AUC Venture Lab Partners with IFC to Support Uprising FinTech Startups in Egypt

March 31, AUC Venture Lab signs partnership with IFC to further support promising startups in the financial technology space through the launch of a two-year program.

On March 31, AUC’s Venture Lab at the School of Business signed a partnership with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, in order to increasingly support promising uprising startups in the financial technology area through the launch of a two-year program.

The program is intended to enhance acceleration offerings to FinTech startups in areas such as mentorship, business development and technical training to assist entrepreneurs in raising funds from investors.

AUC Venture Lab, in its part, had launched a FinTech accelerator program in 2016, tailored specifically for financial technology startups to provide entrepreneurs in that sector with specialized business finance and technology support; particularly relating to the aspect of abiding by the regulations of the Central Bank of Egypt, and in addition enabling them access to valuable insights from the smartest minds in the startup and FinTech worlds.

"Over the past three years, AUC Venture Lab has accelerated 23 early-stage startups working in the area of financial technologies through its FinTech Accelerator Program” Sherif Kamel, Dean, AUC School of Business said.

However, the industry is rapidly evolving and needs several helping hands to collaborate, which is why the partnership with IFC came in timely. Kamel adds: “This new partnership between the School of Business and IFC will help us extend our support to more innovative startups in this rapidly evolving industry, and to maximize our impact on the Egyptian economy towards broader financial inclusion.”

On IFC’s perspective of the partnership, Walid Labadi, IFC Country for Egypt, Libya and Yemen asserted: “With the right support, entrepreneurs can create much-needed jobs and develop technology that makes life better for people across the country. This program will help unlock the potential of young entrepreneurs and lay the foundation for an ecosystem that supports innovation in the financial services industry.”

The FinTech space is swiftly changing the landscape in the banking and finance industry in various areas including but not limited to digital and mobile payments, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, retail trading and investing, customer interface, operations and risk management, banking infrastructure, security and anti-fraud, big data, among others. This new program and partnership hope to leverage on this landscape and support AUC Venture Lab and IFC’s efforts in magnifying financial inclusion across the country.

Entrepreneurship has always and will continue to be at the heart of the School of Business. The School continuously seeks to be modernized and updated with the trends of entrepreneurship to be able to create the chance for continued growth and success among entrepreneurs. At the moment, FinTech seems to be taking the lead in the ecosystem, and the School will do all that is in its capacity to support that sector.