OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Mohamed El Shabrawy El Feky, co-founder and CEO of Sympl (LinkedIn).

My name is Mohamed El Shabrawy El Feky, and I’m the CEO and co-founder of Sympl. I studied architecture and urban design as an undergrad at Cairo University. Upon graduation, I explored different sectors including the telecom, automotive, and banking industries. Afterward, I joined EFG Hermes in 2017. My job at EFG was to build a fintech-based consumer finance company, valU. I stayed on as valU’s CEO for over a year, before launching a startup of my own: Sympl.

We established Sympl in August of 2021 and our soft launch took place in October of the same year. Sympl gives bank cardholders access to short-term, no-interest payment plans that cater to their preferences, without lengthy application processes. Our aim is to help make the lives of people easier by helping them optimize the management of their money. Our goal, through offering no-hassle deferred payment plans, is also to help businesses that utilize Sympl boost their sales.

I decided to build my own startup for several reasons. One of which was the lingering feeling that I had achieved all the milestones I had in mind for valU. We built the company from scratch, had acquired over 200k customers, and the company’s portfolio of transactions had exceeded EGP 1 bn before I left. When I achieved all the KPIs that I had set for valU, I felt like the level of innovation associated with my job as a CEO began to plateau. When valU had no more barriers to cross in terms of innovation, I felt the need to move on and build something new.

My age was also a big factor that led me to jump to the founder side of the fence. I’m in my forties, so when I felt like I had accumulated enough skills, and when I noticed a boom in investments for startups both regionally and locally, I became driven by a “ now or never” instinct to start my own business while I still could.

As the CEO of valU, I spotted gaps in the consumer finance market. The gap I decided to capitalize on is the lack of consumer finance players providing deferred payment options for small and medium-sized products and services for periods shorter than six months. I decided to address this problem and venture into the market with a business model that aims to fill this gap.

To focus on my entrepreneurial journey, I had to make a lot of sacrifices. I had to give up a lot of family time to focus on my business. I also ignored my own personal well-being. Dedicating so much time to my business ultimately meant having no time for exercising, reading, and socializing. This lifestyle is quite taxing. I'm starting to reap the negative physical side-effects of this unhealthy lifestyle. I intend to dedicate the entirety of my time to my family and my own well-being after two or so years.

As an engineer, the most exciting part of a startup’s evolution is the building phase. This is when innovation comes to life, and setting up, constructing, and challenging the business model with my co-founders always piques my interest. The worst part of the job is the management of the business model. The management side of the equation sees you competing against time to grow your business. Launching a new business model requires considerable market and consumer awareness to ensure its survival. Educating customers about your offering and the alternative approach it represents takes time.

For me, the founder’s journey is a lonely one. I’m the type of founder who is always consumed with all things related to their startup. I dwell on things that are not strictly part of my responsibilities. I worry about investors, the market, our partners, and our employees, even though I have a qualified team and capable co-founders.

We raised USD 6 mn in our seed round last year, bringing on board investors such as Beco Capital, A15, and Global Ventures. Our future funding plans remain unclear, but we will be preparing for another financing round by the end of the year. We still haven’t decided whether the upcoming financing round will be equity-based or debt-based.

If I had to do it all over again, I would still go down the investor route early on. I believe that bringing in the right partners accelerates the business on so many levels. Investors obviously bring capital to the table, but they also bring market insights, help you raise funds and form useful connections, provide emotional and professional support, and so much more.

Our short-term goal at Sympl is to prove our business model works. We’re focused on getting a proof of concept after one year of operating in the market. We’re also determined to gain considerable exposure in the market by the end of 2022. Our long-term goal is to become a market leader in the consumer finance arena locally, and to expand into different markets including Saudi Arabia, and possibly into central and western Africa.

A startup that I think is killing it is Paymob. Their success story as young entrepreneurs is inspirational. Paymob’s business model evolved considerably to include various offerings and it’s really impressive.

If I had the power to improve one thing in the local startup scene, I would focus on connecting local entrepreneurs with one another. I would love to see a national union or association for Egyptian founders. This would help entrepreneurs discuss the challenges they collectively face, explore partnerships, and find gaps in the market. Having an organization like this would turbocharge the local startup scene.