For 15+ years, 500 Global has partnered with governments and institutions around the world to build the systems, talent pipelines, and investment pathways that allow innovation ecosystems to thrive. 

Earlier this week, we celebrated one of those partnerships, our three-year collaboration with Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). Together, we have worked toward a shared goal: strengthening Egypt’s innovation ecosystem in ways that advance national priorities around digital transformation, while creating commercially investable opportunities with global potential.

From the outset, ITIDA’s leadership recognized that Egypt’s greatest competitive advantage is its talent. As Eng. Ahmed El-Zaher, CEO of ITIDA, highlighted at the event, supporting local and international companies, uplifting freelancers, and expanding the startup ecosystem are central pillars in Egypt’s digital transformation strategy. Our partnership was built to operationalize these ambitions—by combining ITIDA’s national mandate and institutional insight with 500 Global’s global venture expertise, global network expert mentors, on-the-ground reach, ecosystem-building capabilities and connectivity to 80+ markets.

Our work together supported nine founder cohorts, both Seed Bootcamp and Scale Up programs, serving 380+ entrepreneurs from 190+ startups. These founders went on to attract $6 million in direct investment, more than $54 million in follow-on funding, secure $1.3 million in grants and awards, generate 1,300+ full-time jobs, and complete notable exits and regional expansions. At the event we featured companies from across the cohorts - Rahet Bally, Dayra, Khazenly, Blnk and Enza — who are building solutions in logistics, fintech, HR tech, insurance, and consumer services that address both local needs and global markets.

We also collaborated on three cohorts of our venture education platform, Bootcamp for Accelerator Managers (BAM). Together with ITIDA, we designed and delivered a nationwide program that transferred global accelerator management expertise to more than 55 accelerators. The impact speaks for itself:

• 120+ accelerator managers and staff trained
• 63% of graduates improved their career pathways
• 56% improved accelerator strategies
• 51% strengthened program quality
• 40% recorded measurable performance gains

By equipping local operators to serve thousands of founders, not only those directly supported by a single program - 500 and ITIDA have strengthened Egypt’s entrepreneurship infrastructure in ways that will continue to compound.

But perhaps the most meaningful measure of success is how aligned this partnership has remained with Egypt’s national priorities. Together, we focused on decentralizing opportunity beyond Cairo, leveraging the Creativa network to reach talent across the country. We co-designed programs that built local capability, transferred global expertise, and positioned Egypt’s emerging innovation hubs for regional and international competitiveness. Beyond just the individual programs - this partnership aligned public priorities with private capital, working in tandem to develop investable market architectures, and activate the ecosystem so that it can sustain economic impact after individual programs end. 

As ITIDA looks toward the next phase—prioritizing deep-tech, AI, investment readiness, and regional expansion—we are proud to see this work continue. The global economy is being reshaped by AI and digital transformation, and countries that invest in ecosystem architecture today will define the innovation landscape of tomorrow. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to collaborate with them on those goals! 

At 500 Global, we are honored to be part of this journey—and excited for what comes next as we continue to work alongside institutions like ITIDA to build resilient, competitive, and investable ecosystems.