Alexandria's Techne Summit Kicks Off in September with Over $1 Million in Prizes

Kicking off on September 30^th in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the Techne Summit comes back for its third edition to gather global players in the technology industry, bridge the gap between investors and potential entrepreneurs, and set in motion exciting startup competitions totalling over $1 million in prize value.

After its massive success 2016, with over 1,600 attendees and 80 speakers from across 20 countries, the event has this year extended across The Mediterranean to Dubrovnik, Croatia, where another edition of the summit took place last May, with support of the President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, herself. The summit has also expanded internally in Egypt, taking the Techne Drifts -multiple local versions of the event - on a mission to decentralise innovation and knowledge sharing across eight Egyptian governorates in remote areas of the country.

Now, as the summit gears up for its 2017 edition, it is no coincidence the event takes centerstage in the city dubbed Pearl of the Mediterranean, Alexandria. “Alexandria has a lot of similar treats to the cities who are in the Mediterranean such as Greece, Italy, or Spain; these are countries which have a lot of similarities in their people, in their industries, in their challenges. So Alexandria has a crucial geographical location, it’s a North African city, it’s Middle Eastern at the same time, most importantly, it is Mediterranean,” says the summit’s founder and investor Tarek El Kady, a native of Alexandria who also runs Alexandria Angels.

The summit will run along a series of tracks: Retail and E-Commerce, FinTech, HealthTech, Energy, Marketing and Media Technology, Investment, Startup Academy, Shared Economy and Women Empowerment. With a particular emphasis on the Investment track, this year's event aims to promote direct investment in MENA startups by bringing together international investors, angel investor groups, venture capitals (VCs), economic development organisations as well as business accelerators and incubators through capacity building master classes and workshops as well as dedicated panels for investors. This two-day investment program is supported by The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

But the highlight of the summit is the series of startup competitions bringing entrepreneurs to the pitching stage, including Seedstars Alexandria, powered by the massive hub for emerging markets SeedStars World, with shortlisted startups getting a chance to join the global Seedstars Family in taking part in the regional and global Seedstars Summits and one flight ticket for to travel to Switzerland to compete for over $1 million in investment.

MO4 Network and its entrepreneurial platform, Startup Scene ME - yes, that’s us - will be sponsoring the Media Technology Track at Techne Summit 2017, supporting media startups as they pitch their ideas, whether it is on virtual reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), social media for innovative storytelling, content marketing, or entertainment. Winning startups will join the MO4 Media Incubation Program that offers prizes up to $10,000 in the form of services and mentorships.

“Over the past two years the number of participants have doubled, and so have the numbers of startups and international speakers involved. This astounding growth is a clear indicator of the thirst that existed for an event like Techne Summit, one that was the first of its kind in the region.” El Kady says. “We have moved from thinking of Techne Summit as a single event to positioning it a brand that produces a highly positive impact on the technology industry in the region through spreading to various cities within Egypt as well as other countries in the region,” adds co-founder Mohamed El Dallal Co-founder.

The Techne Summit will take place in the iconic Bibliotheca Alexandrina on September 30th and October 1st. For tickets and registration, check out this link.