A new free standard Egyptian legal document is available online now for businesses to oversee deal-making processes much more efficient than ever before. The new resource, expected to help enterprises of all sizes and scale, was rolled out by the Middle East Angel Investment Network (MAIN), led by Egypt-based angel network Cairo Angels.

Significant contributions came from the German Development Cooperation implemented by GIZ Egypt (GIZ) in the implementation of this new initiative.

The documents are open source and consist of Equity Term Sheet, Shareholder Agreement, and Subscription Agreement. Startup founders and investors can download these documents free of cost from MAIN's website.

The lack of quality, best practice Egyptian investment documents is a bottleneck that can lead to lengthy negotiations, expensive legal fees, and have a negative impact on the rights of the parties in future fundraising rounds,” said Zeina Mandour, general manager at The Cairo Angels.

“Our hope is that these free legal documents will be adopted by early-stage investors in the region, thereby making the fundraising process faster and easier while protecting the rights of both investors and founders,” said Sara Gamay, a board member at Cairo Angels and MAIN.

According to reports, Venture By Shahid Law Firm also played a part by contributing in the drafting of the best practices documents.