Egypt 2.0: The revolution continues

It was nearly a year and a half ago that we wrote in AllThingsD about the remarkable and inspiring narrative we called “Egypt 2.0.” As judges for the State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Program, we met hundreds of Egyptian tech start-ups entrepreneurs creating and building innovative businesses. The quality and globally competitive potential of these builders impressed us. And with their drive and ambition, it was no surprise that every young man and women we subsequently befriended were on the streets of Alexandria and Cairo creating a revolution unimaginable even a few weeks before.

It is equally unsurprising, checking in a year later, that the momentum of entrepreneurship in Egypt, if anything, has increased amid the ups and downs of the macro economy and political uncertainty. “Generation Z” has come of age in Egypt like everywhere else, never knowing a time without access to information technology. They have at their fingertips communication and collaboration tools that allow them to innovate with friends from around the country, the region and the world. The cost of starting a business can be merely thousands of dollars in Egypt, and an ecosystem of angel and venture capital is rising in the region, as well as coming from Europe and the United States. Dozens of start-up competitions, hundreds of hackathons, thousands of new start-ups later, the entrepreneurs we have reconnected with believe there is no turning back.