Dar, Acasia launch new construction-tech incubator in Egypt

STARTUP VENTURE CAPITALOctober 11, 2023 at 11:34 PM UTC

Venture capital firms Dar Ventures and Acasia Group have teamed up to launch the DarE Incubator in Egypt, with the aim of advancing the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

The newly established DarE Incubator is a six-month program operated by Acasia Group, designed to empower AEC tech founders. It offers up to $50,000 in equity-free funding and provides a comprehensive toolkit to help jumpstart their startups. The launch of the incubator took place at an event held at Founders Spaces in Cairo, attended by a gathering of over 50 guests and key players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and the AEC startup sector.

Zeina Mandour, the venture investments manager at Dar Ventures, emphasized the tremendous growth potential of the AEC industry, with a projected global value of $12.26 trillion by the end of 2023. The initiative aims to foster entrepreneurship and tech innovation in Egypt and across the MENA region, positioning it at the forefront of industry transformation.

Key Takeaways

Compared to other sectors like financial services or e-commerce, Africa’s construction industry has typically moved at a slower pace when it comes to embracing innovation or digitalization. But that’s not for the lack of exciting startups in the space working to tap opportunities in an industry expected to continue to grow sustained by mega infrastructure projects and efforts to address Egypt’s housing deficit. Due to its low popularity, players in this space struggle to secure early-stage funding and support, highlighting the importance of the incubator program. Similarly, Makers, a construction technology (contech) accelerator launched by Flat6Labs in partnership with SIAC and Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners), recently announced that it will award the selected startups up to $100,000 each.