Investments in Africa’s deeptech are rarely seen or announced but Si-Ware Systems, a Cairo-based microelectronics company, has achieved a remarkable feat in that dimension. The startup has announced it had recently closed a funding deal of nearly $9 million.
According to Si-Ware Systems founders, in an interview with Zawya, the funding round was led by the Cairo-based Sawari Ventures, with Egypt Ventures being also a major contributor.
“We started from scratch to build our own technology,” said Saadany, “This is something that usually takes place in big companies in Silicon Valley. We have always wanted to do something quite distinguishable on the global level.”
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A total of $19 million in funding has been raised by Si-Ware since its founding in 2004. The founders have also been able to raise another $20 million from the company’s side business in microchip design through bootstrapping over the years. Hesham Haddara, CEO and co-founder of the company, noted that this is very rare in a Silicon Valley company where VCs purely finance startups.
“A side business is widely seen as a waste of time and resources. But the situation in our region is very different from that in the Silicon Valley.”’
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With its unique sensor that Si-Ware’s founders think can revolutionize the worldwide field of material recognition, the company is poised to emerge as the first deep-tech unicorn in Africa.
Haddara, a seasoned microelectronics engineer and former professor at the engineering school of Ain Shams University, has been disappointed by local and regional investors’ reluctance to inject cash into deep-tech business models.
“My life mission has been to develop the electronics industry in Egypt. We have come a long way, but we are still facing many challenges. Deep-tech needs more VC funding and better legislation to facilitate operations and logistics.”
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