Women entrepreneurs from 30 countries competed at Pitch Competition
Women entrepreneurs from 30 countries competed to score a grant worth USD 100,000 to scale their business at TiE Women Global Pitch Competition 2021
TiE Women, a global initiative by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) 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, today announced the winners of the second edition of the global pitch competition.
The program culminating in a pitch competition at the TiE Women Global Finals was held at GITEX Global 2021 under GITEX Future Stars, a show driven to fuel the highspeed expansion of the region’s start-up ecosystem and to highlight the best concepts aimed to ignite positive change in business and society.
The six women entrepreneurs selected in the semi-finals presented their business concepts before a live panel of industry luminaries for $100,000 in cash prizes and in-kind support to scale their business.
- Winner. Neha Jain, Founder & CEO of Zerocircle (TiE New Delhi chapter) – awarded USD 75,000. Zerocircle aims to leverage technology to produce sustainable packaging materials and help companies march towards a carbon-neutral future
- 1st Runner Up. Myra Arshad, Co-founder and CEO of ALT TEX (TiE New York/Toronto chapter) was awarded USD 15,000. The Toronto based start-up focuses on creating a sustainable polyester alternative to make fashion more sustainable and ethical.
- 2nd Runner Up. Farah Emara, Co-founder and CEO of FreshSource (Egypt – Fostered by TiE Dubai Chapter) was awarded USD 10,000. FreshSource aims to connect farms to businesses providing last-mile solutions.
According to a recently released Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, there has been progress in the number of established businesses owned by women worldwide, but still, the number lags that of men. Worldwide, 6.2% of women-owned established businesses, compared to 9.5% of men. With initiatives that aim to empower women entrepreneurs such as TiE Women, the industry believes women-led businesses will have the same access to capital, and these trailblazing entrepreneurs will be able to create alternate paths to success for themselves in the longer run.
The competition for the coveted title received applications from more than 100 start-ups from across the MENA region, including UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Forty well-deserving start-ups were shortlisted from 30 countries spanning industries such as Life Sciences & Healthcare; Fintech; Healthtech; Retail and eCommerce; Arts; Leisure; Sports; Hospitality; Technology; Media and Telecommunications; Consumer Products; Enterprise Technology; Environment; Agritech; Legaltech; and EdTech.
