More than being just an innovation space, Icealex is a dynamic and supportive community that brings together passionate, creative and committed people to make Alexandria a more prosperous city.

Icealex is a community-driven technology innovation space that aims to promote creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurship in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Founded in 2011 by Mohamed El-Sharkawy, an engineer with a passion for sustainable technologies and solutions, Icealex offers a variety of services and programs to support project ideas, startups, artisans, and students.

The innovation space stands out for its social and environmental commitment, seeking to provide local answers to local challenges. It offers technical workshops, rapid prototyping and digital fabrication services, project mentoring, a coworking space, networking activities, and social entrepreneurship training.

Icealex is also an international network of hubs and nodes based in Cairo (Egypt), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and Weimar (Germany). It supports entrepreneurs through three main programs. The first, Startups of Africa, connects startup owners with mentors. It also fosters collaboration between startups to build a stronger ecosystem with more solid partnerships.

The second program is the Ladies Startups League, a program aimed at helping women-led startups validate their ideas and scale their businesses. 

The last program is Startups of Alex, an incubation program launched to help develop startups and boost collaboration in the Alexandria startup ecosystem. The program is funded by Egypt's Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT).

Icealex has also launched initiatives such as the Makers of Alexandria project, which aims to highlight innovative trades that are on the verge of extinction. It organizes events such as Icebreakfast, a bimonthly gathering during which its community gathers over breakfast and exchanges knowledge on a variety of subjects.

Melchior Koba