Powered by the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and its venture capital arm, Egypt Ventures.
Falak Startups’ mission is to find and empower talented and ambitious seed stage tech startup founders and help them thrive in the region’s rapidly changing entrepreneurship landscape. Our sector-agnostic offering focuses on improving startups’ product-market fit; fine-tuning their business, operating and revenue models; growing their customer base; and raising follow-on investments.
We arm entrepreneurs with the necessary tools, resources, and networks to develop their strategies and scale-up their businesses. Our offering entails equity investment, growth hacking, networking, mentorship, training, and a wide variety of perks and benefits. After meeting the needed KPIs, our founders are able to showcase their startups on our Virtual Stage platform, a tool for connecting with potential investors, policymakers, stakeholders, and partners.
Our support is ongoing through the startups’ journey. We are a constant advisor and advocate for all our portfolio companies.
Falak Startups’ is offering an unrivaled ticket size of up to 2,000,000 EGP and provides the support startups need to gain momentum and accelerate their growth. Falak also supports its portfolio of startups in securing follow-on investments from venture capital firms, angel investors, and/or corporates.
Although Falak Startups is industry agnostic and focuses on tech-enabled and scalable startups, we have an additional focused track that specializes in Financial Technology powered by EFGEV. We also foster sub-tracks that are sector-specific with the support of key industry partners.
Our startups operate from our fully-equipped state-of-the-art, 700m2 office, in the heart of Downtown Cairo, that meets all their office space needs.
Ahmed is responsible for a wide range of topics, from preparing Falak’s budget, business plan and reporting the fund’s performance, to managing Falak’s financial relation with relevant stakeholders. In addition, Ahmed is also responsible for helping Falak’s portfolio startups develop their business model and build financial models, in addition to assisting them in their fundraising activities by introducing them to potential investors and supporting them throughout the funding rounds.
Prior to joining Falak, Ahmed was passionately integrated in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, helping multiple startups on a freelance basis in their fundraising activities. In addition, Ahmed is a finance expert with multiple years of experience in leadership positions across an array of industries, where he prepared and oversaw the overall financial strategy and business growth plans.
Ahmed graduated from the German University in Cairo with a BSc. In Management Technology, Majoring in Strategic Management and Innovation & Technology Management.
Tarek joined Falak as their Head of Venture Growth with a desire to deliver a meaningful impact on Egypt's entrepreneurship ecosystem. His current role consists of working closely with the portfolio startups under the Falak accelerator program on advancing their product/ service and streamlining their day-to-day operations.
Prior to Falak, Tarek was a business development manager at N-Gage consulting. Tarek was mainly working on advising a wide range of multinational organizations on strategic topics that involved growth and scaling. Tarek was able to take N-Gage internationally to countries like Singapore, opening channels for Singaporean companies to operate in Egypt with the Help of N-Gage.
Tarek holds a BSc. in Business Administration from Regents Business School in London. Tarek was first exposed to entrepreneurship through active engagement in student programs like the AUC Entrepreneurship society.
Nihal is responsible for the program plan and structure, as she is working directly with the startups to assess their needs, identify their gaps and challenges, and link them with mentors, consultants and industry experts that help them accelerate their growth. In addition, Nihal is now leading the Marketing for Falak and its startups with the aim of positioning Falak well in the market and promoting its startups’ businesses to get more visibility and traction, and make sure they implement the right marketing strategies to grow and excel in today’s world.
Prior to Falak, Nihal was a Strategic Management Teaching Assistant at the German University in Cairo. Alongside her academic career, Nihal was a consultant on various corporate and business strategy projects. In addition to that, Nihal joined RiseUp as a project coordinator to work on the Startup Manifesto; mapping Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Nihal holds a BA with honors in Management Technology and an MSc. in Entrepreneurship & Strategic Management from the German University in Cairo.
Miral is the Community Manager at Falak Startups responsible for a wide range of marketing topics,
including but not limited to digital marketing, offline marketing, supporting startups on various marketing related needs. Miral also is responsible for the accelerator’s online reach and presence on a mission to reflect the actual position of Falak as Egypt’s largest startup accelerator.
Prior to Falak, Miral was part of the marketing team at Alamia Group. She led the group’s brand transformation strategy, which reintroduced the group to the market with a fresh look and identity.
On the educational side, Miral holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing, from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport.
Dina is managing and driving the HR activities within Falak. Upon joining, Dina established Falak’s organizational structure, compensation and benefits schemes. In addition, Dina also implemented a performance management scheme for employees. Dina’s day to day role is to ensure a healthy and organized working environment that induces employee satisfaction and smooth administrative operations.
Prior to Falak, Dina had multiple leadership roles with reputable organizations in Egypt, of which she had the opportunity to work on challenging topics like, organizational restructure, crises management, external and internal communications and project management.
Dina holds a Masters of International Business Administration, majoring in Global Management from ESCLSCA University, and a BA. In English Language from Ain Shams University.
Karma’s role as Falak’s communications and business development specialist includes positioning Falak as Egypt’s leading accelerator through the strategic communication of its startup success stories, strong network of partners and its team of sector diverse experts. She also collaborates with the Head of Business Development on developing Falak’s thought leadership platform.
Karma’s previous position as Marketing Associate at Ideators Consulting, allowed her to work directly with diversified investment entities; such as B Investments, LS Investments and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, in establishing innovative and holistic communications strategies. As the PR and Marketing intern at VELUXE (acquired by Glamsquad), she supported the CEO and founder in organizing and executing sponsored events with potential corporate clients, local influencers and the larger DC beauty community.
Karma received a B.A. in French Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an alum of the University of Maryland’s incubator; Startup Shell.
Aly joined Falak as a Program Coordinator. He works on designing the accelerator's program, sessions, training, and talks by assessing the startups' needs and challenges in order to connect them with industry experts, mentors, and consultants to ignite their growth and development.
Prior to joining Falak, Aly worked as an Assistant Brand Manager at Almarai Egypt, handling the chilled dairy category's innovations and brand strategy. Aly was able to work on multiple launches and 360 campaigns for the brand that fueled its incremental growth. Aly was wholeheartedly infused with the startup ecosystem during his university years. He founded Hult Prize at MIU, where he was able to inspire, train, and develop student entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into investable impact-centered businesses. He later, joined RiseUp as an Assistant Brand Manager, working on the planning and execution of the Marketing activities for the different RiseUp products and events..
Aly holds a bachelor's degree from MIU in Integrated Marketing Communications, he led one of the influential graduation projects of his graduation year, "Haras El Nile", a social cause and initiative that collectively reshapes the Egyptian citizens' perception of the Nile River to achieve SDG#6 Clean Water & Sanitation. Receiving various coverage and mentions from high-profile Print, Radio, and TV media, it was awarded the annual "Community Service Award".
Mary is responsible for office logistics & operations. Facility management and office procurement activities are also under her supervision. Mary is the dynamic force behind Falak’s smooth workplace environment. Mary’s daily planning and organization ensures a convenient and stress-free work environment.
Prior to Falak, Mary had multiple roles within reputable corporations in Egypt, Like Valeo. She is an experienced administrative and training coordinator. She was the go-to person when it came to key administrative topics, like health insurance and training.
Mary holds a BSc. Of Commerce from Cairo University, majoring in Accounting. Believing in personal and professional development, Mary is currently undergoing a training in Human Resources Management.
With over 25 years of experience in the finance industry, Ahmed Gomaa is an integral part of the structuring and implementation of the Egypt Ventures investment strategy. His tenures in different companies, such as regional heavyweight EFG Hermes and global financial services giant American Express, allows him to drive results from the Egypt Ventures portfolio companies. His vision and wide sectorial understanding has provided great returns for the fund. Investments in startups, such as Otlob and Fawry, showcase his keen understanding on the local market needs and scalable solutions. As the chairman of Egypt Ventures, he manages over 180M$ worth of assets.
Yousef is the Managing Director at Falak Startups, his job is to manage the day to day operations of the company/accelerator, set the overall strategy for where want to take and position Falak to ultimately reach our goal of investing in high growth startups that will eventually have huge exits. Yousef's role is to build the right team to manage the accelerator, set up an efficient process to attract, filter and select the right startups to invest in, and ensure that the program provides the startups with access to the required knowledge, expertise and resources to effectively launch and growth their business. Yousef also gets involved with supporting our startups raise future funds through private investors and VCs that can help take them to the next level.
Prior to joining Falak Yousef was the Co-founder and CEO of Taqalid Inc. the mother company behind Elwafeyat.com & Inmemoryof.com a 500 Startups portfolio company that has been through different rounds of funding locally and globally. Yousef was also part of the founding team at Venture Labs in AUC.
Rafeh is an experienced triple-digit track record executive, founder, and management consultant. He advised numerous companies of all sizes on growth, turnaround, and business restructuring strategies.
Country Director at Founder Institute world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, and former member of the Global Strategy Committee.
Board Member at Falak Startups
Advisor to Loyal VC supporting with deal flow from the MENA region.
Former Managing Partner at CID Consulting
Founder of ConsultingPad
Former General Manager of NGS, later acquired by Citystars.
Rafeh is a Judge with the Jack Ma Foundation Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI), MINT selection panelist, AfricArena judge, Unicorn Cup judge, mentor with Endeavor, Flat6Labs, and AUC V-lab.
Rafeh sat on several startup boards and mentored numerous startups from idea to seed funding stages
Rafeh was awarded 2017 Distinguished Mentor by Endeavor, and was the exclusive winner from Egypt for the Top 50 Management Consultants of 2017 by CEO Monthly Magazine
Dr. Fahmy is starting his new journey in the investment field by establishing the most challenging firm in the innovation and transformation world, he is the executive chairman of Sequence Ventures that is sourcing and investing in potential startups over the globe. Also, he is the co-founder and senior partner of Ironwood Investment which is introducing the state-of-the-art investment management in PE asset class.
Dr. Fahmy is the co-founder and Managing Partner of the Corporate Strategy Practice at LOGIC Management Consulting Group and has over 22 years of experience in the field of Business & Management Consulting.
Dr. Fahmy is also the co-founder and Vice Chairman of Tatweer Learning Technology, which has been established 2010 with the purpose to cultivate a new generation of young professionals through the establishment of modern and innovative e-learning solutions.
Dr. Fahmy has 30 years of experience in the fields of management, strategy formulation, strategic planning, sales & marketing, business development, and advertising. Throughout his experience, he advised and consulted CEO’s and Founders of small, medium and large local and regional organizations on relevant aspects, helping their business overcome management related challenges through innovative and value-adding solutions. His consulting experience covers multiple industries and sectors, such as, yet not limited to, public sector, industrial products, real estate, FMCG, electronics, advertising and media.
Dr. Fahmy’s successful experience in the local market and the MENA region spans across multiple disciplines. He adopts the latest management techniques and tools, and facilitates sessions and workshops, generating results and conceptualizing solutions. His role was vital in selecting growth and diversification strategies thus increasing market share, and ultimately increasing probabilities of improving the organization overall business results. Dr. Fahmy’s expertise qualifies him to understand the industry and market dynamics that drives his client’s business and identify the domestic and international areas of greatest opportunity for market entry, expansion, mergers, alliances and/or acquisitions strategy.
Dr.Fahmy has a strong ability to design and execute major business deals with a variety of corporations in private and public organizations in Egypt and in the region. His experience also extended to international levels through his involvement, with major clients in Europe and the United States.
Dr. Fahmy leaded and acted as the managing partner in charge for three of the mega strategic projects in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia including: City Image Development of Abu Dhabi state through Abu Dhabi Municipality and the Strategic Planning program of UAE Identity Authority – 2007-2009, also the Strategy Execution Plan of Saudi Civil Aviation in KSA - 2006.
Strategic Management and Corporate Governance Capacity:
Dr. Fahmy has a record of accomplishment and success as a professional Direct Manager and through his contribution as chairman, CEO and Board Member. He is currently acting as major management player in different institutions as follow:
o Co-Founder & Executive Chairman – Sequence Ventures
o Co-Founder & Senior Partner – Ironwood Investment
o Co-Founder & Board Member – LOGIC Consulting
o Co-Founder & Vice Chairman – Tatweer Learning Technology
o Board Member – Shefa El Orman Hospital
o Board Member – Rofayda Hospital
o Member - Board Of Trustees – El Nahda University
o Member - Board Of Trustees – Qualification Development Bank