The Swedish Embassy to Cairo has awarded three Egyptian entrepreneurs, who operate in the healthcare sector, a fully funded trip to Sweden to participate in a tailor-made visitors programme in 2021. The programme is prepared by the Embassy together with SweCare foundation and Business Sweden.
The announcement was made during the Techne summit held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina from 7 to 9 November. The Embassy of Sweden was sponsoring a pitching competition at the biggest international entrepreneurship and technology event held in Alexandria. This year’s event was held in a hybrid format, with 10,000 participants attending either physically or through virtual sessions.
Swedish Ambassador to Egypt, Jan Thesleff, participated in the opening day of the Summit. He also met with Amr Talaat, Egypt’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, where they discussed the ongoing collaboration between Egypt and Sweden in the fields of information technology and artificial intelligence.
“Sweden – as the land of the Nobel Prize and tech giants such as Skype, Soundcloud, Spotify, Truecaller and King – is a country that believes in the power of joint collaborations. I believe that Egypt with its talented youth and Sweden with its long history in research and innovation are ideal partners. Together, we showcase how innovation and collaboration are key to a sustainable future.’’ said Ambassador Thesleff during his opening remarks.
The three winning companies were:
DRAPP: a platform that allows billable medical consultations between doctors and their own patients via a smart chatbot integrated into a messaging app.
Coatconnect: a hub for healthcare professional and educational opportunities in the MENA region.
Einn: an application that detects interaction between drugs prescribed for the same patient.
The Embassy of Sweden in Cairo has been closely following the development of the healthcare sector in Egypt. In June 2020, the Swedish Trade and Invest Council and Business Sweden presented a study on healthcare trends and investment opportunities in Egypt, as well as on upcoming mega projects and government reforms concerning the healthcare sector, to 50 Swedish companies.
The Research Institutes of Sweden, RISE, and startup incubator Enpact Egypt are currently running the “Swedish Clinical Innovation Fellowship” programme for the first time in Egypt. The programme has eight participants from various backgrounds who have been selected to work in two multidisciplinary teams aiming to improve healthcare delivery in Egypt by identifying clinical needs and challenges and proposing innovative solutions.
Sweden is a country with a strong history of entrepreneurial success. The Innovation Union Scoreboard, an index published by the European Commission, continuously ranks Sweden as the leading EU country for innovation. Reasons for this include a historic tradition of inventors, a commitment to gender equality and a strong belief in the individual. Close collaboration between research institutes and the private and public sector is another reason.
