The second edition of LaunchPad Expo brought together founders, operators, and service providers at a time when Egyptian startups and SMEs are increasingly focused on operational efficiency, business resilience, and sustainable growth.

The Strategic Co., an Egypt-based business platform and growth-focused B2B exhibitions organizer, brought back LaunchPad Expo for its second edition at The GrEEK Campus in Downtown Cairo on May 15 and 16, 2026.

The event brought together more than 3,000 registered attendees, 60+ exhibitors, 20 sponsors, and over 40 speakers focused on business growth and operational scale across Egypt’s SME ecosystem.

It connected founders and decision-makers with companies across payments, legal services, HR, insurance, logistics, technology, marketing, and business infrastructure.

Why You Should Care

As Egypt’s startup and SME ecosystem matures, founders are increasingly shifting focus from fundraising and visibility toward operational efficiency, profitability, and long-term business sustainability.

LaunchPad Expo positioned itself around that shift. Rather than operating as a startup showcase or pitch-focused event, the platform centered on the day-to-day operational decisions businesses face as they grow, from selecting payment infrastructure and recruitment partners to navigating legal services, cloud systems, and business operations.

“The growth of LaunchPad Expo from Edition 1 to Edition 2 reflects a broader market shift toward a more connected SME support ecosystem. We believe platforms like LaunchPad can play a role in accelerating that consolidation, enabling businesses to move from searching to solving,” said Karim Saber, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at The Strategic Co.

The event also reflects growing demand for more structured SME support infrastructure in Egypt as businesses navigate tighter operating conditions and rising pressure to optimize costs and improve efficiency.

Powered by Unlock, the second edition expanded its network of partners and sponsors. These companies include Aman Holding, Paymob, Wuzzuf, Recruitera, Amenli, Invia, Almentor Business, Seam Labs, SMS Misr, Tech Source GDS Development, and Badran Law Firm, as well as other companies supporting Egypt’s SME ecosystem.

“Egyptian SMEs do not lack ambition. What many of them lack is efficient access to the right partners at the right stage of growth. We built LaunchPad Expo around that gap. Our mission is to bring the ecosystem into one place in a way that creates real business outcomes, not just visibility,” said Ahmed Elgarem, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at The Strategic Co.

LaunchPad Talks, the event’s content platform, featured discussions around business operations, legal and financial structures, recruitment, AI adoption and ROI, sales strategy, talent retention, investor readiness, and organic demand generation.

The Ripple

The growth of LaunchPad Expo highlights a broader shift happening across Egypt’s business ecosystem. As more SMEs move toward formalization and structured scaling, demand is increasing not only for financing but also for operational infrastructure and specialized business services.

That trend is creating new opportunities for companies operating across payments, HR, legal services, insurance, cloud operations, and AI-enabled business tools.

For service providers, platforms like LaunchPad Expo are becoming increasingly important customer acquisition and relationship-building channels at a time when SMEs are under pressure to make faster and more cost-efficient operational decisions.

The event also reflects how Egypt’s SME support ecosystem is becoming more interconnected, with founders increasingly seeking integrated solutions rather than fragmented service discovery processes.

What to Watch

The next phase for platforms like LaunchPad Expo will be whether they can evolve from periodic networking events into recurring operational marketplaces that businesses rely on throughout different stages of growth.

As Egyptian SMEs continue prioritizing efficiency, automation, and sustainable scaling, demand for trusted business infrastructure partners is likely to remain strong. Events that successfully bridge founders with practical operational solutions may continue gaining relevance across the broader startup and SME ecosystem.