By mid-decade a growing percentage of the research outcomes conducted by school faculty had tilted towards entrepreneurship, innovation and family business. This was reflected essentially in the quality, but also the volume, of publications. In addition, with an eye to ensuring that the school’s research outcome has an impact on the entrepreneurial space in Egypt, the school became the producer of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Egypt National Report and the Middle East North Africa Report . Developing new collaborations In 2018, the school co-founded a Family Business Consortium with partner universities from Morocco, the UAE and Lebanon to serve as a platform for collaboration in awareness campaigns and research projects. This addressed such issues as governance, succession planning, resilience and how to build trust across generations, as well as family values and legacies. The objective is to highlight the importance of family business as a catalyst for enhancing economic growth and societal development in the MEA region. The school launched the family business talks series, produced 40 teaching cases – winning two global case-writing awards in the process – organised a family business awareness campaign and introduced the virtual International Family Business Research Day in collaboration with partners MCI, The Entrepreneurial School in Austria and ESCA Ecole de Management in Morocco. In addition, the school became a regular convener for conversations on family business, its challenges and opportunities. In 2021, with the support of the International Finance Corporation, CEI partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to become a certified MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS) provider. The programme created a community of qualified mentors who use the principles and methodology of the MIT VMS model to guide aspiring entrepreneurs.
of Business, the V-Lab was established as an interdisciplinary incubator to provide support services for qualifying entrepreneurs and start-ups across campus and beyond. The V-Lab offerings include two accelerator programmes: the Start-up Accelerator and the FinTech Accelerator. The former runs two annual cycles; each includes around 25 qualified start-ups with diverse backgrounds and experience. The programme helps entrepreneurs make their start-ups investment-ready, allowing them to tap into the right networks and strategise for scaling and growth in an intensive, 16-week, sector-agnostic programme. It has accelerated start-ups in several areas, including healthcare, ecommerce, transportation, artificial intelligence, logistics, education and energy. Corporate partners include local and international players such as the Arab African International Bank, the Drosos Foundation and one of Egypt’s most prominent real estate developers, Mountain View. The Fintech Accelerator was launched in 2015 to develop innovative solutions for Egypt’s large ‘unbanked’ population, especially in remote locations and underprivileged communities. It offers specialised business knowledge and technology support, equipping entrepreneurs with business design skills, growth-hacking techniques and investment-readiness support through coaching, as well as access to an investment clinic and peer‑to‑peer networking opportunities via demo days and other events. Corporate partners include both local and international entities such as the Commercial International Bank and the International Finance Corporation, offering the participating start-ups unrivalled access to market insights and exclusive opportunities. undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students from universities across Egypt. Moreover, EIP had raised more than $1 million for capacity building and development, which resulted in training for 310 faculty members and 4,350 learners from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa, Kenya, Sudan and Nigeria. EIP had reached a stage at that point where it needed to scale its impact; it was, therefore, restructured into the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), offering a series of tailored programmes and services. These include an annual international student case competition on issues related to consumer behaviour, economic trends and policy reforms, plus a yearly hackathon to increase the students’ experience of working in small groups and sharing creative skills. The CEI introduced a series of community development projects to address the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, including issues such as inclusive development, sustainability, youth employment, women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. Both EIP and CEI have forged over 100 partnerships Meeting an ever-growing need By 2015, EIP’s reach had impacted more than 2,600 in business, academia, civil society and government and have benefitted more than 70,000 entrepreneurs, learners and students through awareness programmes and activities.
26 | Ambition | JUNE 2024
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