A digital platform where container transporters in Egypt can join and tackle pollution. This is the main idea behind BEE, a newly-born project that is receiving the support of GIMED in order to set up its business model with a green approach. “The program helped us to introduce our business idea in a professional way and gave us the opportunity to contribute in achieving great goals”, says Farieda Elsammak, one of the entrepreneurs behind BEE.

The three female entrepreneurs behind the project are Farieda Elsammak, Hanna Elsammak and Amany Mostafa, Among their goals, they aim at tackling climate change emergency, controlling pollution indicators and fight unemployment. The digital platform serves as a fleet management system to connect freight forwarders with customers and containers while maximizing the profit and reducing the fleet carbon footprint. To do so, they’re bonding together with the private sector to address these challenges and improve the way of doing business in one of the most vital industries: in-land container transport.

BEE aims at providing transparency to both demand and supply parties by eliminating barriers and increasing business opportunities. Behind this idea they seek the provision of a digital business model turning technology into powerful tools in favour of humanity. This start-up will help the container transport market to turn into a green industry that will provide positive externalities to society, responding to the ever growing need for fighting unemployment and climate change, especially with the staggering effects of the Covid-19 pandemics.

Alexandria Business Association, who is the Egyptian partner under GIMED program, was responsible for the training sessions conducted to 19 green business ideas in the Southern Mediterranean country. “We learnt how to design an ecosystem and how to identify the stem of customer’s needs”, states Elsammak. Trainings were also useful for them as they learnt how to pitch an idea and how to relate it to interested investors.

Before joining GIMED, in their own words this start-up was lost about how and where make their idea come to life and how to introduce it to the market. “The program helped in paving the way to reach our destination and now more than ever we can feel our idea has materialized and has a chance to succeed and grow”, says Elsammak.

The long experience of instructors that joined the training sessions helped a lot by adding years of experience to their initial idea. During these sessions their idea got more refined and focused especially on the introduction of various business exercises that are meant to help start-ups. The trainings were conducted through The Switchers.org, in the framework of the Switchmed methodology developed by the Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC), the Lead Beneficiary of the project.