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Startup World Cup

North Africa Regional Finals – Startup World Cup
Wednesday, November 17
6:00 PM-7:45 PM
The GrEEK Campus Library Rooftop

SWC


North Africa Regional Finals – Startup World Cup
Wednesday, November 17
6:00 PM-7:45 PM
The GrEEK Campus Library Rooftop 

AFTS Cairo will host the North Africa Regional Finals of Startup World Cup. Ten entreprenuers have been selected by to pitch their startups to a panel of judges at The Greek Campus on November 17. All AFTS tickets holders are welcome to attend, and the competiton will also be live streamed on the AFTS event app and virtual platform. The winner will go on to represent North Africa at the Grand Finale of Startup Wprld Cup in Silicon Valley this September and compete for a $1million equity prize!

 

Bitta Wycliffe

Bitta Wycliffe is an active VC, with over 8+ years of experience in investment management. In his current role at Goodwell Investments BV,  he has been part of and led investments in 10+ start-ups, cutting across the intersection of technology and high impact sectors like finance, logistics, agriculture and clean energy. His energy comes from sourcing these opportunities and helping them scale, and he supports them through his contributions in their boards. Prior to Goodwell Investments, he was an investment banker and also worked for an early stage healthcare start-up, Penda Health, helping them raise their Series A funding.  He supports entrepreneurship initiatives and is a mentor in the JICA NINJA Accelerator program and an advisor to the Africa Impact Challenge program, sponsored by Dell Foundation and the University of Toronto, among many other initiatives. 

 

Laila Hassan

Laila joined 500 Startups in early 2019 as a Principal to lead on strategy. She brings a wealth of expertise to the team through her experience in investment banking, private equity and venture capital. Her focus is on due diligence and later stage deals, hence she has been the one leading 500 Startups on more detailed due diligence efforts for follow-on investments. Laila was based in the UAE until a few months ago, and has just moved to Cairo.

Prior to joining 500 Startups, Laila worked with several VC firms across the region, such as MEVP in UAE and Algebra Ventures in Egypt where she led transactions and worked with portfolio companies on fundraising and operational enhancements. Laila was active in the venture capital and startup landscape in Egypt, where she worked as a consultant for several start-up businesses assisting them in developing operational and fundraising schemes. She led investment assessments and provided recommendations to several VCs and family offices in the region. 

While completing her MBA from London Business School, Laila joined the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley in London as a summer associate, after which she opted to move back to Egypt to pursue a career among the now-thriving startup community. Prior to her postgraduate studies, she worked as an associate at Qalaa Holdings, a regional private equity firm based out of Cairo, where she focused on the alternative energy, oil and gas and glass sectors. She holds a dual undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Law from the American University in Cairo and Cairo University respectively.


Mahmoud El-Zohairy

Mahmoud El-Zohairy is the Managing Director of EFG-EV Fintech. He worked on establishing  the company from initiation in late 2017 as Egypt’s first Fintech focused investment company to  growing its portfolio to the largest Fintech portfolio in Egypt through a unique hybrid approach of  investment that caters for different growth stages of startups in the sector.  

Prior to joining EFG-EV Fintech, Mahmoud worked as a Senior Economist at the Minister of  Investment and International Cooperation’s office, before that he was Project Manager at Finbi, a  finance and banking consulting firm. He worked on many verticals of Egypt’s Economic Reform  program, establishing Egypt Entrepreneurship Platform (Fekretak Sherketak), setting up Egypt  Ventures (a Government backed VC fund), Falak Startups, providing technical assistance and  guidance to numerous startups along the way. 

He also worked on analyzing financial performance of MFIs, providing technical assistance to the  Credit Guarantee Company (CGC), formulating strategies for change management. Mahmoud has  more than 12 years of work experience in Strategic Planning and Implementation, Finance,  Economic Research and International Economic Development. 

Mahmoud holds an MBA from Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh, passed his level 1 CFA  examination, graduated the Oxford University Fintech program and was selected as an Advisory  Board member for the Finance Forward MENA 2020 program.

Saad Sheik

Saad is a principal at TLG Capital; a senior member of the investment committee and heads portfolio operations across the firm’s African interests. He is instrumental in origination, structuring and execution of deals across various sectors including healthcare, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, financial inclusion/fintech and FMCG. He is engaged in M&A activities and is expanding TLG’s fintech investment from Africa to Asia. He has also been instrumental in expanding TLG’s healthcare interests in West Africa. Saad joined TLG Capital in 2014 and represents TLG’s interests on boards of various portfolio companies steering strategy and expansion initiatives. Saad is also a prominent speaker at various Africa forums, highlighting growth and investment opportunities best suited for the continent. He has spoken at several university events; conferences and represented TLG on various panels. Prior to TLG Capital, Saad was at Accenture, where he led strategy and transformation projects across technology and business strategy. Prior to Accenture, Saad worked for Nokia, leading 4th Generation Network strategy and deployments across 4 continents. Saad holds a Bachelors in Engineering and currently undertaking an Executive MBA from Imperial College, London where he is also the president of the finance club.

 

Wanjiku Kimani

Wanjiku is a Venture Partner at The Baobab Network, an accelerator for early-stage start-ups in Africa. She leads the growth of the portfolio companies bringing strong expertise from her experience in management consulting, data science, and financial services. She is also the founder of a networking platform for young women in business in Kenya. Before joining The Baobab Network, Wanjiku was working in an analytics and growth role at Sokowatch, a Kenyan supply chain logistics start-up. She is a graduate of the LSE and Stellenbosch University and resides in Nairobi, Kenya.

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