Time for more green startups

Ahmed Kotb , Tuesday 1 Nov 2022

Eco-innovation is on the rise in Egypt as more green startups find their way into the market, welcoming more environmental initiatives in the lead-up to COP27.

Time for more green startups

 

A growing interest in startups that tackle environmental issues has helped many ideas find their way into the green business.

A green startup is a new business that finds innovative ways to help save the environment and combat the effects of climate change.

The growing significance of climate change in Egypt, as it gears up to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27), has intrigued many startups to try to find a way to enter the green industry.

One hub for green startups in Egypt is Youthink Green, a social enterprise that started in 2013 as a student activity in Cairo University.

In 2018, Youthink Green turned from a student activity into a social enterprise, especially after growing interest in the market by startups looking to grow their businesses, and increased interest in green entrepreneurship.

Mohamed Ageez, business development and partnership executive at Youthink Green Egypt, said that Youthink works on three main issues, including sustainability consultation in which it helps corporates to become greener and reach net zero emission, and sustainability education, in which Youthink tailors educational programmes in partnership with several organisations and educational institutions.

Sustainability entrepreneurship is another major area for Youthink Green’s work in Egypt, as it partners with European entities and experts who have vast experience in environmental entrepreneurship.

“We started partnering with EIT Climate-KIC, a European knowledge and innovation community working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy by supporting innovation that helps societies mitigate and adapt to climate change,” Ageez said.

He added that EIT Climate-KIC offers open source value chains to entrepreneurial startups, including hackathons — social coding events that bring computer programmers and other interested people together to improve upon or build a new software programme — and accelerators, events where entrepreneurs meet over a relatively short period of time for mentorship and educational purposes.

Youthink Green, in cooperation with EIT Climate-KIC, has been the country lead for Climathon, a climate change hackathon that gathers startups for three days to know more about climate change, sustainability and clean technology.

“We also work to help growth stage startups through the accelerator programme ClimAccelerator Egypt, in partnership with EIT Climate-KIC, by providing coaching, mentoring, exposure to investors, and financial support,” he added.

The programme, Ageez pointed out, which runs for up to six months, supports startups climate adaptation solutions, circular business, food and agriculture, renewable energy and energy storage, transportation and mobility.

According to Ageez, the programme works to provide mentorship and access to resources, in addition to a network of investors who invest in some startups in the accelerator programme, especially those who can prove they are ready to grow successfully with a sound expansion plan.

“There are three stages that any green startup goes through, including the development of a business model, customer traction and finally investor readiness,” Ageez stated, adding that increasing the number of green startups in the market is one of Youthink Green’s main goals.

Youthink Green is one of the organisers of the Conference of Youth (COY17) which takes place from 2 to 4 November in Sharm El-Sheikh on the sidelines of COP27 which will be held from 6 to 18 November.

Around 1,500 children and youths from 140 countries will participate in various activities in COY17, including more than 20 workshops, to issue a global youth statement about their vision on what should be done in climate change issues, including climate finance, loss and damage, adaptation and mitigation efforts, all to be discussed in the COP27 negotiations.

Nada El-Bakri, project lead at Youthink Green Egypt, believes that COP27 will help bring more awareness about environmental issues and the role of green startups. “I hope the conference will bring more facilitation and support for them as well,” she said.

El-Bakri added that more people in Egypt are starting to understand more about climate change, the history of COP and the Paris Agreement, because of the hosting of COP27 in Egypt.

“Some universities have even started to include environment and sustainability courses in the curricula of their faculties, which is an unprecedented move that will help bring better awareness among youths about such topics,” she noted.

“This year there is better exposure and interest in climate related issues, and more interest in climate change ideas and green businesses,” El-Bakri said, adding that a growing interest in green business ideas has been unprecedented this year which has witnessed the Climate Launchpad competition in Egypt, organised by Youthink Green Egypt.

The competition, which lasts up to four months, starts with a call for applications describing green startup ideas, followed by the selection of the best ideas based on their business potential and social and environmental impact. After being selected, El-Bakri said, green startups go through a three-day boot camp where they are mentored on how to develop their first business model, get better access to finance and be more sustainable.

“The three winners of the national Climate Launchpad competition qualify for a regional competition in which 80 startups from 16 countries in Africa compete with their ideas categorised in themes that include a circular economy, agriculture, transportation and mobility,” El-Bakri pointed out. Winners then compete on a global level in the competition.

Eco Heros is another project of Youthink Green, in partnership with the Goethe-Institute, created to raise awareness among school children in Egypt about various environmental issues and to come up with project ideas.

Despite the growing number of green startups and the opportunities offered to them to showcase their ideas, there are still some obstacles facing green startups that need to be tackled. These include, according to El-Bakri, finding investment and more funding for green projects. “I hope this becomes easier after COP27 and the light it will shed on the importance of green projects and green startups.”

A version of this article appears in print in the 3 November, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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