MENA Startups to Watch
The founders of Egyptian startup ReNile, Hazem El-Tawab, and Ibrahim El-Zayat, have transformed the idea of a university project based on engineering innovation to employ energy and bioprocess, into a leader in the Internet of Things (IoT) and innovative environmental services, where the partners were able to build an automated system that provides technological solutions to growers to monitor and control the quality of water, air, and soil for fish farms. Rasmal interviewed Eng. Hazem Al-Tawab to discover more about ReNile, its services, and its path through success and difficulty in the startup sector.
Who is the founder of ReNile, Hazem Al-Tawab?
Along with Ibrahim Al-Zayyat, I am one of the co-founders of ReNile. I graduated from Zewail University’s Department of Energy and Bioprocess Engineering, and subsequently, I earned a Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Arizona in the United States. This allowed me to work as a teaching assistant at the university, then as a digital transformation consultant in engineering. Now I’m co-founder of the company ReNile concerned with the Internet of Things, which specialises in environmental services, in addition to my job as a consultant for the Arab Organisation for Industrialization in the electronics factory.
How did ReNile become a top startup in the Internet of Things environmental services field?

Since I was in university, the nucleus of the idea of ReNile and its DNA began to form and take shape, but it was not this expanded and developed. We focused on solar technology and floating solar panels in the early stages of ReNile after winning the Go Green in the City competition run by the multinational energy business Schneider Electric.
The competition aimed to create new engineering and technical solutions to solve some of the problems facing the energy sector and the lack of resources, and we came up with solutions to use the sunny weather of Upper Egypt to produce electric energy from solar panels, which serves the remote areas in this spot. Still, due to the habits of people in the area, we could not install solar panels on the roofs that the residents used for other uses, such as raising birds and other activities.
From this came the idea of installing floating solar panels on waterways and canals to reduce water evaporation and produce electricity. In the meantime, we wanted to study the effect of floating solar panels on aquatic life. We came up with the idea of monitoring water quality and obtained a patent for the sun relay system based on this idea. In specific ways, this is dependent on analyzing and quantifying the water under the cells. Then we turned to install solar energy cells to generate electricity for homes and businesses and worked on Internet of Things applications in the research and development department.
At the start of 2020, ReNile became a leading startup company in the Internet of Things in environmental services. We produced the first applicable minimum viable product in collaboration with the (EBNI) incubation program. We designed a boat with sensors that measure the quality of life underwater. The boat collects data such as the amount of oxygen, temperature, and water PH in fish farms to send to the user via a mobile application, internet, or SMS to detect problems and solutions.
Our services have evolved, and we have introduced a control system in addition to the sensors that allow us to control the problems in an automated manner and feed the growers with comprehensive data analysis of everything that goes on in their fish farm, the percentage of production, losses, and all the information that helps them improve efficiency and increase profits.
2022 our services will encompass greenhouses, poultry farms, and aquaculture. It includes automated fertilization systems that generate data through sensors to control it, then provide information and outputs online.
We now have water systems for fish farms, irrigation and hydroponics, air systems for poultry farms and greenhouses, and soil systems for farmland and greenhouses.
What are the services offered by ReNile, and what are its main strengths?
ReNile manufactures Internet of Things-based devices for measuring the quality of water, air, and soil for fish farms, poultry farms, hydroponics, and greenhouses, and its greatest strength is that it serves as a lab for generating and implementing ideas through the innovations of its research and development team and then manufacturing and producing these ideas. We are one step ahead of the competition, where we research to develop unique and customized products that meet customers’ needs and focus on customer experience to improve these products, as we pay close attention to the issue of developing products and services to meet market demands.
Which markets is ReNile now targeting?

We currently have customers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, and Jordan, a business agent in Oman, and a Saudi Arabian distributor. Renile is distinguished by producing all its devices from A to Z in-house. Our regional expansion has occurred organically as a result of customers’ word of mouth to other customers, where we assist them in implementing the Internet of Things system in the field of environmental services to meet food security requirements, in addition to saving energy and fertilizer costs for growers, which reduces from the risks of loss in crops, deaths in fish and poultry, and so far we have not moved with large marketing plans to expand as a result of the demand of organic customers to us.
How does ReNile distinguish itself from its market competitors?
In the Arab region, ReNile is unique in the Internet of Things system for fish farms, with no competitors, and few other competitors are working in poultry, agriculture, and greenhouses. At the same time, nine competitors are working in the same field at the global level, but ReNile remains unique. It distinguishes itself from its competitors by supporting Arabic in addition to English and other languages; additionally, they do not provide data analysis for users or manufacture its equipment, as we do; and ReNile distinguishes itself from the rest of the international competitors by offering competitive service prices.
What characteristics of ReNile’s services make its clients satisfied?
I believe that one of the essential features that make users of our system satisfied with the performance is a continuous follow-up to customer support and technical advisory services, as ReNile provides support and consulting services even if we are not directly concerned with the problem, as many customers face some difficulties in bringing equipment or finding Experts and consultants in various fields of our work, which we provide in customer support, In addition to the numerous benefits offered by the system, such as reduced feed waste, fish and poultry mortality, and energy and electricity costs, where the ReNile system can lower operational expenses by 20%.
What are the most significant values and criteria on which ReNile bases its visions as a firm providing environmental services? What effect do these values have on society?
First and foremost, we focus heavily on the issue of food security, which has become a global challenge in light of the world’s food shortages. We keep food safety and health in mind so that all food products we are working on control their growth systems and come out with high quality that satisfies consumers’ tastes and makes them healthy.
We are also concerned with lowering operating costs, reflected in product pricing, the strength of demand for them, and making them accessible. Food security is one of our Arab region’s most pressing issues, and supplying food to people and making it available sustainably is one of the essential tasks for achieving sufficiency and establishing stability.
Second, we emphasize sustainable green practices to reduce resource waste, as most traditional farms consume large amounts of diesel, whereas our system reduces energy fuel consumption by more than 30% financial expenses, and helps maintain the quality of life underwater, provide feed, reduce material consumption, poverty eradication, where ReNile’s aim for the preservation of underwater life, and the reduction of carbon emissions, all of which have a direct impact on society and the environment.
What were the primary hurdles that ReNile experienced as a startup during its early stages?
The biggest problem facing us is the issue of growers’ culture and their familiarity with traditional patterns of agriculture and animal husbandry without being familiar with modern technologies. The lack of awareness-raising bodies concerned with educating this group constituted a real dilemma that made us suffer during our attempts to bridge this knowledge gap and guide them to the feasibility of technology and automation in agricultural and animal practices.
It took us a long time to convince and educate our customers about the system’s benefits to save time, effort, and money, as well as its impact on lowering costs and increasing quality and efficiency. We overcame this challenge by offering the system a three-month free trial to assess feasibility and measure results.
The Covid-19 pandemic created additional challenges for us, limiting the tasks we were carrying out at the start of the establishment period. We also experienced shipping and supply chain issues due to the Sino-American crisis and the need for more dollars to import some of the raw ingredients required to produce our equipment.
Now we are dealing with the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war and its indirect problems, which have a significant impact on our progress, as high inflation has caused an increase in all commodities, mainly animal feed, which has reflected in the financial ability of our customers and cast a shadow on the growing movement, which is slowing for us. Despite this, we work very hard to solve these challenges and go out to other markets that allow us to expand. We now have directions to the African market through possible clients in Kenya after reaching the Arab countries.
The supply chain and the import of raw materials for technological equipment are among the challenges that Egyptian manufacturers face owing to various internal and external factors. How do you overcome this obstacle?
We solved this problem by relying on available local alternatives. We now manufacture our devices and equipment from 70% local raw materials. Some electronic components still need to be made available locally, forcing us to import them abroad. We now have multiple options and alternatives to suppliers in China, Europe, and America, allowing us to move freely without being dominated by any supplier. The research and development team is an essential cornerstone of our company because their extensive experience enables us to find innovative technological solutions and alternatives that rely on creating options for designing and manufacturing equipment with the best quality and lowest cost, as well as with the available materials and components in the local or global market. Our manufacturing collaborations, for example, with the Arab Organisation for Industrialization, aided in overcoming these challenges.
How did ReNile deal with funding challenges in its early stage? What impact have business incubators and accelerators had on your journey?
ReNile began raising funding with two business incubators, EBNI, and Nahdet El Mahrousa. We obtained funding amounting to 150,000 Egyptian pounds from each of them and pre-Seed funds from the investor Amir Sabry, who had excellent credit in supporting us financially and morally. Despite the small size of the funding for us as a manufacturer, it was helpful in our beginnings. Still, the most significant benefit that accrued to us from engaging in incubation programs is knowledge of market requirements and understanding the needs of the industry and how to deal with ideas to turn them into profit-generating businesses. My partner Ibrahim El Zayat and I came from a pure engineering background, without the slightest knowledge of the business world or the methods of establishing and managing a startup in Egypt. Incubation programs helped us understand and learn the concepts of entrepreneurship until we are now a large team including 15 people working by self-finance.
How do you go about attracting funds? Are you planning to participate in any fresh funding rounds shortly?
We are getting ready for a seed round in which we hope to raise $800,000. We focus on investors working in agritech or hardware because the goals of venture capital investors and angel investors vary according to their respective orientations. Agriculture is one of the areas of the world’s attention right now, owing to food security concerns. The effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war have highlighted this issue, making it easier to seek funding to address it. We are currently updating our knowledge of the standards and procedures for investors in the industry to attract new funds, and we are receiving positive feedback when investors know that all of the products, technologies, and equipment are our manufacture, where we can customise them to meet the needs of customers.
How does ReNile handle the customer experience, one of the most crucial factors of a startup’s success?
We are working to develop a simple, streamlined, and multilingual integrated system that customers may use without the assistance of technicians. We also consider the system’s design appealing and easy to understand, allowing the customer to focus on the critical objectives during farm monitoring and management activities. We have already updated several services we offer to comply with customer requests and needs.
As a startup, we can develop and modernise to keep pace with the market, and this is what happened with us when we created new products requested from some customers. To find ourselves after we specialised in fish farms, we began working in hydroponics, poultry farming, and greenhouses Glass. Now we have potential customers who want to employ our system in factories.
One final piece of advice for new entrepreneurs?
The successful entrepreneur recognizes people’s needs and strives to meet them by applying his intellectual talents, competencies, and material resources. As a result, I encourage every new entrepreneur to listen to his community’s demands and strive to answer its wants, as well as to be agile in his movements, adaptable in his ideas, and relentless in his performance to overcome the hurdles and Stubborn beginnings, because building enterprises and startups involves perseverance.
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