Speaking at the launch of Startup Egypt, Dr. Hossam Othman, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, called for close collaboration with Startup Egypt to connect researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors and help transform scientific research into investable businesses.
He said Egypt’s startup ecosystem needs to move beyond focusing mainly on funding and market access and place greater emphasis on access to knowledge. He highlighted the country’s substantial academic base, including around 100,000 full-time researchers, 40,000 research papers published annually, 140 universities, and 26 research centers and institutes.
Othman described Startup Egypt as a much-needed representative voice for startups and invited the organization to form a dedicated working group with the ministry. The proposed collaboration would help engage millions of higher-education students and researchers and turn promising ideas into scalable ventures.
He also stressed the need for stronger incentives for investors backing research-based startups, noting that closer cooperation between academia and the entrepreneurship ecosystem could unlock significant innovation opportunities across Egypt.