Ye! Promotes Youth-led Enterprise in Egypt through the Ye! Awards
By gathering together banks, government, and high-level stakeholders, Ye! raises awareness on the needs of young entrepreneurs at the Ye! Awards Egypt
Over 120 esteemed guests from across Egypt representing the government, banks, NGOs, entrepreneurship hubs, and the private sector attended the Ye! Awards Egypt Ceremony and Dinner Gala for young entrepreneurs at the Marriott Cairo Hotel. Child & Youth Finance International through their Ye! Community initiative organized the event with the SANAD Fund for MSME’s Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) in collaboration with NilePreneurs, sponsored by the Central Bank of Egypt and implemented by the Nile University. The event served as an opportunity to raise awareness on the unique needs of young entrepreneurs in Egypt and to showcase some of the country’s strongest youth-led enterprises.
The Awards were the Ye! Community’s first event in the MENA region. We chose Egypt as our entry point into the region because of the large youth population and high levels of youth unemployment. These factors signify the enormous potential to support an economic transformation and reduce youth unemployment through promoting youth-led enterprise.
The finalists were chosen from 125 applications. Ye! Community team conducted the necessary due diligence and phone calls with each shortlisted applicant to come to the final nine. The esteemed Jury made their choices the week prior to the Awards during a Jury call, where each Juror discussed their picks for the winners.
The esteemed Jury was made up of--
- Ms. Habiba Helmy: Director, MINT Hub by EG Bank
- Mr. Hatem Samir: CEO & Managing Director, Global Leasing Company
- Ms. Heba Labib: Director Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Competitiveness Center, Nile University and leader of the NilePreneur program
- Mr. Mohamed Morsy: Country Director for SANAD
- Dr. Nezar Nabil Sami: Deputy Executive Directo, Egyptian Banking Institute
The Awards Ceremony gave each of the nine finalists an opportunity to present their business to the audience with their two-minute elevator pitch. Each finalist presented their enterprise to an energized audience who were left in suspense until each finalist in a category had presented. Across the three categories – Ye! Superstar; Ye! Rising Star; and Ye! Stars to Watch, three winners were announced. In fact, the Jury was so impressed by the finalists, they decided to award two special recognitions to the Ye! Female Entrepreneur and the Ye! Green Energy Entrepreneur.
Prizes for the winners were offered by the Global Leasing Company, SANAD Technical Assistance Facility, MINT Incubator by EG Bank, the Nile University NilePreneur Program, and the Egyptian Banking Institute.
Winners and special recognition recipients will be offered the following prizes,
- Sponsored travel to the Child and Youth Finance Summit in South Africa for the winner of the Superstar category
- Incubation and ongoing support from the Nilepreneur program in technical development and business development
- Immediate shortlisting to the MINT Incubator competition led by EG Bank in partnership with Cairo Angels. MINT Incubator offers an intensive training program and hands-on support to 10 promising startups, led by a variety of mentors, industry experts and entrepreneurs.
- A placement with the Global Leasing Company, where the winners will receive first hand training on finance and financial analysis, with some winners also being offered cheaper funding options
- Financial management training through the Egyptian Banking Institute
The winners and special recognitions represent some of the brightest young entrepreneurs in the Egyptian ecosystem. Learn more about each winner below.
The Ye! Awards Egypt Award Winners
Ye! Superstar – For an enterprise with an annual turnover of more than $50,000 USD
Orcas | Amira El Gharib
Orcas is a mobile application connecting high quality tutors and babysitters to parents and families. Users can search, find, book, manage and pay for tutors and babysitters either online and offline. The tutors and babysitters are vetted and trained by the Orcas team, ensuring safety and security to parents. The tutors and babysitters are university and high school students as well as recent graduates. Orcas provides these youth with an easy to use applications providing valuable employment opportunities.
Ye! Rising Star – For an enterprise with an annual turnover of less than $50,000 USD
Freeziana | Abdallah Hanbak
Freeziana is an online e-commerce platform for handmade products. This marketplace creates sales opportunities for talented handicraft makers by connecting them to potential buyers around the globe. The Freeziana services are available online and offline, connecting millions of people to a trusted site and offering physical stores. The platform also offers a wide range of tools and services for handicraft makers to manage and scale their businesses. Abdallah and his team are committed to using business to strengthen communities and empower individuals.
Ye! Stars to Watch – For early stage enterprises with strong business plans and high growth potential
Mazboot | Tarek Mandour
Mazboot is the first Arabic mobile application for helping diabetic patients manage their disease. Mazboot’s aim is to help millions of diabetic patients manage their disease by offering a resource they can use to assess and monitor their daily condition. Mazboot helps patients overcome daily challenges by empowering them with personalized feedback and notifications detailing their daily blood glucose measurements, physical activity requirements and medications. The app also allows patients to more easily connect with their doctors. Doctors can receive their patients’ data when they log it, increasing efficiency for managing patient data and decreasing the need for unnecessary appointments.
Ye! Special Recognitions
Ye! Female Entrepreneur
Entreprenelle | Rania Ayman
Entreprenelle empowers young women entrepreneurs by providing financial education and training, as well as connecting them to valuable resources. Young women job seekers are faced with high rates of unemployment, poor employment opportunities and expensive training. Women face more difficulties in starting enterprises and are less educated in the fields of entrepreneurship. Entreprenelle provides mentorship opportunities, hands-on courses, training and workshops with localized content as well as networking opportunities. The aim is to build a network of entrepreneurial “Elles”, who are fully equipped to turn their ideas into successful innovative business ventures.
Ye! Green Energy Entrepreneur
Askova | Ahmed El-Rawy
ASKOVA wind energy develops and produces wind turbines, offering a commercialized renewable wind energy solution. The turbines Ahmed and his team have built can function with low levels of wind to ensure a continuous energy supply. These inexpensive wind turbines are easy to implement for local farmers, providing them with their own source of electricity. ASKOVA builds and installs the wind turbines, providing affordable renewable energy to farmers who cannot easily access fossil fuels, thereby allowing them to sustain their livelihoods and businesses. ASKOVA offers long-term contacts to ensure the wind turbines are functioning at peak to sustain strong customer relationships.
Let’s Keep up the Momentum
Following the presentation of the awards, the finalists had the opportunity to network with the high-level guests during the dinner. The young entrepreneurs wasted no time in taking advantage of the high-level guests and used this time to get to know the audience to progress their enterprises. Each finalist was a winner as the success they have achieved in getting this far is already an incredible accomplishment.
The Ye! Awards Egypt served only as an introductory step to supporting these young entrepreneurs. Ye! will continue to work closely with each finalist to support and grow their enterprises through the online community and the creation of a local chapter in Egypt. Egypt will be the gateway to supporting young entrepreneurs across the MENA region.
The Ye! Awards Egypt are part of a global series of international awards given via the Global Inclusion Awards. Last year, the Ye! Global Awards were held in Berlin as an official part of the German G-20 presidency’s agenda. This year’s Ye! Global Awards are working towards continuing this collaboration by holding the Global Awards during the Argentina G-20 presidency. Applications for the Ye! Global Awards are now open! Apply here.