The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) is to host the ‘Hangout with VCs’ event, on Thursday to match ready-to-fund Egyptian startups with investors and venture capital funds (VCs).

The event is brought by The Net Web (TNW), a Financial Times company, focused on new technology and startups, with its well-established global network of investors and VCs.

Featuring a line-up of speakers and global investors and pre-selected ready-to-fund startups, the event offers the participants the highest possibility of success through its unique and compelling format, combining content, competition elements, pitches, and follow-up meetings between investors and startups, all facilitated virtually, ITIDA said in a statement.

The virtual event is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region for TNW, and comes in collaboration with ITIDA and the Technology and Innovation and entrepreneurship Center (TIEC ) with an aim to unlock the Egyptian startups ecosystem potentials and highlight the boom it’s witnessing, in addition to avail a unique opportunity for Egyptian innovative startups in the ICT sector to Interact with and pitch their ideas to VCs, according to ITIDA.

Having recently ranked high in reports from Gartner, Startup Genome and Deloitte, Egypt’s startup ecosystem is thriving like never and embracing a new generation of entrepreneurs with globally competitive technological solutions. The country has recorded the largest number of investment deals in technology startups amounting to 24% of the total number of transactions in Africa in 2020, according to ITIDA.

Capitalizing on this momentum, ITIDA is working with a global consultancy firm to articulate a comprehensive strategy to leverage the startup sector in Egypt, and to establish an integrated system for tech innovation, with the aim of cultivating the entrepreneurial ecosystem and helping attract more venture capital funds.