Cairo – Mubasher: Commercial International Bank (CIB) has established CVentures, the first corporate venture capital firm in Egypt focused on investing in transformational FinTech startup companies, and next-generation financial services platforms.
By establishing CVentures, CIB is committed towards untapped financial services industry in the country, Egypt's largest private sector bank said in a statement.
CIB has marked FinTech as one of the key drivers of financial inclusion in Egypt and its future economic growth prospects.
“CVentures will pre-dominantly participate in Series A and Series B investment rounds in Egypt, the Middle East, Africa and other highly regarded cross-border market economies, in addition to considering Seed investment rounds across similar markets,” CIB said.
Accordingly, the new firm will link the independent investors with CIB’s broad businesses, while developing relationships with dynamic and insightful stakeholders involved in high-growth, disruptive technologies, and differentiated business models that intersect with the bank’s core businesses.
“As demonstrated through our active engagement and sponsorship initiatives over the course of the past couple of years, CIB has always had a clear vision towards the importance of entrepreneurship,” CIB CEO and CVentures chairman Hussein Abaza said.
“The establishment of CVentures is a continuation of such vision; evidence of CIB’s profound commitment towards supporting the development of the Egyptian Financial Sector. The founding of a Venture Capital firm focused on FinTech comes at a very exciting time for the Egyptian economy where all stakeholders are encouraged to support the government’s strategic direction towards Financial Inclusion” Abaza.
For his part, Ashraf Shash, head of Direct Investment Group and CVentures vice chairman, said: “CIB’s establishment of CVentures is in line with international common practice amongst major banks, where the adoption of win-win collaboration models with startup communities has ultimately served customers better.”
“I am confident that CVentures, with CIB’s support and dedication of its executive team, will surpass its targets and have a meaningful impact on the startup ecosystem. We expect CVentures to add considerable value to portfolio companies, venture partners and the VC community in Egypt and the region,” Shash added.
Moreover, Emad Fouad, CVentures managing director, said that CVentures will bridge a gap in the ecosystem, along with bringing a much-needed focus and institutional support to the early-stage FinTech spectrum.
“As an integral part of our operating model, we intend on leveraging CIB’s platform to support and accelerate fast moving, forward thinking entrepreneurs with deep market insights, whilst focusing on fostering key strategic local and cross-border relationships to develop accelerated collaboration models and meaningful partnerships,” Fouad highlighted.
