This article was originally published in Egyptian Mail Why 27-year-old Egyptian Mai Medhat, founder of the Eventtus online platform, get to sit on stage with US President Obama and Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) held recently in Silicon Valley? “I submitted my company’s application like everyone else. And I had no idea that President Obama would be there,” Medhat says. “Then I got accepted and, during the event, I was notified four hours before the panel was held that the organizers wanted me to go on stage.” The young woman’s story went viral and she is now recognized as a role model for entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North African, and for bringing global attention to Egypt’s growing technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem. “I did not imagine that one day I would have a discussion with the US president, but from day one I dreamt big and that my company would become global,” she said in an interview with the Egyptian Mail newspaper. Not all Egyptians, however, are familiar with current successful tech ideas such as Eventtus, an online platform and mobile app for event planning, networking and ticketing. Medhat, an…
