Since 2011, icealex has believed great founders are not only in the capital. So we never asked them to come to us. We went to them.
That is our model. We work inside the cities, alongside universities, government entities, industry, business associations, hubs and development partners, connecting what already exists but rarely meets: a mentor, an investor, a factory that needs a solution, a public programme, a founder with a real problem.
Founders alone don't change a system
So we work on the whole of it: hubs we run on the ground in Damanhour and Borg El Arab, universities where we build entrepreneurial capacity, SMEs we take into the circular economy, investors we bring closer to impact, and the ecosystem builders we stand beside across Africa and beyond.
That adds up to 10,000+ innovators supported, 100+ incubation cycles and work across 20 countries, through the Startups of Africa Incubator, Ladies Startups League, the Sustainability Innovation Award and the Craft Makers Incubator, among others. And we help founders ready to scale cross borders into new markets.
The model at city scale
Egypt Cities Hackathon is that model at city scale. Since 2025:
And founders who went on to raise private investment. The founders are the story: industrial waste turned into materials, livestock monitored by AI, heart patients followed from home.
Climate, agriculture, health, education, women's economic inclusion, circular industry, among other impact sectors: our focus, because that is where our cities need solutions most.
What changes, for whom, and how will you prove it?
Our job was never to run programmes or deliver trainings. It is to build ventures that change lives: a job created, an income lifted, a service brought closer, a problem finally solved. So before any pitch we ask: what changes, for whom, and how will you prove it? Every founder builds a theory of change, because we back ventures that shift systems, not ones that only shine on stage.
Through the matching fund model we introduced, partners co-invest alongside our awards, so every pound a winner earns can unlock more.
The chairs at this table were never fixed.
Dr. Ahmed Bastawy is the founder of ICEALEX, a Board Member of AfriLabs (North Africa) and a Professor of Practice at ESLSCA and AASTMT. He builds innovation ecosystems across Egypt and Africa.