobs in Egypt alone.
Some Advice From
Basharsoft Team:
1. Launch the product quickly and receive
feedback.
2. The road is tough. It needs passion and
strong believers.
3. Generate revenue before asking for money.
It’s easier to get investment this way.
Bey2ollak;
FIVE YEARS,TWO
CITIES,ONE MILLION+
USERS, WITH ZERO FUND
(SO FAR..)
“Bey2ollak” success comes from empowering
people to beat traffic together! Currently
serving more than 1 Million registered users
in 2 cities, Bey2ollak is a simple, local & social
crowdsourcing app for people to exchange
traffic info with the vision of becoming your
ideal road companion app.
From a word of mouth to a leading
company that attracts millions of pounds for
sponsorship and advertising. “Bey2ollak”; an
Egyptian slang that refers to something heard
from someone else is now a mobile app
used by hundreds of thousands of Egyptians
on a daily basis to report traffic jams and
blocked roads allover Cairo & Alexandria
using “funky” language; colloquial franco
Arab words like “7alawa” for traffic flow and
“mafeesh amal” to say: avoid that route.
How did it start?
“Bey2ollak” is the brainchild of six
partners led by Aly Rafea, a computer
science graduate. Rafea first worked in a
software house upon graduation before
joining Vodafone to manage around half a
billion Egyptian Pounds in the marketing
department. There, he introduced three major
value-added services to the market, yet, his
dream was to break off the corporate life and
benefit the society. Rafea found his friends
frequently updating each other about Cairo
traffic.. and there, found his opportunity
which he shared with Gamal Sadek, another
computer science graduate, who came up
with the name «Bey2ollak». They thought
of developing a mobile application through
which everyone can update information
about the traffic situation.
In the brainstorming phase, the team
expanded to include Mohamed Rafea and
Waleed Mostafa, both have a background
in entrepreneurship, so that all four would
work on the development and operations of
the app while Mostafa ElBeltagy, a business
administration graduate would take on
marketing, and Yehia Ismail, an architect
by profession, to be responsible for the
UI design. They all tested the idea in their
communities through surveys.
The first challenge was how users will
accept the application and if they will keep
reporting traffic status updates. Another
was how to grow in terms of users and
revenue? The founders had to find a
working business model after launching.
It doesn’t take money to
make money
“In 2010, Bey2ollak came in to leverage the
power of mobile technology and internet not
only to give traffic insights but even to expand
the benefit and reach more audience” said
Waleed Mostafa, Director of Operations &
Social Media at Bey2ollak.
Back in 2010, Mobile applications were not
popular since Android systems were not
available in Egypt and Blackberry did not have
an app store by that time. However, Market
survey showed more interest into mobile
applications rather than a traditional web site.
Therefore, the team decided to take the risk
and respond to market needs and launched
their application for blackberry users mainly
to capitalize on its BBM strong viral effect at
that time!
Proving that it doesn’t take money to make
money, “Bey2ollak” launched with almost
zero cost but the Team’s time and expertise
in computer science, business, operations and
design. On Sunday 10/10/2010 Bey2ollak’s
first beta version was out for Cairo users.
Six thousand registered
users on launch day and
a sponsor deal in three
weeks
Launching operation was not easy having a
target of one thousand users during its first
month! Luckily “Bey2ollak” launch day went viral
and got around six thousand registered users on
its first day! The first 48 hours went really viral
that it caught Vodafone’s attention and 3 weeks
later, in November 2010, Vodafone became
Bey2ollak’s first sponsor. Although the deal ONLY
consisted of in-kind contributions (there was no
cash in the deal), closing this barter deal in the
first weeks of Bey2ollak’s launch was indeed a
key milestone that provided the app with lots of
credibility & exposure.
Incubation helped develop
the app.
Eight months later, in July 2011. The team won
the NexGen competition award for best pitch
and received incubation for one year at the
Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Center (TIEC) as part of the prize. The incubation
helped Bey2ollak team by providing office space,
meeting rooms, high speed internet, testing
devices, networking opportunities and access to
conferences and leading events. “The incubation
helped us focus more on product development
and adding new features”, Waleed added.
What’s next for Bey2ollak?
Going global inshalla.
In 2013, the team had an expansion trial going
into Athens, Greece that didn’t work out that good
but it was indeed a great learning experience!
Currently Bey2ollak is planning to launch a whole
new app in Istanbul, by the end of 2015.
1st Cash Revenue & prize in Some advice from
2012
Bey2ollak team:
After around 15 months of operations, Bey2ollak
secured its 1st revenue after signing the first
deal with an international beverages brand for
advertising on their app.
Later that year in May 2012, Bey2ollak
won“Ebda2” or “Start-With-Google” competition,
walking away with two hundred thousand Dollars
as prize money.
Today, Bey2ollak’s main revenue source is
through sponsorship with Pepsi as a main
sponsor as of April 2015 and advertising partners
such as Shell Helix, Barclays and TEData. The
app is available for download on all smartphones
via app.bey2ollak.com for free.
1. Define the “main” aspects of your venture
& take the time to form the right team for it!
2. Go to market as fast as you can, with a
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to prove
traction!
3. Always listen to feedback from your users,
to ensure that you’re developing the right
features and moving in the right direction
eMarketing
EGYPT..
AIMING TO GROW BOLD
AND STEADY!
“eMarketing Egypt” is a success story because
we aimed to grow an integrated e-marketing
firm during a very tough time and we were
able not only to succeed locally but to expand
internationally.
eMarketing Egypt is the brainchild of three young
Egyptians who had a common goal to create an
integrated e-marketing services firm which also
acts to provide business marketing research as
a means of providing feedback to businesses
to be used as a form of digital competitive
intelligence.
How did it start?
They first began the project at the end of 2008
as a virtual, team of three providing online
e-marketing services in Egypt via a website.
After joining the incubation program in 2009,
they were able to move from a virtual business
to one which had a base in Smart Village.
They had hopes of financially breaking even
during their second year of operation (2010).
However, doing business at that time was very
challenging due to political unrest. Nevertheless,
they continued to persevere and even hired four
additional employees by the end of 2010. By
the end of 2014, eMarketing Egypt was able to
expand their services to an international market
of over 80 customers from Cyprus, Australia,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, and the UAE.
The Reference
eMarketing Egypt had been keen from the
start to be the reference of digital intelligence
in Egypt. This had been realized through their
annual flagship report about Facebook in Egypt
that was published for the sixth year in 2015.
Focusing on ROI was their
main goal
What sets eMarketing Egypt apart from other
businesses is the fact that they focus on returns
on investments above all else. Having come
from a business consultation background also
gave them an edge over other businesses.
Furthermore, they are also using social media
such as Facebook as a platform in Egypt for local
e-marketing.
“We were also able to make a meager revenue
within one year, which allowed us to further
expand our business, since we were no longer
100% dependent on funds”, Ahmed Nagy said.
The company has also managed to set up a
branch in Saudi Arabia with local Saudi Arabian
investors. The company is now being used a
business model for other startups to study their
experience and emulate it.
Incubation was key
factor for success!
They entered the Incubation Business plan
Competition in 2009, competing against 180
other contesting groups, and were handed
the award of best business plan in the field of
technology. Although they had the technical
knowhow, they lacked adequate finances,
knowledge and expertise necessary to run
a startup. However TIEC provided them with
this much needed knowledge as well as
providing a great incentive to push forward
despite the odds, TIEC also gave them the
necessary funds to move forward with their
business and move it from a virtual company
to one with an actual base.
Challenges are only part
of the journey
The challenges they faced as a company
were the socio-political lack of stability
found in Egypt which indirectly led to delays
internally as well as causing some fears in
the mindset of foreign investors. Funnily
enough, sometimes foreign investors will
take more time to discuss the political
situation rather than focus on the business.
Another issue the company faced was the
constant electricity cuts found in Egypt which
make an electronically based business very
hard to run.
“There was a point in time where we
received no salaries, and when we did, they
were much less than what we had received
working elsewhere,” Nagy recalled.
What’s Next for
eMarketing Egypt?
With the usage of proper consultation,
implementation of new knowledge and
training of staff members, they hope to
increase their activities in the near future by
100% capacity. eMarketing Egypt views the
Saudi Arabian market as a huge potential, as
it has already opened the door to the Swiss
based International Handball Federation as
well as the World Food Program, as well
as already having expanded eMarketing
Egypt’s dealings with a further additional 10
countries. They hope that this competitive
advantage will continue to open doors to
untapped businesses.
Some advice from
eMarketing Egypt team:
1. Don’t succumb to the socio-political
status quo and give up, if you choose
to persist you will succeed.
2. Regardless of what business you
want to run, you can be borrowing
and following the same old system of
copying what other businesses have
done or set yourself out from the crowd
by finding what makes your business
unique.
3. Don’t let the fact that you are young
scare you, they were young, and yet
were able to reach over 10 countries.
Integreight..
AIMING TO GROW THE
MAKERS COMMUNITY
AROUND THE GLOBE
“Integreight” is a success story because we
aimed to make everyone a maker regardless
of their technical capabilities or financial
limitations and we made that possible through
developing innovative electronic prototyping
and educational solutions.
The Story begins with a university graduation
project, then becoming a company selling its
products in 55 countries and distributors in
more than 14 countries including Canada, US
and Italy.
“Integreight”; derived from the word
“Integrate” and “Eight” referring to the
number of its team members, is an awardwinning company that sold thousands of units
of its product 1Sheeld around the world with
$150,000 in revenue.
How did it start?
The start was simple. A team of students
working on their graduation project Smart
breadboard, allowing hobbyists and
engineering students to design circuits using
simple schematic software.
Then came their baby project, “1Sheeld”,
rapidly growing and letting hardware tinkerers
experiment with ideas and variations using
their smartphones thus achieving speed and
lowering the cost.
If you have a shield that acts as a gateway
between the Arduino and the smartphone,
that would make Arduino access all of the
phone capabilities and vice versa, and it would
even introduce shields and accessories that
don’t exist yet. All of that can be done without
buying the actual shields, just 1Sheeld and
their Android app.
“You have a powerful Android smartphone
that can be used to control your RC car, tweet
when plants are thirsty and have fun playing
with your friends. This is just a fraction of
what you can actually do with 1Sheeld, the
possibilities are endless,” Amr Saleh, CEO of
Integreight explained.
After winning several local and international
competitions, the team thought to
commercialize the idea ignited. “Integreight”
was able to get seed funding from a private
startup accelerator.
Incubation helped develop
1Sheeld.
The team then applied to the Technology
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC)
Business plan Competition “Start IT” and won
a one year incubation period to aim for growth
and new horizons in their exciting journey. TIEC
offered the team a workspace and marketing
consultancy. TIEC also supported the team in
numerous ways in their external participation in
events abroad, providing them with marketing
material and helping the team in shooting their
promotional videos.
Atmel-powered 1Sheeld
(ATMega162) hits
Kickstarter
Integreight team decided to use the power of
crowdfunding, and launched their Kickstarter
campaign, hoping to raise a modest $10,000.
The campaign was enormously successful that it
broke its goal in only six hours! The final income
amount by the supporters went over $85,210 US
dollar. Moreover, it got them a global approach
when they found a manufacturing partner in
China. China NOA LABS guaranteed total success
in ordering larger quantities of mass production
as well as delivering high quality products.
Challenges are only part of
the journey
The process of manufacturing 1Sheeld had to be
done in several stages. They had to go to China,
do the follow up and testing themselves in order
to have the suitable quality that they aspire to.
Marketing and branding is always a challenge
for any startup especially in such a crowded
market. But when Integreight team took part in
Techcrunch Disrupt Europe exhibition in October
2013, they immediately caught the attention
of the exhibition hall and were put on stage as
audience choice. They were able to show their
added value to a larger community.
What’s next for
Integreight?
A new version for 1Sheeld that suits iOS
(It’s on android at the moment). The market
is rapidly expanding and they want to climb
to the top. The aim this year is one million
dollars in revenue.
Some advice from
Integreight team:
1. Don’t measure success or failure based
on one year’s revenue. Startups could
get great revenue if they did a good
launch and gained customers. But they
should learn how to keep them. Ego
doesn’t count and there is no time or
space for rest.
2. Nobody does good work alone. Success
comes from teamwork.
3. Don’t choose an investor based on
funding only but also on mentorship.
OPTUMATICS...
A STORY OF
TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION AND SUCCESS
“Optumatics” is a success story because we
served a niche market in a way no one else could.
Always striving for excellence and constantly
studying the market; we are always one step
ahead of our competitors at a better price range.
How did it start?
The company was built six years ago by Eng.
Sherif Al Taheri and Dr. Hazem Ezzat to enable a
culture around technical services that provided
quality technical support to their clientele. In
particular, the technical support mainly caters
to engineering and technical solutions through
software platforms such as computational
fluid dynamics (CFD). The two partners started
by working for General Motors when they had
an idea to start a company which would be
thought of as a support system for software
development companies. They applied to the
incubation program and here, they started the
journey of Optumatics. At the moment all the
company’s clients are based in the USA.
Optumatics started with funds of around
1,000,000 EGP from the incubation program
and their revenues have now reached 5 million
EGP. However, this number fluctuates annually.
company is constantly innovating ways to
serve their customers in the ever-changing
field of tech support by evolving as a
company to better serve customer needs.
The company’s founders take pride in their
diversity, respect for individuality, and their
aspiration to always strive for excellence.
Furthermore, Optumatics is the only company
in the Middle East and Africa that offers the
kind of technology that it does.
Experience and innovation
put us one step ahead:
Incubation making the
impossible a reality
Optumatics is unique in that it hires highly
skilled individuals with a strong base of
experience at a cost which is lower than those
hired by Europe and USA competitors. The
The duo joined the incubation program in
October 2009 and was immediately told that
they were entering a niche market where
there was a great need for their ideas.
However, they were also told that in order for
their project to succeed, they must focus their
efforts on marketing.
“The incubation provided us with office space
in the Smart Village area, as well as starting
funds, and to have started the company
without these necessary funds would have
been extremely difficult,” Dr Hazem recalled.
“Most of the youth in the competition had
excellent ideas, but lacked the funds to follow
through on their dreams. Had it not been
for ITIDA and TIEC, Optumatics would have
followed a similar fate,” he added.
TIEC allowed Optumatics to start with a good
angel fund in a field which allowed them to
lose little financially. With the help of TIEC,
Their work took off, and they were able to
work with big names like General Motors,
Chrysler, Caterpillar, and even some startup
companies in the USA.
AEROSPACE
POWER
GENERATION
OIL AND GAS
10 individuals focused on computational
flow dynamics which they hope can be used
to improve sources of renewable energy
through hydro and air capabilities. They also
hope that through engineering softwares
they can advance the automotive, energy,
aerospace and other sectors in Egypt and
the Middle East. Optumatics’ founders train
their staff in physics, numerical analysis,
and codes, to better prepare them for the
software of the future.
The most challenging
part
The company had a very difficult time during
the Egyptian revolution because they only
had one American client, as most viewed
Egypt as an unstable market and refused to
collaborate with companies based in Egypt.
This taught the company that while having
an international base of clients is a nice
idea, it also leaves you vulnerable to any
international disturbances.
Furthermore, they struggle from a marketing
perspective because they have a huge client
base, the company is always on the lookout
for software engineers to challenge global
standards, and this is quite difficult to find.
What’s Next for
Optumatics?
In the future, the company is looking to
secure certain projects locally in Egypt,
in hopes that they can be involved with
something that have a positive impact on
the country. They currently have a basis of
Some advice from
Optumatics team:
ENERGY
1. A great number of Entrepreneurs begin
their projects excited wanting to be like
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or the Google
guys. But in Egypt specifically we have
to take these as an exception. You have
to have a clear idea on the Business
side of things not only the technology
side.
2. Minimize the risk through trying out
and experimenting yourself.
3. Failure is not a big calamity. You can
afford failure when you are young. Take
it as a learning process and partner
with someone who has experience.
Tagipedia..
AN INNOVATIVE WAY OF
LOOKING AT PRODUCTS
“Tagipedia” is a success story because we
chose to create a need that people would
want. Our success was built on perseverance
and steadfastness even through tough times.
Tagipedia is a startup located in 6th of October
which was created to bridge the gap between
online and offline marketing through the
utilization of NFC, iBeacon, and QR codes.
How did it start?
The creators of Tagipedia, who studied
engineering
communications,
were
looking into RFID, which is radio frequency
identification,
which
uses
wireless
electromagnetic fields to track or identify
certain objects. Tagipedia created a platform
that allows mobile applications to discover
services through tags. These tags can be
(QR codes, NFC, RFID, or iBeacon). The phone
interacts with tags in many ways. A tag in a
museum can serve as a pointer to interactive
information about the artifact it is attached
to while at the same time it can serve as a
checkpoint in an interactive Treasure Hunt
Game, or a quiz. The same tag can be used in
many different applications without requiring
changes to the physical tag. The first step was
creating a website tagipedia.com in 2007. It
became a company in 2009 when Tagipedia
joined the incubation program and funding
came through to provide an office space and
different kinds of support.
Tagipedia is currently working on a project to
create mobile accessible maps for large malls
and exhibitions.
Winning because of hard
work
Tagipedia won incubation for two years. They
started their incubation with ITIDA in 2009
after winning in the Business plan Competition
and moved with the incubation program to
Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Center (TIEC) in 2010. TIEC provided Tagipedia
with its first form of funding, without which
the company would not have been able to
flourish. TIEC also acted as the first milestone
for Tagipedia which gave a much needed
boost to the owners to move forward. TIEC
also provided the Tagipedia team with enough
information and know-how to help them stand
on their own feet.
Successfully Serving A
Diverse Customer Base
The Tagipedia business model is one based
on subscriptions, mainly from government
bodies, and one which is ad-based, more
frequented by malls and exhibitions.
Tagipedia was also able to secure contracts
with clients from Saudi Arabia, UAE as
well as several newspapers which use
Tagipedia’s solution in place of Mobile Web
or a mobile app to receive information on the
latest news. Tagipedia had a major milestone
when it secured a touristic project based in
Luxor which will work in conjunction with
Microsoft and the government, particularly
the Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology. Furthermore,
Tagipedia secured a project involving the
Egypt Expo and Convection Authority (EECA)
in Nasr City.
Tourism may stop but we
won’t
Unfortunately the tourism project which
had provided Tagipedia with a potential
annual fee in 2012, was halted in Luxor due
to the lack of Tourism in Egypt as a result
of the socio-political status quo. Another
challenge was how to package the product
to an audience who would genuinely see it
as a need rather than something frivolous.
Furthermore, smart phones act as somewhat
of a technology barrier for those who are
not technologically savvy and therefore
would not have access to the product be it a
tourist, or a regular user. Another challenge
was getting investors and other people to
move forward with the idea when it had
been introduced early on, as very few people
considered it feasible. Tagipedia also found
some challenges due to the socio-political
status quo in Egypt.
What’s Next for
Tagipedia?
Tagipedia is working on further developing
its indoor mapping technology which has
many applications across many industry
verticals. This technology got promising
traction in the exhibitions industry.
Some advice from
Tagipedia team:
1. Don’t start the project unless you
intend not to quit and to see it through
to the end.
2. Listen to all forms of feedback and
criticism, even if you don’t agree with
it or intend to follow through on the
suggestions made.
3. Teamwork is by far the most important
factor.
UE Systems…
USING THE INTERNET AS
A SOURCE OF PRODUCTS
AND A WAY TO E-MARKET
THEM
is a hospital management system, Al Afdl
which is an accounting management
system, ISOLIMS which is a laboratory
management system, Almoawen which is an
attendance management systems along with
other software programs that support the
marketing activities of any company such
as SMSBulko that allows companies to send
bulk SMS to clients.
UE-Systems is a success story, because we
cover a myriad of needs sought by small and
medium businesses.
Success through focusing
on niche market needs
How did it start?
UE-Systems realized that many small and
medium sized businesses were highly in
need of a myriad of Internet services, but
were unable to fork out big bucks to big
name companies to provide these needs.
This is where UE-Systems sought its niche
market, providing an alternative to big name
companies at a fraction of the price, and thus
making a small profit from several small
businesses, rather than one business in bulk,
which is the norm. UE-Systems started in 2010 by two Egyptian
young entrepreneurs Mohamed Medhat
and Mostafa Ahmed. Both had graduated
as a communications engineers from Assiut
University and wanted to seek an opportunity
to found one of the first companies in the
Middle East specializing in management
information systems and having SMEs as
their target market.
UE-Systems current clientele is made up
from approximately 800 clients from 12
different countries; 40% of which are from
Middle East, while the remaining 60% are
from Egypt.
While UE-Systems got off to a rough start in
2010 with a start date nearing the eve of the
January 25th Egyptian revolution, after two
years of breaking even they were finally able
to generate revenue of EGP 450,000.
The company consists of a line-up of
several software solutions targeting
different sectors such as CareTek which
Being a startup based in Assiut governorate
represents a challenge when it comes to
winning customers’ trust. To overcome this,
UE-Systems offers potential customers
a 30 days free trial on all its solutions.
Furthermore, UE-Systems offers additional
incentives to win customers such as
providing a free mobile application version
for the web/desktop solution. UE-Systems
has also come up with clever ways of
e-marketing their products, and instead of
spending several hundreds of thousands of
pounds on advertising, they marketed their
products through giving commissions to
Egyptians who live abroad based on how
many products they sell.
Business Incubation
through a long process
meant for a rough start,
but with a happy ending
with TIEC
UE-Systems joined ITIDA incubation
through applying to the business plan
competition in 2010 with their first project
Care tek, at that time they hadn’t had all
the aforementioned software solutions yet.
The incubation provided UE-Systems with
office space, funding and trainings on how
to build a successful startup without which
they wouldn’t have been able to continue as
well as expand the number of products their
brand provided.
The most challenging
part
Perhaps one of the most difficult situations
faced by UE-Systems was during the very
beginning of the start-up of the business;
this was due to the fact that their location in
Assiut caused difficulties as they searched
for potential local clientele. While they
were able to branch their business out to
international contenders, and being miles
away from the capital did not hinder them
from succeeding and selling their products
now in 12 countries.
What’s next for UE
Systems?
Looking into the future, UE-Systems hopes
to expand the number of clientele while
also diversifying their marketing strategies.
While continuing to depend on e-marketing
strategies, they hope to gradually make a
shift from working with individuals whom
they commission to market the products
abroad to actually finding companies that
would benefit based on how many products
they sell. These companies could also be
located in several different municipalities
within a single state, thus reach even micro
businesses which are only known to a very
select community.
Some advice from UESystems team:
1. Find a product that is needed,
and find something that isn’t too
complex, so that you aren’t constantly
micromanaging tiny details and
numerous staff members every day.
2. Not to keep your eyes on local clientele,
but try to aim for the world, since we
are in a globalized world.
3. Use online marketing, Google will reach
more people at only the cost of USD
1,000, as opposed to a billboard on a
highway that could cost at least EGP
1,000,000 a year.
TIEC
Incubation
The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) incubation helps entrepreneurs launch their startup and take it to
the next level. The incubation team looks for
entrepreneurs who have the passion, will and
perseverance to turn their innovative ideas
into successful enterprises capable of supporting the growth of the national economy.
TIEC one- year fully-fledged incubation offers
up to 120,000 EGP worth of in-kind services,
physical space with Internet access, hardware and software tools, access to technical,
subject-matter advisory, business consulting
and mentoring.
Currently TIEC has two incubation centers:
one in Smart Village and the other in Assiut.
As part of TIEC efforts to expand its incubation services to reach as many startups as
possible regardless of their location, TIEC
Virtual Incubation program (Incubation Without Walls) was launched to provide potential
startups with all incubation services except
the physical space.
To join TIEC incubation, whether physical or
virtual, teams/startups need to apply to Start
IT business plan competition through TIEC
website.
Start IT is a nationwide competition targeting
entrepreneurs with ICT- related prototypes/
proof of concept, those who are willing to
turn their ideas into actual enterprises. Online
application is open all over the year. However,
the competition is run quarterly.
Believing that our success lies in the ongoing
success of graduates, our relationship with incubated startups doesn’t end with their graduation. We and TIEC incubation graduates network continue to help founders for the lifespan
of their company, and beyond.
BE THE NEXT STARTUP
SUCCESS STORY.
Apply now to Start IT:
www.tiec.gov.eg/incubation
Lamiaa El Rashidy
Incubation Department Manager
DO YOU HAVE a business plan and a prototype?
ARE YOU looking for incubation?
Now you can apply to TIEC's incubation at any time during the year.
Every three months, the submitted applications will be evaluated and
an invitation for pitching will be sent to the preliminary accepted teams.
The teams who will pass the pitching will be incubated at one of
TIEC's incubation centers for one year.
TIEC's incubation package
consists of the following:
Up to 120K EGP of in-kind services such as software,
hardware tools , consultancy and marketing services.
A working space with basic furniture and Internet access.
Basic hardware and software tools during incubation time.
Access to mentoring.
Phases
Registration and submission of business plan
Announcement of accepted applications
Interviews
Pitching
Announcement of winners
Join the challenge, Apply Now!
tiec.gov.eg/incubation
@tieceg
/tiec.egypt
Stay tuned for the next
successful startups
OMASH.COM
F A B R I C
S H O P
https://www.facebook.com/tiec.egypt
https://twitter.com/tieceg
Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)
Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC)
K28 Smart Village(B5), Cairo-Alex Desert Rd, Giza, Egypt
www.tiec.gov.eg