Africa's First UrbanTech Hub, KMT House, Just Opened in Cairo

KMT House, the first UrbanTech - urban technology - hub in Africa and Egypt, has just opened its doors in Cairo's Maadi district, through the collaboration between Drosos Foundation, District Spaces, and Progrss.

Organized as an expo-style event, the launch brought together urbantech entrepreneurs like Schaduf, Cairo Hackerspace, Creatibles, Jereed, Readymade, Baladini, Transport for Cairo, and Faces Studios to exhibit their work in the large garden and first floor of the House. Urban planners, artists, and architects, including Heba El-Sawy, Omar El-Melegy, and Mostafa Salem displayed their work as part of the event.

KMT (Kemet), which stands for the name of Ancient Egypt, originally means: 'black soil' - a phenomenon that took place after the Nile inundation, which made possible the cultivation and civilization of the otherwise desert landscape of Egypt. In fact, the word alchemy is derived from KMT and often refers to a process of transformation and creation.

"KMT House aims to be an inclusive space where urban players from across Egypt and Africa can collaborate and innovate. Beyond being a coworking space, our vision for KMT House is to truly be an innovation hub that welcomes people from different fields to work together to make our cities better," said Mohamed Helmy, founder of KMT House. 

“Drosos Foundation aims to help people live a life of dignity. I believe that young people hold the skies of the future and that, through supporting a creative hub such as KMT House, ideas can be realized into solutions for sustainable development and for making cities more functional and productive,” said Wessam El Beih, Country Director, Egypt, Drosos Foundation.

Why Urbantech?

One in every two people now live in urban areas. According to the World Bank, the number of people living in cities will increase by 1.5 times to 6 billion, adding 2 billion urban residents. But rapid urban growth is a doubled-edged sword, and as it straddles two continents, Egypt needs to be prepared for whatever the future holds. To be able to turn these challenges to the country’s benefits, Egyptian urban planners, thinkers, and doers will need new solutions to solve old problems.

That’s where KMT [say: KEMET] House comes in. As MENA’s first coworking space dedicated solely to urbantech (urban technology), KMT is a hub for innovators who experiment with everything from technology and mapping to urban data and culture. KMT House aims to inspire a new generation of city makers to make more livable, smarter cities.

The House has found home in an ancient mansion on Street 15 in the leafy district of Sarayat El-Maadi, and carries a long history going back to World War II.

Find out more about KMT House here.