Elves closes USD 2 mn seed round, Abraaj launches Bakery and more at Riseup: A number of very interesting news came out of the Riseup Summit this year. First off, Egypt’s Elves App, an app that connects people with personal assistants, closed a seed round of more than USD 2 mn, according to Wamda which called it the largest seed round in the region’s history. Investors included Emaar Industries & Investments, the Dubai Angels, the Kauffman Fellows Syndicate and several other venture capital firms from the region and the US.

Abraaj gets into the startup game: EM private equity giant Abraaj announced the launch of Bakery, a growth market early-stage investment platform that provides entrepreneurs with access to Abraaj’s platform of global resources and local support, Forbes Middle East reports.

Separately, education-focused venture capital firm EdVentures launched a fund with publishing firm Nahdat Misr which will focus entirely on education startups and U.S.-based online education provider Udacity will partner with AUC to offer a program on data science and mobile development.