Falak Startups, an Egyptian early-stage Venture Capital and accelerator, has announced the appointment of a new CEO, Ahmed Hazem Dakroury. Dakroury is taking the reins from Yousef El Sammaa, who has built and grew Falak for the past 4 years.
Dakroury previously served as Falak’s Head of Investment for 2 and a half years. He has been the driving force behind Falak’s latest investments and has been recognized for major contributions to Falak’s development into becoming a regional leader and building a regional network to support Egyptian entrepreneurs and the ecosystem. He brings valuable experience to the company, having been a startup founder and financial strategist for several years prior to joining Falak’s investment team. To the startups, Dakroury is known as the go-to numbers guy.
Dakroury commented: “Working with Falak’s team for over 2 years now, I am full of confidence that we will build on our success to reach new possibilities for our expanding portfolio and the whole entrepreneurship realm.”
Together, Dakroury and Sammaa, began forging the new vision for Falak Startups, however, Sammaa has left Falak to work on a new personal endeavor that will be launching soon and left the reins to Dakroury. Falak was previously known as a startup accelerator, and has recently changed its mandate and is now moving into an early-stage venture capital model.
Falak’s early-stage VC model will continue to run the region’s top accelerator program while increasing the ticket size to EGP 2 Million in co-investments with other Venture Capital Funds and angel investors in the region. Falak’s offer includes a tailored program where they provide mentorship and consultations to help startups grow and build the right product, in addition to everything from legal support, business and financial modeling to market access.
Dakroury told WAYA: “I want to position Falak at the center of the entrepreneurship world, as the name (orbit) suggests, we aim to be the space where the entrepreneurial ecosystem revolves, where you can find the resources and assistance you need to grow companies that solve tomorrow’s problems and shape the future. On the flip side, Falak will act as the gateway for stakeholders willing to partake in the regional entrepreneurial movement either by investing and/or integrating with up and coming innovative solutions.”
If you see something out of place or would like to contribute to this story, check out our Ethics and Policy section.