Tell us more about yourself, who is Salma El-Hariry?
I am an Egyptian serial entrepreneur. I am the founder and CEO of S[k]aleUp Ventures.
I started my entrepreneurial journey in Silicon Valley right after the revolution. Previously, I used to work at PITME Labs Global Accelerator focused on Middle East startups in Silicon Valley. I graduated from the AUC, with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a minor in Computer Science.
What’s your vision?
I have a vision of growing world economies in the next 10 years by igniting the full potential of human capital who are building tech startup and delivering exponential social and economic value; Conscious Techies!
What’s new in this year’s Vested Summit?
We have speakers from 35+ countries, investors from all around the world, giving more exposure to startups to showcase their conscious tech ideas. This year is all about impact and really taking this region forward. We have Jason Silva as our keynote, the brilliant Emmy nominated futurist who is also now a conscious tech ambassador. The movement is gaining so much momentum this year we can’t wait to show you what we have up our sleeves.
How do you feel about the summit?
Being able to see the progress of conscious tech startups and the rising interest of investors in the minds of these talented innovators makes me proud and provides even more assurance to my goal which is deploying my skills, network and expertise to start an accelerator that helps Middle Eastern startups get access to the know-how, tools and knowledge from a place like Silicon Valley.
Tell us how you’ve approached change.
I graduated from the AUC and started working in a corporate, but couldn’t feel that this where I belong.
I decided to leave Egypt in 2011 and do my masters in the intersection of business and transformation, the field I was most curious about was technology and technology in the business world and how it can impact the future.
I was lucky enough to do my masters in Silicon Valley, where many amazing companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter were founded. Finding myself in the innovation process in a vibrant and collaborative space where all successful people including VPs, CEOs were highly accessible that you could learn from them directly. I built a massive network and decided to dedicate my skills and expertise to the advancement of emerging markets and Egypt specifically. That’s when I decided to start an accelerator that helps Middle Eastern startups get access to global professional experience from a place like Silicon Valley.
May you give us actual examples from the startup scene in the region that were influenced by these kinds of programs?
Some of the most successful startups today were accelerated by PITME, one of which is Eventtus and the other is Fetcher. They managed to raise collectively over 100 million dollars and that was the impact of connecting those two parts of the world.
What is conscious tech and How do you see its future?
Conscious tech is when applying sustainable business models led by the power of consciousness, to solve real world problems using frontier technologies.
I actually see that conscious tech will be the biggest driver of economic growth and social development in emerging markets because we can help those companies innovate and solve problems in a scalable way for the exponential growth that technology provides. And this is why our company is on a mission to equip them with the Rocketship tools that will help startups scale into conscious million-dollar companies.
because the problems are there, it’s just a matter of building infrastructures that can foster innovation and then we can then see those economies lead that promise of what conscious tech can do.