StartRight: The Legal Platform Helping Startups Every Step of the Way

Entering the world of entrepreneurship is no easy task. As a startup or SME, the cards are already stacked against you - ultimately, you’re alone in a space that is, in Egypt, at its most competitive, innovation and boundary-pushing ideas arising from all corners of the ecosystem.

At the same time, however, that very ecosystem is also full of support systems, whether through venture capital firms looking to invest in the next big success story, or incubators that aim to finetune your startup and hone your entrepreneurial instincts. Funding, mentorship and accelerators are all well and good and all have their part to play - but what of the often thorny legal side of things? There’s very little support all round when it comes to this particular element, but one platform is slowly changing that.

Launched by Egyptian legal firm, Shehata & Partners, StartRight is every entrepreneur's self-proclaimed ‘Legal Buddy’, one that boasts a business-focused mindset that positions it to cater all and any legal need for startups. 

Leveraging over 25 years of experience gained by Shehata & Partners, StartRight operates with its own startup-focused legal team, which already has an impressive record working with startups in Egypt and the MENA region. It’s easy to throw numbers around - and quarter of a decade is certainly impressive - but the depth of the expertise at entrepreneurs’ disposal comes just as much from the type of work Shehata & Partners have done in that time. The firm has worked with an eclectic variety of businesses, ranging from fledgling startups to industry giants. What this gives StartRight is an expansive overview of the whole ecosystem to ensure that, not only are fundamental legal issues being tackled, but they’re being tackled in a way to ensure that any given startup is equipped to meet the inevitable hurdles ahead - to make them future-proof, if you will.

For one of the firm’s partners and a driving force behind this new initiative, Ibrahim Shehata, StartRight has come at an opportune time, when the Egyptian entrepreneurial ecosystem is booming - yet still lacking in certain areas.

“We at Shehata & Partners started this product as we felt there is a growing need for customising legal services for the booming startup ecosystem,” he told StartupScene. “We kept getting different inquiries that we felt that everybody should know about already and that’s why our first move was to create a full legal guide for startups. We hope we can make startups’ lives a bit easier and help them make informed decisions in a speedy manner.”

What makes StartRight truly unique is the endless customisation available for startups. Its unique model offers near-complete flexibility to allow any given startup the chance to pick and choose the services it needs to not only navigate the many hurdles faced, but to actually use a strong internal legal base to take that next big step.

The services are almost too many to list, but include strategic legal planning; tailored shareholders', financing, employment and service agreements; trademark, IP and software registration; licensing assistance services; offshore advisory and handling services; and even dedicated account managers. In short, StartRight does the dirty work, to let entrepreneurs get one with the business of innovating and, like so many unique startups in Egypt, changing the very way we live, shaping the future of Egypt - whether in the realm of fintech, healthtech or any other sector.