The Misr Spinning and Weaving Company was founded in 1927 by a group of Egyptian businessmen in collaboration with the Misr Bank, facing Mahalla’s Tal‘at Harb Square in El-Mahalla El-Kubra. The bank, which had formed during the Egyptian uprising of 1920 and proclaimed itself to be "an Egyptian Bank for Egyptians only," began providing capital for large-scale Egyptian industrial facilities and considered Misr Spinning and Weaving to be its flagship enterprise. Egyptian economist Talaat Harb was one of those who helped establish the firm. Misr Helwan was largely staffed by workers from peasant backgrounds, many of whom worked temporarily to save and return money to their families.