Arabian Cement Company (ACC) in partnership with Nahdet El Mahrousa added a new phase to its social start-up program: Khaleeha Suessi. The new phase launched under the name of “Sketch Your Idea - Khaleeha Suessi”, aimed to support young people from Suez Governorate who are willing to explore the world of entrepreneurship and startups. The objective was to introduce attendees to an intensive ideation program of 32 training hours including one-on-one consultations to define and refine the teams’ ideas and business models, educate them on how to build functional prototypes and test them and at the same time, create a pipeline for current and future start-up programs. 

 

“Our main objective when we first launched Khaleeha Suessi was to develop a platform through which we can empower promising entrepreneurs to realize their potential,” said Sergio Alcantarilla, Chief Executive Officer of ACC. “As such, adding this new phase and offering initial guidance to the youth was a much needed step to provide them with the insights and skills required to develop a realistic, applicable work model. At ACC we believe that ongoing enhancements is a key component to maintaining a successful business model, and since we view Khaleeha Suessi as a vital tool through which contribute in further developing the Suez community, we spare no efforts in incorporating the required modifications to ensure it achieves its objective.”

 

“Sketch your idea” competition witnessed the participation of 40 entrepreneurs, and 19 different ideas within the sectors of waste management, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture and food production. The sectors were pre-identified as high priority ones following business opportunity mapping and field research that was commissioned by Nahdet El Mahrousa. By the end of the competition, 6 ideas were awarded with a EGP 10,000 to EGP 15,000 grant to further develop their prototypes. This phase also placed entrepreneurs on a fast qualification track for Khaleeha Suessi’s main program.

 

"Supporting and guiding potential entrepreneurs in building their ideas secures a pipeline of qualified nascent startups that are capable of reshaping the economic and social environment in their governorates. Our long-term partner, The Arabian Cement Company, continues to support the Khaleeha Suessi program to help guide the youth of Suez as they explore their potential as future entrepreneurs. In partnership with Cleantech Arabia, we identified numerous business opportunities in Suez. Through the "Sketch Your Idea Competition", youth transformed these opportunities into potential business opportunities in Suez. 

We are hoping that using all these tools will inspire and equip Suessi entrepreneurs to launch their startups" said Jackie Kameel, Managing Director of Nahdet El Mahrousa.

 

Khaleeha Suessi’s first round that ended in 2016 received a total of 70 applications, 15 of which were shortlisted for the validation phase, and 6 were granted admission to the program. The validation phase included 42 hours of training and the main program awarded seed funds of total EGP 430,000 and offered the entrepreneurs with 119 hours of training and 60 hours of mentorship.  To date, the 6 selected start-ups have a total of 18 employees and worked with 3830 clients in their respective fields. Moreover, 3 out of the 6 winners were recognized as promising start-ups during the Entrepreneurship Conference that took place at the Syndicate of Engineering in Suez in date, while the other 3 received a grant to attend El Rehla’s boot camp for entrepreneurship in Sinai.