TiE Dubai Announces Second Edition Of TiE Women Competition Focused On Empowering Women Business Leaders

The Dubai chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)has today officially launched the second edition of TiE Women, a global initiative dedicated to helping women across the globe reach their full potential by empowering them with the necessary support to build their leadership skills and grow their businesses. The initiative is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from across the Arab world to submit their applications to participate and shine a light on their achievements.

The vision and goal of TiE Women is to ‘Embrace, Engage, Empower’ women entrepreneurs across the globe – irrespective of the size, origin, interests, standing and background of the enterprise. The TiE Women initiative is built on the Pillars of: Learning, Mentoring, Access to Funding, Scalability, Safe Space and Community.The first edition of the competition in 2020 received more than 100 applications and witnessed participation from countries across the Arab world, including Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia,and Egypt, among other countries.

The second edition of TiE Dubai will be announced during a webinar by IngieChalhoub, Etoile Group President and Managing Director, who will be shedding light on her entrepreneurial journey and finding success in the virgin market of luxury fashion in the Middle East. The Global and Arab world winners will also join the conversation, sharing their tips and advice with 2021 participants as well as guiding on the key pitfalls to avoid. Interested participants can register for the webinar at https://bit.ly/2O6geuI

Under this initiative, participants will undergo a year-long comprehensive program designed by TiE Dubai and will benefit from mentorship sessions with renowned and experienced industry leaders, financial advisory services,strategy coaching, workshops on practical business planning and tips to nail the perfect investor pitch.

Underscoring TiE Dubai’s ongoing commitment to advancing women entrepreneurs, Shameema Parveen, Program Co-chair for TiE Women, TiE Dubai commented, “Even though startups by women founders actually perform better over time, generating 10% more in cumulative revenue over a five-year period and 78 % revenue for every dollar of funding compared to 31% of male-founded startups, the gender investment gap is a reality. Companies with women founders have received only about 2% of all venture capital invested. We at TiE Women address such gaps by providing a platform for women entrepreneurs with access funding, investors, mentors, learning and networking”.

Reiterating TiE Women’s mission, Anastasiya Golovatenko, Program Co-chair for TiE Women, TiE Dubai commented, “Today, there are 114% more women entrepreneurs than there were 20 years ago. Terms like “momtrepreneur” and “women empowerment” are helping cultivate the right image and motivation needed by young women and mothers, who may believe they lack business acumen, time or courage. As we see an increase in female-led businesses across the region, that inspiration is spreading outward, and women are taking the bold step to come out of their comfort zone and come up with all kinds of fresh and intriguing ideas to start a business. We are sure initiatives like TiE Women will help others follow suit.”

According to Visa, more than 163 million women around the world have started their own business in the last five years, accounting for up to 37% of the workforce.75% of women business owners in the emirates run companies that are active globally. We are witnessing positive strides coming out of women entrepreneurship as the first half of 2019 saw ten companies owned by women became unicorns.

Nominations for the second edition of TiE Women will be open from 31^st March to 1^st July 2021. These women entrepreneurs will present their business ideas to a panel of independent jury members comprising of successful entrepreneurs, investors, corporate honchos, and exceptional women leaders. The Arab region winner, along with three runner-ups, will be announced on 1^st September 2021.

The initiative will culminate into a grand finale with participation from finalists across TiE chapters to be held during ‘Expo 2020’ in the UAE for a chance to win valuable prizes, including the monetary gain of up to 100,000 USD and support from mentors and investors.

Built upon best practices from local chapters’ women-centric initiatives, participation in TiE Women will specifically result in capacity building, increased networking, knowledge-sharing, global exposure and visibility – to other women entrepreneurs and investors, and an incredible opportunity for start-ups to be coached by a diverse group of mentors who are a part of TiE professional network.

Participants can submit their nomination on https://bit.ly/3rY2v7K. Apart from being a women-run or women-owned business, participating start-ups should be in the early stage of at least 3 years or late-stage of up to seven years to meet the eligibility requirements.