The MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC), a global tournament that awards $1.6 million annually to entrepreneurs using technology to create economic opportunity for workers, has selected Cairo-based blue collar jobs platform Forasna and home services online marketplace Taskty as regional finalists, reports Menabytes.
The Egyptian startups are the only ones representing the Middle East region among the final 60 organizations from around the world for MIT’s 2019 global cohort. Both startups have been selected as finalists in the skills development and opportunity matching category for the African region.
The 60 regional finalists now move forward to the regional events where they will be pitching live to a selection panel of innovation experts in events in five regions; US and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Four teams from each region will then be selected to proceed to the Global Grand Prize Gala at MIT on November 21st, and will be awarded a grand prize of $250,000.
Taskty, founded by Ahmed Galal, is Egypt’s largest online marketplace for home services, connecting workers with work and increasing economic opportunity, and won “the best Arabic web project for 2012” for the Techwd competition sponsored by Mobily KSA.
Forasna.com is a platform that connects middle- and basic-educated workforce and blue collar workers with matching job opportunities in Egypt, and was founded by Ameer Sherif, who was previously selected as a Young Global leader by World Economic Forum.
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