NIGSD celebrates the graduation of 14 startups in cooperation with Cairo University.

The National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), the training arm of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, in cooperation with the business incubator of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, launched on Sunday the activities of the celebration held under the slogan "Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality" to graduate 14 startups.
During the celebration activities, Dr. Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of NIGSD, referred to the distinguished partnership between the Institute and the incubator of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, expressing her happiness with the participation of 8 companies from the "Be an Ambassador" initiative among the startups being graduated.
Sherif confirmed that this initiative is one of the most significant programs of the Institute. As a result of the work done by the Institute's distinguished team of professionals, 2,300 graduates from the "Be an Ambassador" initiative were trained to the highest standards.
Sherif spoke about the sustainable innovation lab, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa. Our goal is to support and develop innovations that contribute to sustainable development goals.
The laboratory contributes to completing the cycle between the outputs of the Be an Ambassador initiative. This cycle prepares young people to absorb and adopt the ideas of sustainable development goals, and then transform these ideas into innovative projects aimed at achieving those goals.
For her part, Dr. Heba Zaki, founder, and CEO of the Business Incubator of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science said that today we celebrate the graduation of 14 startups from 4 incubation tracks, in a precedent that is the first of its kind in the history of the incubator since its establishment in December 2016.
Since its inception, Zaki confirmed that the incubator has been able to develop a novel methodology based on solid scientific and applied bases. It was chosen over hundreds of emerging projects that have been submitted to us since the first incubation cycle. This methodology has proven its efficiency, which was reflected in the performance indicators by which we measure and evaluate our performance.
Thus far, 87 startups have graduated from the incubator. These companies have been able to generate revenues of approximately 80 million Egyptian pounds.
Also, 81% of the companies that graduated from the incubator continue to operate on the market after three years of their establishment.
These companies were also able to generate approximately 520 job opportunities at a total job opportunity cost of fewer than one thousand dollars per opportunity. This is less than the global average cost of creating a job opportunity.
Zaki added that what distinguishes the incubator programs is their consistency and compatibility with the goals of sustainable development and Egypt's Strategic Vision 2030.
During the ceremony, certificates of appreciation were distributed to the 28 participants in the green economy program, representing seven projects.
Dr. Sherifa Sherif also inspected the start-up exhibition, in which these companies’ products were presented.
Presentations were also made for two companies in the green economy incubation track: Green Lab and IUNO, who completed the second stage of incubation in the green economy track.
It is worth noting that the participants in the green economy program are graduates of the Be an Ambassador initiative. Three companies have also graduated from the digital transformation track: Fast Do, Farza, and Water Money Savers.
During the ceremony, the 4 companies incubated in the ninth round of the incubation program were graduated: BacTech, BioDesign, Drop Me, and Up to Date, in addition to the incubated companies in their cycle for female entrepreneurs: Super Abla, Irthy, El Dagen, SPActacular, and MINT.