Mounir Nakhla, co-founder of Egyptian ride-hailing startup Halan, and the three co-founders of mass transit system Swvl have been chosen to join the global Endeavor network, offering access to mentorship and acceleration services.
The global Endeavor initiative launched in Nigeria and Kenya last year, and has accepted a host of African entrepreneurs into its network in recent months.
The organisation works to catalyse long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs worldwide. It supports entrepreneurs that have passed through the initial startup phase and demonstrate the potential for rapid expansion and scale.
At its most recent International Selection Panel (ISP) in San Francisco last month, Endeavor selected 32 high-impact entrepreneurs leading 17 companies from 13 markets to join its network, meaning it now supports 1,825 entrepreneurs around the world.
One of those selected was Nakhla, who co-founded Cairo-based on-demand ride-hailing and logistics company Halan in 2017 with Ahmed Mohsen. The startup focuses on underserved communities that lack efficient, safe and reliable transportation options, and has already facilitated over four million rides across several governorates in Egypt and Sudan.
Disrupt Africa reported in December Halan raised a multi-million dollar funding round as it looks to expand its smart transportation solutions across a number of markets. The round was co-led by Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings and Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, which was joined by existing strategic shareholders and individual investors.
Also chosen were Mahmoud Nouh, Ahmed Sabbah, and Mostafa Kandil of Swvl, a premium mass transit system that enables riders heading in the same direction on a fixed route to share a ride in a van or bus for a fixed flat fare.
Swvl is the best-funded Egyptian tech startup ever after raising a Series B round of funding worth tens of millions of dollars last year to help it consolidate its market-leading position and launch an R&D facility in Germany.
