CASE STUDY | VENTURE CAPITAL
Accelerating the Egyptian Venture Capital Ecosystem with Falak Startups
About Falak Startups
Falak Startups is an early-stage VC powered by the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and its venture capital arm, Egypt Ventures.
Falak Startups’ mission is to find and empower talented and ambitious seed stage tech startup founders and help them thrive in the region’s rapidly changing entrepreneurship landscape.
Boosting the Egyptian VC Ecosystem
In November 2022, Falak Startups, in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, invited the Strategy Tools team to run a Fund Manager! Bootcamp in Cairo, Egypt.
Prior to the bootcamp, the Falak team also experienced a one-day intense training session on how to effectively facilitate the Fund Manager! Simulation.
Over the next two days, 50+ participants across the Egyptian venture capital ecosystem converged to develop a fund strategy, raise a fund and ultimate create successful exits and returns. The participants hail from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the US representing different experience areas and levels from various VCs and Angel Investment Networks, as well as lawyers, entrepreneurs and students.
“The VC ecosystem in Egypt is still on the rise and relatively new. The focus has always been on raising for startups, but very little emphasis is put on what it means to generate returns for the LPs, how we can select the best startups and how to generate successful returns,” said Nihal El Chami, Head of Marketing and Program at Falak Startups.
“We wanted to bring in venture capital experts who have been doing this their entire career to guide the VCs here – but we wanted to do it in a fun way that’s based on real life practices. We don’t want to bring in experts for a theoretical masterclass – but rather one that practical and engaging,” she added.
“The Fund Manager! Simulation was super interesting as it was done in a game-based environment which made a lot of learning quite easy and quick. I really liked it, it was different.”
Experiencing the Entire Fund Journey in Just 2 Days
Over two full days in Cairo, the participants experienced the entire process of building and running a successful global investment fund from A-Z.
The two intense days were facilitated by Rick Rasmussen and Christian Rangen from Strategy Tools – both bringing with them decades of experience in venture capital.
“It was a wonderful experience. The two days were very long, advanced and intense, but the participants and the team were all very happy. It was definitely something of great value and very beneficial to everyone involved,” said Nihal.
“It was a great experience. The exercises, activities, engagement and collaborative environment helped us to see things differently. They were all relevant and based on real-life practices. I really enjoyed the trading and teamwork part. I also learned how to make faster decisions. It was great finishing a 10-year fund journey in just 2 days.”
Understanding venture capital
through simulation
In Fund Manager!, participants take on different roles to form a new fund management team.
They then immerse themselves in the challenges fund managers typically come across in the real world – everything from searching for the best LPs, finding creative ways to compensate venture partners, securing good strategic advisors and finally, deliver stunning IRR and fund multiples.
While theory played a fundamental role in the bootcamp – the participants ultimately learned fund management by running in the trenches.
“By working in teams we were able to experience the ups and downs of a VC fund and understand the dynamics that come into play when investing and raising funds. I had the privilege of learning from accomplished team members in the VC world and look forward to more workshops like this – ones that generate long-term value.” said Farah Emara, CEO of Freshsource and one of the participants of the bootcamp in Cairo.
“I really like it and it should be done more often. The ecosystem in Egypt needs more educational simulations.”
Impact
By bringing the Fund Manager! Strategy Simulation to Egypt, and experiencing first-hand how powerful it is as a learning tool, Falak Startups has now positioned themselves as a major player in the VC and startup ecosystem in the country.
“Falak Startups wants to grow beyond being just an investor – we want to play a role in helping our startups succeed as well as educating the larger ecosystem in a way that no one has ever experienced before,” said Nihal.
“Learning what we have learned during the Fund Manager! Bootcamp has definitely made us shift our selection criteria on the startups we invest in, as well as our strategy towards running our funds,” she added.
Due to the successful of the event in Dec 2022, Falak Startups is now planning several more upcoming workshops across 2023.
“The fund manager simulation was truly a unique experience! You feel you’re entering a world where you have all the dealflows in the world and you have to make decisions about what is the best strategy. Teamwork is at its best since you make important decisions together and you get to see the full cycle of a fund. Anyone starting a fund will find it extremely useful.”
Facilitator Reflections by Rick Rasmussen
We had an extremely interesting mix of top talent from across the Egyptian investment spectrum.
There were individuals who had run large international funds, corporate innovation specialists, angel investors, angel group managers, government officials and more. Differing backgrounds, differing goals and looking for individual outcomes.
When organizing such a large and diverse group, it’s important that everyone is able to have an understanding of the overall process of fund development including concepts, vocabulary and use cases.
We deliberately took the time to start both days with basic education on investment and investment strategies. We organized breakout sessions throughout the program to huddle and focus on specific goals and outcomes. But, the real learnings came from the participants themselves.
The teams were in competition with each other and it was important for each of them to have their newly formed funds have strong results. Grouped in teams, individuals within teams have defined roles such as Managing Partner, Fundraising Director, Investment Director and more.
The teams shared actively shared knowledge and best practices. Some ran numbers, some ran the board, some ran deals. A room full of 40 people going full blast for two full days with so much energy, creativity and competitive spirit was a sight to behold.
“The Fund Manager! Simulation marked a milestone in the world of venture capital for the region. We worked out strategies as part of an actual fund manager team that would get funding from like-minded people. It gave us a head start into knowing how to work as founders together with investors for boosting business performance.”
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