This Egyptian Immigrant Went from Child Worker to Founder of a Million-Dollar Startup

The powerful story of an Egyptian immigrant who struggled through his youth as his family was forced to leave their homeland, yet climbed his way to founding a million-dollar startup, has been making waves as US-based Upworthy shed light on his story in a touching video.  

Moawia Eldeeb was only a young child when he left Egypt. “My brother was born with a very, very rare medical condition, so he can’t sweat. If the temperature gets really high, he will get a seizure and die,” he says. The conclusion was obvious: Eldeeb could not live in a country with temperatures as high as Egypt.Having resettled in New York, Eldeeb helped his father work at a pizza restaurant and was hardly able to go to school. But, when he was eight years old, his family was hit by another blow: a fire burned down their entire apartment and they had to move to a homeless shelter. Rising above the challenge and defying the odds, he decided to give school another shot.

Eldeeb's path – from high school to a scholarship at Columbia to learning coding at Robin Hood Foundation – took him through an unfathomably inspiring entrepreneurial journey that saw his name making headlines at TechCrunch and featured in Humans of New York. His startup, SmartSpot – which creates smart mirrors for gyms that correct exercise positions, track progress, and record workouts – is now valued at $7 million.