Orange Digital Center Accelerates Egypt’s Most Promising Startups
– The event witnessed the announcement of a partnership agreement between “ODC” and “Creativa – Itida” to promote business accelerators for Egyptian startups .
Creativa Innovation Hubs and the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) hosted Orange Digital Center (ODC) Top-Up Acceleration Program Closing Ceremony hosted at the Creativa Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace introducing 13 growth-driven startups from among Egypt’s most promising companies. The aim of the event is to support the digital needs of youth and provide them with the necessary technological skills to obtain better employment opportunities.
This came in the presence of major investors, allowing Startups to present an integrated presentation of their projects and obtain the necessary financing for their growth and expansion opportunities locally, regionally, and globally.
The Closing Ceremony event marked the successful completion of a series of classification, evaluation, and qualification phases for numerous companies that had previously applied to participate in the Top-up Accelerator program for entrepreneurship, which specifically targeted startups in the financial services and retail trade sectors.
The TopUp Accelerator program was launched in collaboration with Orange Digital Center (ODC), GIZ Egypt on behalf of the German Government, and Sprints.
Over the course of six months, the TopUp Accelerator program went through five phases and received over 100 applications to join, which were evaluated and 40 advanced companies were chosen to participate in the second phase, which lasted three days of initial training covering general business topics. Then, 13 companies were chosen to qualify for the third phase and receive training and consultations, before a three-day special camp that was held in the fourth phase to focus on preparing the companies for the final presentation to investors.
The fifth and final phase took place at the Creativa Sultan Hussein Kamel as Creativa Innovation Hub is the community partner to the event, in the presence of 13 companies specializing in e-commerce platforms: Bonbell, NextEra, Florrista, Payllion and amwal MrBstm, MammyApp, Zaha Home, Foorera, Kashati, BenefEx, Macknmall and ConyWorld.
The event marked the end of a long and fruitful journey, as entrepreneurs were able to present their startups’ ideas, projects, and aspirations to investors, as well as attend various workshops with financiers and market experts, enabling numerous opportunities for growth and investment.
The ceremony highlighted the partnership between Creativa-Itida -TIEC and ODC hand in hand with the GIz to execute the accelerator next batches with Creativa hubs
During the closing ceremony activities, Orange Digital Center and Creativa-ITIDA TIEC hand with the GIZ announced a partnership agreement to improve startup support through specialized programs such as Top-up Accelerator and various business accelerators. Through this collaboration, a range of activities will be implemented in the field of digital and technological innovation, software development, and digital fabrication. The collaboration will also foster youth employability through capacity development and enhanced access to job opportunities. Additional activities include inducting Creativa’s incubation programs graduates into ODC’s existing startup accelerator, Orange Fab.
On this occasion, Noel Chateau, Chief Transformation & Operational Efficiency Officer at Orange Egypt said “the Egyptian entrepreneurship scene is rapidly evolving and plays an important and pivotal role in the development of the economy, society, and quality of life, necessitating significant support from specialized entities with technical expertise and relationships capable of mobilizing the necessary support to promote startups, founders, and entrepreneurs with creative ideas and clear leadership traits.
“Orange Digital Center was founded in Egypt with the explicit goal of developing the young business community and encouraging innovation and creativity through direct channels for specialized education, skill development, technical support, and financing”. Added Noel
“The partnership agreement with Creativa stems from ODC’s efforts to support the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s national initiative aimed at providing technological support to Egyptian youth and bridging the gap between technical skills and market requirements on the ground”. Concluded Noel.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 42.5 billion euros in 2021 and 136,500 employees worldwide at 30 September 2022, including 75,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 286 million customers worldwide at 30 September 2022, including 240 million mobile customers and 24 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its “Engage 2025” strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and AI at the heart of its innovation model, the Group will be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions.
Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
