Tarek A. El Kady
Tarek El Kady is a leading entrepreneur, turned Angel Investor. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, Tarek has worked in the U.S. as a part-time web designer before launching his first company called WebArchitect. After a successful decade in this business, he launched Markade which focuses on marketing, advertising, branding and events planning & management. Along the road he has started and exited multiple businesses, some have succeeded and others have not.
Since 2015, Tarek has shaken the technology entrepreneurship & investment worlds by hosting Techne Summit in Alexandria and Cairo Egypt. And in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Techne Summit is a multi-industry focused investment & entrepreneurship mega event that impacts sectors and stakeholders of the startup community through showcasing different technologies and their application in each industry.
The latest event was attended by more than 30,000 attendees, 400+ Speakers, 1000 Startups, and 300 investors from more than 70 countries.
In December 2016, Tarek announced the launch of “Alexandria Angels”, the first Alexandria based Angel Investment Network. Consisting of a select group of founding members, all experienced in business and enthusiastic about entrepreneurship in Alexandria, the newly established network seeks to invest in promising, high-growth startups in Alexandria and the Nile delta region from mid next year onwards.
In February 2017, Tarek launched the first of its kind nation-wide annual roadshow to empower entrepreneurs all over Egypt “Techne Drifts” – A series of event in the format of a road show and entrepreneurship league which kick-started by Upper Egypt, as a one-day summits in three different cities Assiut, Sohag and Aswan. Then Delta in three other cities Mansoura, Zagazig and Tanta. Then Canal Drift in Suez and Port-Said respectively.
Tarek has also Co-founded and is currently Chairman of the Mediterranean Angel Investment Network (MED Angels), the first Mediterranean-wide network of angel networks, was officially launched on September 30th, 2019 at the iconic Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The event took place in the context of Techne summit, the Mediterranean leading Tech conference.
He is also General Partner (GP) of Alex Ventures along with three other partners. Alex Ventures is a Seed/Pre-seed fund that focuses on investing in early stage technology startups in Egypt
Tarek is currently chairman of KD Group which manages the operations of the three agencies and their clients which are local, regional and global.
Tarek is passionate about helping young people start their businesses. As Founding Curator of the Global Shapers Community Alexandria hub, he spends most of his time “giving” to the next generation of business owners in the region.
Tarek was awarded in 2019 by the American University in Cairo’s Venture Lab in recognition of his efforts as one of the prominent contributors to the entrepreneurial & investment ecosystems for their outstanding support.
He was appointed as Senator at the Grand Assembly of the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) and was representing Egypt in the Global Startup Committee of the Grand Assembly in 2020
Tarek serves on the Board of Directors of ABAN (African Business Angel Network) since Jan 2021, and is currently VP of North Africa
