3 Egyptian startups win $10,000 from She’s Next Competition
Handpicked from over 4,000 applicants across Egypt, the winning women-owned small businesses also win a year of business coaching from USAID.
Hadeer Shalaby, the founder of Green Fashion, Salma Tammam, the founder of Reme-D and Nihal Ali, the founder of Fincart announced winners at the second She's Next grant program in Egypt. The winners were selected at an award ceremony held by CIB, and Visa at the Hyatt Regency Cairo West.
Handpicked from over 4,000 applicants across Egypt, the winning women-owned small businesses each received grants worth US$10,000 along with a year of business coaching from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The winners were chosen from a pool of applicants representing a range of sectors, including technology, business, real estate, healthcare, social enterprise, and fashion.
A jury evaluated entries based on the following criteria: the progression of applicants’ entrepreneurial journey; robustness of their business metrics; digital presence; and those who demonstrated the ability to solve problems. The members of the jury included Malak El Baba, Egypt Country Manager, Visa; Hany El Deib, Head of Business Banking, CIB; Hany El Sonbaty, managing partner of Sawari Ventures, a Cairo-based VC; and Karima El Hakeem, CEO of Plug & Play Egypt.
For the first time, She’s Next included a People’s Favorite award, voted for online by members from the general public. This award with a cash prize of US$10,000 went to Nihal Ali, founder of Fincart.
She's Next is part of Visa’s efforts to support the digitalization of women-owned businesses and has marked the launch of Visa’s first Women SMB Digitalization Index where the majority of women entrepreneurs surveyed in Egypt (97%) acknowledged the growing significance of digitalization within today’s business environment. The survey also revealed that 68% of women entrepreneurs in Egypt are in favor of moving from cash-dominant to cashless businesses. Notably, more than one-third of respondents (35%) found it challenging to secure funding for their business endeavors.
Through their participation in the She's Next program, these women entrepreneurs have already gained access to practical insights from women leaders, valuable tools, educational resources, and facilitated training. USAID will also provide one-on-one advisory support for the 20 finalists, equipping these individuals with guidance and insights to boost their business and financial strategies.
