UNIDO Palestine has organized the first study tour on innovative models of cleantech entrepreneurship under the MOUSTADAMA Programme. Aimed at providing the mentors and the coaches from the Palestine CleanTech Innovation Program with with up-to-date benchmarks and tools on the way innovative research with a business potential can be turned into a competitive startup, the study tour took the CleanTech delegation to Cairo from June 27th to June 30th, 2022.
The study tour started with a visit to the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) of The American University in Cairo (AUC), where Mr. Ahmed Ellaithy, founding Director of the TTO, presented AUC’s experience with technology transfer from innovative university research into market-ready startups. In a follow up, Dr. Aymn Ismail, Director of AUC Venture Lab (V-Lab), introduced different Acceleration Programs that, based on the maturity level of the startups, get them up-to-speed.
The CleanTech Hubs' delegation had also the pleasure to meet with representatives from the Industrial Modernisation Centre office in Cairo, who highlighted the support offered to industrial enterprises to create an enabling local business environment. Last but not the least, the UNIDO Regional HUB Egypt (UNIDO Egypt) and UNIDO Palestine had the chance to meet and mingle so that new exchanges and collaborations can be implemented under UNIDO in the two countries.
The study tour continued with other significant visits to Centers of excellence that animate the startups incubation ecosystem in Egypt. The NilePreneurs Initiative Incubate presented the synergic components of their Program, powered by the Central Bank of Egypt together with the Egyptian banking sector and integrating BDS (Business Development Service) Hubs, and Incubation Program, knowledge transfer through dedicated trainings, and Innovation Support through technical expertise. Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm, explained how they support entrepreneurs and the ecosystem at large by managing several seed funds with a total AUM (Assets Under Management) in excess of $85M. Finally, Green Minds Group For Environmental Solutions, a new startup that is operating a plastic waste collection, recycling and exporting facility, shared how they seized the opportunity to jump in the business and scale up.
The study tour offered the team of the Palestine CleanTech Hubs with stimulating ideas and innovative approaches for nurturing the startups potentials, together with new opportunities for networking and collaboration with Egyptian . "The different case studies offered a stimulating learning environment to discover the latest trends about how cleantech innovation can be transferred to market" stated Ahmed F. ElFarra, UNIDO Head of Programme Office in Palestine. "We will build on these experiences and connections, and by adapting these up-to-date growth engineering models to the local context, we will be able to offer Palestinian startups new opportunities to scale to regional and global markets".
