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Introducing Our New Partners  

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As you may have gathered from our Year in Review post, it’s been a busy year for WOMENA and that extends to partnerships! We believe the development of partnerships with other organisations in the entrepreneurship ecosystem is very important. We want entrepreneurs and investors we speak with to benefit as much as possible from the exciting entrepreneurship ecosystem and our partners all provide excellent resources and programmes for precisely that.

We’ve profiled our partners previously, which you can find here, here and here. So without further ado, meet our new partners!

Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority conserves and promotes the heritage of Abu Dhabi with a variety of programmes and events throughout the year. They are keen to promote entrepreneurship within the emirate and will support startups’ expansions into the UAE.

Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) is the official organisation for women professionals and entrepreneurs in Dubai. They host business events across the year, designed to promote women’s involvement in business and entrepreneurship.

e7/Promise of a Generation is a year long programme for women aged between 18 and 25 to develop and implement projects that benefit their community with five participants from each emirate.

Iliad Partners is a Dubai-based venture capital firm that invests in seed stage and Series A startups that are globally minded.

in5 is WOMENA’s ecosystem partner and run an excellent coworking space for entrepreneurs in Dubai. They support entrepreneurs in various ways from licensing to acceleration.

MAGNiTT connects entrepreneurs to investors, mentors and cofounders.

Meera Kaul Foundation works to eradicate gender inequality in all walks of life through education, programmes, seminars and conferences.

Oqal is Saudi Arabia’s first and only angel group with branches in the Eastern Province, Riyadh and Jeddah.

Additional resources

Introducing Our Middle East Partners: N-Z  

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Following on from our earlier blog post, below is the second post in introducing our partners in the Middle East.

Progress in Technology Middle East connects connecting entrepreneurs with Silicon Valley resources. PITME has developed an excellent network of partners in Silicon Valley to support Middle East based entrepreneurs

Startup MENA runs a series of networking events and workshops for startups across the Middle East, which can be found on our events calendar. Startup MENA has branches in Tunisia, Egypt and the GCC

TechWadi is the leading non-profit organisation dedicated to building bridges between Silicon Valley and the Middle East. Dr. Ossama Hassanein heads up TechWadi and is a big supporter of WOMENA. WOMENA is also an ecosystem partner of TechWadi

Turn8 is a partnership between DP World and i360 Accelerator and is a leading startup accelerator based in Dubai. Turn8 launched in 2012 and has accelerated some of the top startups in the region including our own portfolio company Melltoo

Venture Capital 4 Africa (also known as VC4Africa) is an online community of entrepreneurs and investors dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship in Africa. This should be your first port of call to learn more about the startup ecosystem in Africa

Wamda is a platform of programs and networks across the Middle East that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship ecosystems across the Middle East. With programmes like Mix’n’Mentor and their grassroots content, Wamda has supported the development of startups across the region

Weyakum is dedicated to empowering young Emiratis with critical work skills to further their professional development and is led by Ameera Amir

Our Partnership with TechWadi  

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Over the next few months, we will be highlighting some of our partnerships with excellent organisations dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Our first partner feature will be on TechWadi, a organisation on the other side of the world in Silicon Valley but a partner that has done so much for entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Chaired by Dr. Ossama Hassanein, Chairman of Rising Tide Fund, TechWadi is the Arab Diaspora network of Silicon Valley, bringing together the experts and leaders in Tech to help entrepreneurs in MENA thrive and grow in Silicon Valley.

TechWadi has built a network of strategic mentors, experts and investors from numerous backgrounds to support Middle East-based entrepreneurs. Assigned mentors coach entrepreneurs in business practices; counsel on business expansion opportunities; provide access to strategic partners, investors, or clients; and act as a sounding-board for new ideas and challenges. TechWadi is hoping to double their number of members in 2015, focusing on the untapped resource of GCC female angel investors, an area where WOMENA is supporting TechWadi.

TechWadi launched their Sprint Acceleration Program this year which is a 3 month acceleration program that targets tech companies in the Middle East looking for growth in the US. Coaches work with companies on setting milestones that they aim to achieve in the US and customize a program to help them achieve these milestones. As well as all the benefits that come with being in the global heart of entrepreneurship, TechWadi provides the startups with coaching, mentorship, positioning for fundraising and cloud services to the tune of $100,000.

The program aims at bringing 8-10 startups to Silicon Valley in 2015. It truly is an extraordinary opportunity for Middle East-based startups and WOMENA would certainly encourage any entrepreneurs to consider applying for this year’s program. You can access the application here.

We are thrilled to be partnered with TechWadi and are excited for future collaboration with them. If you’re interested in becoming involved with TechWadi, make sure you apply for membership or sponsorship! Our two co-founders – Chantalle Dumonceaux and Elissa Freiha – are both TechWadi members and can speak to the value of a TechWadi membership.

Announcing our Partnership with Mompreneurs  

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We are delighted to announce our partnership with Mompreneurs today! We are very much looking forward to future collaboration with an organisation that is busy promoting female entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Mompreneurs is a B2B platform that caters to female entrepreneurs in the Middle East to promote and grow their business. The website provides a platform for female entrepreneurs to connect with each other, share expertise, advice, recommendations and contacts. It is a one-stop information portal where members can access information regarding various events and exhibitions taking place in the region or find suppliers and partners in various fields. The underlying belief is that collectively, female entrepreneurs will be stronger and better able to compete in today’s business environment.

As part of their excellent work, they recently launched their Entrepreneur Rising Course in collaboration with Impact Hub, which is a two month programme to give entrepreneurs the tools for success. As part of the course, there was a Pitch Competition where WOMENA cofounder Chantalle Dumonceaux was a judge. For more information on the course, check out their video where you can get a glimpse of Chantalle giving feedback to the entrepreneurs.

We see a lot of potential collaboration with Mompreneurs and look forward to working with them!