EGYPTEndeavor, the global community of high-impact entrepreneurs, has announced the appointed Heba Ali as its new Managing Director of Egypt.

An investor, development economist and business strategist, Heba has been a pioneer in her field since 2007.

Throughout her career, Heba has focused on high-impact entrepreneurship, venture capital investment, business model and institutional innovation, and building strategic partnerships; with the last positions held being Founding Managing Director of Egypt Ventures and Founding Vice Chairwoman of Falak Startups.

“The Egyptian market is an incredible source of inspiration, and the growth it has witnessed over the past 5 years is nothing short of remarkable. My predecessor and friend, Mohamed Rahmy, has successfully laid the groundwork to give Endeavor a solid foundation for what is yet to come in Egypt,” commented incoming Managing Director, Heba Ali on the announcement.

“I couldn’t think of a more exciting time to build on his work than at this point of inflection, as Endeavor strives to raise the bar of supporting, scaling, and investing in the most high-impact of entrepreneurs.”

“We’re confident that under Heba’s leadership, Endeavor will continue to thrive and play an impactful role in further catalyzing Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Ayman Ismail – Chairman, Endeavor Egypt

Heba will be taking the reins from Mohamed Rahmy, who has been the focal point of Endeavor, leading the Egypt office since 2016. “Mohamed Rahmy has been an invaluable asset to our organization as well as the ecosystem at large. He will always remain a supporter, friend, and champion of Endeavor” added Ayman Ismail.

“Heba Ali has been one of Endeavor’s strongest allies and we’re thrilled to welcome her back into the Endeavor family, as she carries forward our mission and steers the next phase of growth for scale-ups in Egypt,” said Ayman Ismail, Chairman of Endeavor Egypt.

“We’re confident that under Heba’s leadership, Endeavor will continue to thrive and play an impactful role in further catalyzing Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Between 2010-2012 Heba was Entrepreneur Selection and Growth Manager at Endeavor Egypt. In 2014, and from her leadership role at Mercy Corps, Heba championed the production of Network on the Nile Cairo Technology Map in partnership with Endeavor Insight, the research arm of Endeavor.

At Egypt Ventures, Heba was equally a big advocate of the fund’s ecosystem-partnership with Endeavor, owing to her shared commitment to the entrepreneur-driven economic development of Egypt.

A major outcome of this was the backing of Endeavor’s Scale Up Egypt 2018 and of the 2019 Cairo ISP. Heba also serves on the Investment Committee of Cubit Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Endeavor Mentor Rafeh Saleh.

“Endeavor couldn’t be more fortunate to have someone that knows the Egyptian entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as Heba Ali,” said Endeavor Global President, Adrian Garcia-Aranyos.

“To that we need to add the beautiful moment in which the ecosystem finds itself, with so many up-and-coming companies in the region coming from Egypt. We know Heba will be able to capitalize that momentum and leverage our global network to help grow the next generation of Egyptian scale-ups.”

Heba previously served as Partner at Endure Capital. She also sits on the advisory boards of Village Capital’s Finance Forward MENA program and their MENA Sustainability Accelerator.

Heba is Co-Founder of T20 Association, serves on the board of AYB for Sustainable Development, and is a member of AmCham’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee. She has an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BSc from the German University in Cairo.