In November 2020, Business Forward made a call for submissions from entrepreneurs and business leaders to tell us their stories of how they survived –and perhaps even thrived- through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked our audience to vote for the stories they found the most compelling to be guests of honor at […]
Six years ago, Amal Tolba was in Egypt and went into labor with her third child. It was a very complicated birth thanks to medical malpractice and her daughter, Dara, was stillborn. “She acquired cerebral palsy due to birth asphyxia,” Amal says. “She was deprived of oxygen. I was administered a wrong epidural, and as
Every year, the American University in Cairo (AUC) School of Business’s very own startup accelerator, Venture Lab (V-Lab) features dozens of the most exciting startups working in a variety of industries and sectors. The environment and climate action are very high on the global agenda, which makes it no surprise that this year featured a
Football in Egypt is tricky business. Scratch that, football in Egypt is actually rarely seen as a business whatsoever. Most big football teams either rely on budgets that are supported by big companies or institutions, or are owned by entities that integrate their football teams within other streams of revenue, making it hard to focus
In a series we started on International Women’s Day 2020, Business Forward explores modern-day obstacles to women leading successful businesses and happy, functional families. In part two of our series, we speak with parentpreneur Dr. K.R. Maalathi, founder and CEO of the India-based Auuro Educational Services. 30 years ago, her professional life began as a
On International Women’s Day, Business Forward explores modern-day obstacles to women leading successful businesses and happy, functioning families. Featuring Malaysian Parentpreneur, Educator, Coach & Designer, Coco Wong, this is the first in a series of s spotlighting successful examples of women who have managed to do both. Interview by Tareq Selim // Conducted at the Women
Our New Business, Old Ideas series focuses our lens on newly established and highly creative businesses selling products and services as old as time, some even thought to have become obsolete. Yet with very inventive and innovative approaches, these businesses have found success and flourished. Introducing our series is The Darkroom Cairo, a photography lab
New Business, Old Ideas series focuses the lens on newly-established and highly creative businesses selling products and services as old as time, some even thought to have become obsolete. Yet with very inventive and innovative approaches, these businesses have found success and flourished. The second part of this series features Retrograde Records, a record shop
Established in 1981, Ashoka is one of the world’s leading international non-profit organizations that supports social entrepreneurs. Through their unique fellowship program, Ashoka searches the globe for innovative social entrepreneurs bringing significant positive change to their community. Through a rigorous vetting process, Ashoka selects social entrepreneurs to become a fellow of the organization. The Ashoka
![Barriers-to-Entry Series [PT2]: Plantform’s unique role in Egypt’s agribusiness industry](https://businessforwardauc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/agri-scaled-4-1024x567.jpeg)
In the second part of our Barriers-To-Entry series, Business Forward sat down with CEO and co-founder of Plantform – a food, feed, and material-processing company – Hussein Abu Bakr, as he takes an in-depth look into the entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges in agribusiness while discussing the fine details behind the idea of Plantform and his
As one of the most ancient civilizations, one would think that Egypt’s rich history and cultural diversity would cement its place in the global handicrafts market. However, given the major challenges standing in the way of the sector’s growth, reality tells a different story. The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES) held a symposium entitled:
It is the startup season once again. Like every year, the last few months of the closing fiscal year host an array of demo days of Egypt’s different incubators and accelerators, graduating new cycles of startups and getting ready for the next one. This time around, the startups that graduated from AUC Venture Lab, Flat6Labs
