Egypt-based Breadfast joins the largest investment program in the world: Exclusive Q&A with the co-founder Mostafa Amin
By Egyptian Streets
SOURCE: Egyptian Streets - Egypt Based Breadfast Joins the Largest Investment Program in the World
Cairo-based startup Breadfast announced this week that it has been accepted to join Y Combinator, known as one of the top US-based startup accelerators in the world.
MAGNiTT sat down with Breadfast's co-founder Mostafa Amin who shared some amazing insights:
Q: Why did you apply to Y Combinator?
A: Y Combinator is the largest investment program in the world, they're the investors of Airbnb, DropbBox, Stripe, Reddit and many other great companies. So, joining YC has absolutely a big added value for any company to join. YC accepted a few startups from Africa and the Middle East and I think the global recognition is very important in today's startup world.
Q: What are your key takeaways from the application process to Y Combinator?
A: Be very clear, simple and never give up.
Q: What are your main goals to get out of the program?
A: Learning and networking with the right people are always our main goals in all our steps in Breadfast and this is the culture we're building.
Q: Did you encounter any challenges with your Series A fundraise?
A: Fundraising is always a challenge, our main challenge was with some legal aspects as usual especially when you have foreign investors investing in a Middle Eastern company, but with the help from our legal firm in the US, DLA Piper, we were able to pass many obstacles. They helped us a lot.
Q: What are your plans with the funds?
A: Expanding our operations across the city of Cairo and piloting our next city expansion.
Q: How do you plan to split the team and operations between MENA and US? Why?
A: We're not going to split the teams, the founding team will be temporarily in the bay area until the program ends. But, we can't be away from our main kitchen back-end in Cairo even when we scale. Cairo has many many challenges yes, but if you manage those challenges, it is absolutely a great city to run your business from.
Read the full press release below:
“We’re very excited to join Y Combinator and our team is ready to learn and grow with our company
among the top world class startups and mentors,” said Mostafa Amin, co-founder and CEO of Breadfast in a statement about Breadfast’s acceptance to join Y Combinator’s program.
Y Combinator has previously invested in some of the world’s most successful businesses, including Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe.
“Breadfast is one of the few startups from the region that got accepted into Y Combinator, I hope many other startups from Africa and the Middle East to join Y Combinator in the coming years and to be globally recognized,” said Amin, who added that a part of the investment by Y Combinator will be leveraged to ensure Breadfast’s coverage of customers in the entirety of Cairo.
Breadfast, founded by Mostafa Amin, Muhammad Habib and Abdallah Nofal, is an online bakery store that delivers fresh baked goods every morning to customers’ doorsteps. The goods are baked daily, overnight, to ensure customers only receive fresh products.
Breadfast previously raised a seven figure amount from 500 Startups and Egyptian businessman and investor Mohamed El Sewedy.
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