Egyptian tech event RiseUp will this week host RiseUp From Home, a special virtual edition aimed at reconnecting the MENA entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The annual RiseUp Summit first took place in Egypt in 2013, and the RiseUp initiative now also comprises a range of products and activities supporting startups and developing ecosystems throughout the year, including RiseUp Connect, RiseUp Explore, and RiseUp Meetup.
Given the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, RiseUp will convene RiseUp From Home from tomorrow (August 13) until Thursday (August 15), under the theme “Got Grit?”.
RiseUp From Home: Got Grit? is a digital event organised by RiseUp to reconnect the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem and help entrepreneurs become more resilient, as the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged businesses everywhere. Attendees will be exposed to real case studies on how global companies at different levels survived the last six months.
Speakers announced include local and regional entrepreneurs such as Rana El Kaliouby, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at Affectiva, Vezeeta’s CEO Amir Barsoum and Omar Gabr, Instabug’s CEO, as well as regional and global VCs and investors such as 500 Startups’ Hasan Haidar and Global Ventures’ Noor Sweid; and global experts and professionals such as Andreesen Horrowitz’s Ben Horrowitz and LinkedIn’s Allen Blue.
“RiseUp From Home is digitising activities that were majorly conducted offline, including networking, exposure, and exhibiting, in order to prepare startups regionally for unforeseen external shocks in the future,” founder of RiseUp Abdelhameed Sharara said. “The aim is to help startups and entrepreneurs mitigate the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by enabling stakeholders to reconnect, obtain resources, become more resilient and learn how to become more gritty.”
