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Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Algebra’s Ziad Mokhtar looks forward to returning to roots as a tech entrepreneur

EXCLUSIVE- MOVES- Ziad Mokhtar, Algebra Ventures’ co-founder and managing partner, is phasing out his involvement in the firm, announcing overnight that he will not continue as a general partner in future funds. Mokhtar will remain a partner in Algebra’s first fund alongside Tarek Assaad and Karim Hussein, but will not join them as a partner in future funds, where he will serve only as an advisor.

Where is Mokhtar going? He has an “urge to become a tech entrepreneur again” as he looks to build on a story that has already seen Algebra go from an idea on the drawing board to an industry leader. The firm’s USD 50 mn first fund, Mokhtar said, was “the first venture fund to be raised for the country since 2008, the first from regional and international investors, and the largest ever. … Our success has been part of a bigger story. One that saw the number of funds investing in tech in Egypt grow from no more than 2 in 2010 to over 20 in 2020. Egyptian startups are not just receiving investments from Cairo and neighboring capitals, but also from places as far as San Francisco and Beijing. The USD 100 mn exit of 2015 became a USD 1.2 bn public company, and today there is more than one startup story that is bigger than a USD 100M exit. Top talent from consulting firms, investment banks, telecos, and FMCGs, are back again booking their one-way ticket on the next rocketship that is about to take off.”

WORTH READING- Check out Ziad’s piece in full here on LinkedIn.

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