EwR Venture Studio — First Cycle
Tell us what you're building
We're part of Expats with Roots — a network of Egyptian professionals abroad, at Amazon, Google, Booking.com and elsewhere. The Venture Studio is the part that builds companies instead of advising them.
We're running a twelve-week pilot with two ventures, starting after 10 August. This is where you tell us what you're building, or what you'd want to help build.
Start your applicationDeadline: Monday 10 August.
Why now
Two things are true at once, and they haven't been true together before.
Egyptians are everywhere. More of us, in more countries and more senior seats than ever before — and one message away from each other. Nobody has organised that yet.
AI changed the maths. What used to take a whole company now takes a few people who know what they're doing. You don't have to join the factory. You can be it.
Companies that pay off for the people building them first, and for the Egyptian economy after that.
Our job
Find a gap worth closing. Close it. Come out able to do it again.
The hard part isn't starting. It's the distance between being busy and having something people pay for.
A tidy board, a landing page that looks the part, a deck on version six — it all feels like progress, and none of it is a business yet. That distance is the gap. Our job is to help you close it, get to people paying, and keep them there.
Who this is for
Three ways in
You have an idea. You want to start a company, and you need a team and the muscle to make it real.
What you getHelp finding your team, and people who have done this before.
You want to co-found. You'd join the right idea as a founder rather than an employee, if the fit is right.
What you getFirst look at the ideas, and a founder's seat.
You want to support. Product, engineering or domain depth, working with a venture rather than running it.
What you getReal problems, and equity when you're in deep.
The exchange
What each side puts in
We don't build it for you. What we have is our time, our judgement, and the people we know.
What we ask
By week twelve: something people use. What we're aiming at after that: something people pay for.
Who you'd be working with
Not advisors. Operators — senior product, engineering and data leadership, from companies that scaled across MENA and Europe. Some of us have started our own. We know which parts are hard.
Behind the three of us is Expats with Roots: engineers, product leads, data, growth and security people, working across Europe and the Gulf. We started in Berlin. When a venture is short of something, that's where we go — and people join on equity, the same way we do.
You'll meet all three of us on the fit call, before anyone commits to anything.
The deal
No fees. No cash from you. Equity only.
We take equity in what we help build. How much depends on how much of our time and our network a venture actually needs — we'd rather size that honestly than put one number on everyone.
If you raise later, our stake dilutes with yours. We are not trying to own your company.
"You're not paying us, and you're not doing this alone. There is no other incentive."
What happens next
From here
We score on market size, founder–market fit, AI buildability, and what can ship in twelve weeks.
We're starting with two ventures. Two is what three of us can genuinely support — we'd rather back two properly than spread ourselves across five.
Before you start
It takes about fifteen minutes. Answer honestly rather than impressively — we're trying to find fit, not filter for polish. A half-formed idea described plainly is worth more to us than a polished one that isn't yours.
Three things worth knowing before you start:
Your ideas stay yours. We use what you write to understand you, and we'll share the relevant parts with someone we think you should meet — nothing beyond that. We're not signing an NDA at this stage, so send us the shape of the idea rather than the secret that makes it work.
Equity only. You never pay us a fee and there's no cash in either direction. The exact split is agreed in writing with you before anyone commits to anything.
We're taking two ventures this cycle. If that isn't you this time, you're first in line for the next one, and we'll tell you either way.
Deadline: Monday 10 August.
Not sure yet? Tell us what you're building anyway. A paragraph is enough.