Cairo - Mubasher: Entrepreneurs in Egypt have been struggling with maintaining revenues, raising finance and acquiring good talent, despite having one of the more vibrant startup scenes in the region, according to a recent report from Wamda.

Economic challenges and subsequent currency devaluation seem to have had a knock-on effect on the country’s startup ecosystem.

Wamda recently held its major “Mix N' Mentor” event in Cairo, where leading figures from the startup ecosystem met at The Greek Campus to discuss these challenges.

Entrepreneurs need more financing options, investors, incubators and accelerators as well as changes to the regulatory system to enable startups to give stock options to employees, panelists agreed during the event.

 “The year 2018 has been a landmark year for Egyptian startups. We have seen a number of companies closing bigger and later stage investment rounds. The local market is huge and holds enormous potential for building great companies. Our recent twin investments in Aqarmap and CrowdAnalyzer are testament to our confidence in the market,” said Fares Ghandour, a partner at Wamda.

“While we don’t doubt the market’s potential, there are still many hurdles which stakeholders across the ecosystem must address together. The currency devaluation has had an effect on the startup scene - there is a funding gap that must be addressed, as well as an issue with recruiting or retaining experienced talent. With Mix N’ Mentor, we hope to bring these people together to share experiences and come up with ways to advance the country’s entrepreneurial landscape,” he added.

“The devaluation affected startups in two ways, one in the market itself – the amount of revenues has declined because a lot of people aren’t able to purchase anymore.

“We haven’t faced this problem because our market is global, it’s affected us more on the talent side, we’re not able to find talent,” said the co-founder and CEO of Elkrem, Amr Saleh.