• Egypt-based BasharSoft, the company behind Wuzzuf and Forasna, has fully acquired iCareer, Egypt’s HR consultancy startup, for an unknown value.
• The acquisition will create Egypt’s largest integrated employment and career services group, expanding BasharSoft’s operations into Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and the wider MENA region.
• Founded in 2009 by Ahmed ElSharkawy and Ameer Sherif, BasharSoft builds innovative, web-based employment marketplaces and recruitment software designed to connect millions of job seekers with employers, universities, and governments across the region.
• iCareer, established in 2012 by Nevien Magdy, Akram Marwan and Mohamed Farag, bridges the gap between education and employment by offering end-to-end digital services for early talent.
• The deal also includes Recruitera, Egypt’s first applicant tracking software (ATS SaaS), which will be integrated into Wuzzuf and Forasna to enhance recruitment efficiency and data-driven job matching.
• BasharSoft now plans to expand its workforce by 100 employees, grow revenues to $25 million, and pursue additional acquisitions in the JobTech and HR sectors, paving the way for a potential IPO within 2–3 years.

Press release:

BasharSoft, the company behind Egypt’s leading online job platforms Wuzzuf and Forasna, announced the full acquisition of iCareer, Egypt's largest consultancy specialising in providing large-scale employment programmes and career solutions. The acquisition also expands BasharSoft’s influence beyond Egypt, enabling deeper penetration into the GCC markets, where both companies had already begun operations. Earlier this year, BasharSoft officially launched in Saudi Arabia, marking the start of a regional growth strategy that aims to serve millions more job seekers and employers across MEA.

Founded in 2009, BasharSoft has connected over 9 million job seekers with more than 100,000 employers, facilitating an estimated 1.4 million hires through its platforms. The company now operates an ecosystem spanning online job marketplaces, recruitment software, and employability programmes, all built to address unemployment, skills mismatch, workforce readiness, and labour market efficiency across the region.

iCareer, established in 2012, is known for implementing large-scale employment and career guidance programmes across Egypt and the Gulf region. Its partners and clients include government ministries; universities, including Ain Shams University, AAST, Universities of Canada in Egypt, and The American University in Cairo; and major local and multinational employers such as Hassan Allam Holding, Vodafone, PepsiCo, Raya Holding, and Procter & Gamble, in addition to international development organisations such as the ILO, UN, GIZ, and CFYE. 

“Combining BasharSoft’s technology and data with iCareer’s field expertise creates a powerful synergy,” said Ameer Sherif, co-founder and executive chairman of BasharSoft and member of the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship. “With iCareer joining our group, we are not only deepening our local impact but also expanding across Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and the wider Middle East and Africa. This is part of our new strategy to acquire and consolidate other players in the JobTech, employment, and wider HR space in the region to empower millions of job seekers and offer integrated employment and recruitment solutions to organisations of all sizes. We also aim to be the primary private sector partner to governments when it comes to public policy for a more efficient labour market through solving unemployment at scale with better job matching, labour market insights, and upskilling based on skills demand.” 

As part of the deal, BasharSoft also acquired Recruitera, Egypt’s first Applicant Tracking Software (ATS SaaS) developed by iCareer, which will soon be integrated with Wuzzuf and Forasna to enhance recruitment efficiency and sourcing for clients. Recruitera allows employers to post jobs, manage applications, and access analytics in one streamlined workflow. Moreover, iCareer’s training, coaching, and assessment programmes can now be paired with WUZZUF and FORASNA’s job market access, giving universities better tools to embed employability skills into their curricula.

Akram Marwan, co-founder and CEO of iCareer, commented, “Joining forces with BasharSoft accelerates our mission. Over the past years, iCareer’s edge was our strong connections with 1000+ employers, which gave us the capability to develop better, practical content and engage employers in job-matching activities with iCareer’s graduates. Now with the scale of Wuzzuf and Forasna network of employers, this matchmaking is 10x larger, creating an impact on job creation and youth employment like never before. The job market is also more dynamic and challenging than ever, with remote work and AI disrupting whole industries and job roles. Our combined entity will be able to support our partners and society in navigating this continuous change more successfully.”

The combined entity has already positively impacted over 10 million people in Egypt and aims to empower 100 million by 2030. The company is actively pursuing additional acquisitions in the employment and technology sectors, both in Egypt and across the region, as part of its roadmap to become one of the first Egyptian tech companies to IPO within the next two to three years.

According to Ahmed Samir, General Manager of BasharSoft, the acquisition marks the beginning of a new phase for the company. “Our vision goes beyond recruitment. We aim to become the leading Human Capital Management (HCM) company in MEA by solving the core employment challenges facing Egypt and the wider region in parallel with new technology adoption. For instance, the integration will enhance our matchmaking and recommendations engines for a faster and easier hiring process. Using AI will also help job seekers create profiles in a few steps and employers to post jobs with minimal input using data and insights from thousands of jobs posted before on our platforms.” 

BasharSoft currently employs 200 professionals and plans to expand its workforce by another 100 employees over the next two years and grow revenues to a target of $25 million. The company also continues to contribute to public policy development, particularly in areas of entrepreneurship and labour reform, as part of Egypt’s new Labour Law of 2025 and through the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship.