The fifth annual TiE Women MENA Programme 2024, an empowering initiative created to support and elevate women entrepreneurs across the MENA region, has officially launched thanks to the official launch of the Dubai chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). The program demonstrates its dedication to promoting gender parity in entrepreneurship in line with government initiatives by broadening its scope to include five categories: UAE, Emirati, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the Middle East.
The application period for the competition opens on June 1st, 2024, and runs through that date. An impartial panel of TiE Dubai Charter members will choose the best creative concepts from each of the five categories after multiple screening rounds. The chosen finalists will present their projects in five demanding pitch competitions. The MENA finals, which were previously held at the North Star Expand at GITEX, are where the winners of these competitions get ready. The program will include financial advising services, strategy coaching, workshops on practical business planning, an online global accelerator program, investor pitch tips, and mentorship sessions with well-known and seasoned industry leaders at every step. The competition will end in December 2024 with the Global Finals.
According to the World Bank, female entrepreneurs had equal access to capital, and as their businesses grew, the global GDP might increase by $5–6 trillion. In addition, eight out of ten women in the UAE draw on their personal savings, meaning that nearly half of all women encounter substantial obstacles when trying to obtain capital. This emphasizes the vital role of programs like the TiE Women MENA Programme, which provides capital, community support, and mentoring to business owners across all sectors.
Rohit Dev, President at TiE Dubai stated: “Through time, entrepreneurs have been the biggest changemakers and have contributed tirelessly to the world economy, progress, and human sustenance. Despite this, women-led businesses in the region make up less than 5% of all businesses and 2023 saw a significant drop in fund-raising for these companies. For over 21 years, TiE has promoted entrepreneurship in the UAE, and since 2020, its TiE Women MENA initiative has been empowering female entrepreneurs. Supporting regional governments’ mission to increase female business owners, we aim to equip women founders with the tools, knowledge, and networks necessary to thrive in today’s competitive business environment.”
The initiative aims to give female entrepreneurs equal chances to succeed and make major economic contributions. The theme for this year emphasizes the importance of women in business and emphasizes developing their abilities within a formal framework. The startups that take part go through multiple phases of development, starting with their initial application, going through intense one-on-one mentoring, and culminating in pitching their ideas to an experienced panel of judges at the global and MENA finals.
TiE Women MENA Programme 2024 is a mission-driven organization that collaborates with over 15 accelerators, incubators, venture capital funds, and angel investor members in the startup ecosystem to leverage each other’s unique skills and abilities to support female entrepreneurs.
DBWC, Wamda, Plug and Play, StartAD, Female Angels 2022, AngelSpark, Astrolabs (Saudi), LIVINC (Jordan), Plug and Play, Women Spark (Saudi), and in5 are a few of the partners.
Among the program’s judges are TiE charter members Ashish Panjabi, CEO of Jacky’s Electronics; Mahesh Jaishankar, Head of Strategic Negotiations MENA, Google; and Sanjay Babur, Founder of Bestinsurance.ae; Veena Munganahalli, investor and serial entrepreneur; Shabana Karim, Founder/CEO of House of Enspa; and Shameema Parveen, CEO of Edutech.
