Cairo-based venture capital firm Foundation Ventures has secured the first close of their $25 million fund, FVFII, which will support startups in Egypt and Africa in local and global expansion.“Egypt boasts one of the region’s most talented tech pools and one of the largest economies in the Middle East and Africa,” Mazen Nadim, Managing Partner at Foundation Ventures tells StartupScene. Nadim says that the devalued currency offers startups a chance to use Egypt as a “cost-efficient testbed…This enables startups to refine their business models locally and emerge as competitive players on the regional and global stages.”The fund has attracted investors such as the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund (EAEF), the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), and Onsi Sawiris. “This partnership underscores our belief in the significant potential of Egypt’s growing venture capital ecosystem to drive economic growth,” Yasmine Ghobrial, Chief Investment Officer at the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, said.Foundation Venture has a track record of supporting early-stage and growth-stage companies. Some of the startups in its growing portfolio list include NowPay, an app that allows employees to receive their salaries in advance at any time, and Minly, a website and app that allows actors, singers, athletes, artists, and influencers to create personalised shout-out videos for clients.