TiE Dubai Launches Women 2020 Initiative to Support Female Entrepreneurs in MENA

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) in Dubai has launched the Women 2020 pitch competition; a regional competition in participation with TiE Women, a global initiative aimed at bolstering women entrepreneurs worldwide.

Women 2020 will provide female founders from across the MENA region with the opportunity to incubate their ideas by fully realising their idea’s potential through startup support programmes, and eventually take part in the competition. The initiative will culminate in Dubai, where finalists will be invited to attend the Grand Finale Pitch with a grand prize of $100,000, a platform to showcase their work and the opportunity to lockdown investors through the event.

Despite strides made by the region, there remains to be a needed overhaul of the gender gap in the ecosystem. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Women Entrepreneurship Report 2018/2019 highlights that the largest gender gap in established business ownership is in MENA with a 40% breadth. A recent report by Wamda reported that women founders represent only 25% of pre-seed startups in the region.

“There is so much untapped potential in the Arab World and by empowering women to go into business and rewarding aspiring female leaders,” says Ziad Matar, president of TiE Dubai. “By bringing together a global network of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and a prize money pool of $100,000, we will provide a unique launch pad for the winners.”

The TiE women initiative is open to all registered businesses founded or led by women entrepreneurs across the MENA region. Participants can apply online now starting today, June 1st, until August 1st, 2020.

Of all the applicants, a shortlist of 20 startups will be chosen to take part in the online pitch in August, and three of them will then proceed to join a three-month long local accelerator program in September, and coming to an end with the grand finale pitch competition in December 2020.