UAE women boosting their enterprise

The increasing number of startups led by female founders in the UAE is a telling indication of their empowerment.

For its third cohort of the year, Hub71 selected 19 new startups with headquarters in nine countries, specialised in 11 sectors, including AI and Big Data, EdTech, AgriTech and HealthTech. The new cohort also includes 30 per cent of businesses founded by women, marking a growing number of female founders choosing to immerse themselves in Hub71’s diverse and vibrant community.

Since its launch in March 2019, Hub71 has seen its startup community grow to more than 75 global startups benefiting from Hub71’s extensive resources, global reach and community access.

Hasna Ahmed, Founder and CEO of DoctorsAE added, “As an Emirati-owned HealthTech startup, joining the Hub71’s global ecosystem was the best place for our innovative business to succeed and inspire. “Being based in Abu Dhabi gives us an edge, as it has continuously proved to the world that it is among the best places to live in terms of quality of life, along with the added benefit of expanding into the Mena region and globally.”

Each successful startup has demonstrated remarkable resilience during the pandemic, either pivoting or striving tirelessly to meet their customers’ needs during unprecedented times.

It is not just Hub71 that is playing a key role in women’s entrepreneurial development. Even Sharjah Media City, Shams, is doing its creditable bit. It launched a special package to support women entrepreneurs, aiming to empower them and develop their businesses, on the occasion of Emirati Women’s Day, which is celebrated on the 28th of August every year.

This package provides businesswomen with the opportunity to establish their companies, with reductions in fees by 50 per cent for any commercial business licence, and 30 per cent when renewing it. The package includes all commercial activities provided by Shams for businesswomen.

Shams is keen to empower women in general, and Emirati women in particular, while providing smart and innovative solutions that ensure a suitable work environment for them to launch their own projects easily and at the lowest possible costs.

The Al Bayt Mitwahid Association has launched the Empowering Female Entrepreneurs initiative, in collaboration with the Khalifa Fund and the Social Care & Minors Affairs Foundation, SCMAF.

The initiative will support 25 women from vulnerable backgrounds who have promising business ideas, by providing mentorship and guidance in the field of entrepreneurship and business development in phase one of their pilot programme.

The initiative also aims to increase the number of women in the SME sector and enable them to contribute to the diversification of the national economy.

Recognising that the SME sector represents 40 per cent of the total GDP in the UAE, Creative Zone and the Dubai Business Women Council recently entered into a partnership agreement to empower 100 women entrepreneurs to launch their business successfully.

The ten-week programme will train, support and nurture 100 of the UAE’s brightest women entrepreneurs. Women above the age of 21, residing in the country with an existing business or a concrete business plan are eligible to apply for coaching, networking and learning opportunities. In addition to that, the two most promising applicants will receive a set of free business solutions such as trade licence, tax and legal services, co-working spaces amongst many others.

Shajrah Business Women Council is also playing a major role in encouraging entrepreneurship among women. Earlier this year, in the wake of far-reaching changes to work and life caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC), an affiliate of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment (NAMA), responded quickly to ensure the continued success, development and well-being of its over 2,000+ membership with the launch of three online engagement platforms.