This year’s summit was the largest one yet with over 40 speakers from corporates, governmental and non-governmental entities as well as local and international investors and inspiring entrepreneurs. More than 1,000 members of the V-Lab community attended the event, including President Ahmed Dallal, Provost Ehab Abdel Rahman and Dean Sherif Kamel, who provided opening remarks. President Dallal highlighted V-Lab’s achievements over the past 10 years: being awarded top accelerator in Africa, fulfilling its intellectual and community promise and its impactful and sustainable contributions. Provost Abdel Rahman and Dean Kamel underlined V-Lab’s commitment to entrepreneurship education across the region and how they are using it to positively impact lives, communities and economies.
The event highlighted the award-winning V-Lab’s influential role in the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Egypt over the past decade. With a commitment to championing Egyptian entrepreneurs, the accelerator has graduated 356 startups to date, raised $356 million in investments and provided 12K jobs. AUC Venture Lab currently offers five cutting-edge programs, which provide hands-on knowledge, real market insights and valuable access to networks and funds to entrepreneurs all over Egypt.
Ayman Ismail, associate professor, Abdul Latif Jameel endowed chair of entrepreneurship and AUC Venture Lab director, shared his thoughts on V-Lab’s contributions over the past 10 years,
“It has been a truly thrilling journey for V-Lab and we could not have done it without our community. Since day 1, V-Lab has been about championing Egyptian entrepreneurs. Today, our programs have officially served more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and we have been selected as the top accelerator in Africa. Over the next few years, we are working on expanding our range of services, continuing to work in nascent industries including green economy and AI and collaborating with other stakeholders to drive ecosystem growth.”
In genuine reflection of V-Lab’s commitment to its mission, the Summit featured the selection of Sahar Salama, a co-founder of MENA’s first dragon exit startup TPay Mobile, as the 10th recipient of the highly-coveted V-Lab Award which is offered to individuals and organizations in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
For details about the event and speakers, visit the summit’s website
To celebrate 10 years of impact, innovation and growth, AUC Venture Lab (V-Lab), Egypt’s first university-based startup accelerator, hosted at AUC School of Business, held their annual V-Lab Summit that involved insightful discussions featuring market leaders and experts, valuable networking opportunities and the latest updates from the Egyptian entrepreneurship ecosystem - ranging from insightful panel discussions and inspiring one-on-one chats to exclusive workshops.
The win is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the team members: Hana Khaled, economics major, alongside Jana Khaled, Carol Bedawy, and Raafat Saeed, finance majors, led by their mentor and academic advisor, Wael Abdullah, assistant professor of finance. The team were tested on analytical skills, valuation techniques, report writing and presentation abilities, gaining valuable real-world experience as research analysts.
Janna Khaled expressed;
“I’m filled with pride to have represented AUC in the MENA region. Competitions are truly a unique learning experience, one that goes beyond the scope of regular coursework. Walking up to that stage knowing that you had to showcase months of effort in 10 minutes was stressful, but the instant recognition of winning was indescribable”. She continued by sharing what the experience taught her, “I learned the ability to craft a financial narrative with a clear objective so that every word resonates with the audience. This journey has given me a real taste of what a financial analyst does in the job market.”
The journey towards victory began earlier this year in February when the AUC team secured first place in the local competition, the "Egypt Research Challenge 2024," organized by the CFA Society Egypt with the participation of 26 Egyptian universities. Buoyed by their local success, the team embarked on an extraordinary path, culminating in their triumphant performance at the MENA Research Challenge. The prestigious MENA Research Challenge, held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), witnessed the participation of 10 university teams from 10 countries, including prominent institutions from Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Cyprus, Jordan, and Russia. In the face of fierce competition, the AUC School of Business team displayed unparalleled skills, knowledge and determination, securing the coveted first place.
"This remarkable achievement by our students is a testament to their exceptional talent and unwavering commitment," stated Wael Abdallah, the mentor and academic advisor of the team. "I am immensely proud of Jana Khaled, Carol Bedawy, Hana Khaled Imam, and Raafat Saeed, and their outstanding performance. Their success exemplifies the spirit of excellence and dedication that AUC strives to instill in its students." He also added, " The remarkable achievement of the AUC team contributes to Egypt's growing reputation as a hub for financial research and expertise."
The success is not only a testament to these students, but to the impact and capabilities of AUC students in general who have a remarkable track record of not only participating, but also securing top positions, often finishing in the top three globally.
The 2024 International Case Competition (ICC), organized by El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC), has revealed the three winners of its sixth edition.
This year’s competition was held virtually from May 9 – 14, 2024, and allowed undergraduate students to develop and present innovative solutions for a real-world business case study. Emphasizing the importance of sustainability, this year’s ICC case study tackled sustainable finance within Commercial International Bank (CIB) Egypt.
73 teams registered for the competition from 14 different countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Poland, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, Serbia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and representing 19 universities.
All teams attended an exclusive training session on May 9, 2024, by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), KCC’s knowledge partner, with the session titled "The BCG Way: How to Crack Your Case".
Teams were shortlisted and worked on analyzing the case study for 24 hours before presenting their case analysis to a panel of esteemed judges from Leadership Coaching Excellence (LCE) on May 12, 2024.
The top 5 teams re-presented their analysis on May 13, 2024, in front of a panel that included:
The winners were announced in a closing ceremony on May 14, 2024, featuring the guest speakers:
The winning teams were awarded from a prize pool of $2000!
The 2024 International Case Competition (ICC), organized by El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC), has revealed the three winners of its sixth edition.
The case study by Farah Oun, a distinguished CEMS Egyptian student, delves into the strategic analysis of a medium-to-large sized Egyptian company's global expansion. Collaborating with her German teammate, Marco Minutillo, who participated in the CEMS program through an exchange from Vienna University, Farah chose to spotlight "Breadfast," a household shopping phone application, as the focal point of their assignment.
Farah expressed her joy after knowing about her published work,
“Knowing that our work is inspiringothers is incredibly rewarding & I hope it encourages future students to seize unexpected opportunities that life and AUC has to offer. One major key takeaway for me is to always carry the right intent when it comes to approaching opportunities or life in general, in addition to putting in consistent effort. From the beginning, our intent to publish the case was clear, which I believe significantly contributed to the smoothness of the process."
She continued by complimenting Marina Apaydin, associate professor at the Department of Management and the CEMS program itself. 'Without Professor Marina's teachings, passed on knowledge, feedback, persistence, trust and support we wouldn’t have had such a smooth publishing process. Additionally, I learned a lot from my German colleague, Marco. While cultural differences did arise, they ultimately enhanced our dynamic, highlighting the value of CEMS and the benefits of international exposure."
Marina Apaydin, associate management professor at the Department of Management, expressed her pride in Farah's achievement and underscored the invaluable contribution of the CEMS program, stating,
"I am very proud of Farah Oun, AUC MiM (CEMS) student who was not only the pioneer of case writing for Ivey at AUC but also coached and trained other students. Her case, co-authored with her classmate Marco Minutillo, was so flawless that it was published without any revisions."
To date, Ivey has published 4 case studies from CEMS, with 3 others requested and 2 currently in preparation. Farah's case stands out as the only one so far that has gone unrevised, further accentuating the exceptional nature of this achievement.
The Case study is a valuable pedagogical tool that provides students with practical knowledge and applied learnings. It is commonly used in AUC School of Business programs to reinforce experiential learning and combine academic delivery with practical business insights. The School has a specialized case study center, El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC)
Prestigious global publisher, Ivey Publishing, has published a case study written by a Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS) student without any revisions for the first time. A rare occurrence by any global publisher. The case study is also the first case published by Ivey based on the final project in the Global Strategy class at the university.
