StartEgypt Hosts First Female Founders Forum to Inspire Entrepreneurs - Flat6Labs

ACCELERATING THE FUTURE

The pre-acceleration program, StartEgypt hosted its first virtual forum for female entrepreneurs; the Female Founders Forum. The one-day virtual event attended by over 300 up-and-coming female Egyptian entrepreneurs, saw leading experts from tech giants Dell Technologies, Google and YouTube provide key insights and training on how to get these start-ups from concept to implementation.
Designed to inspire and empower women considering starting their own business, the forum offered them the opportunity to learn from the experiences of influential females in the business and entrepreneurial world, as they discussed the differences, challenges and opportunities faced by females as entrepreneurs or in the corporate world.

A panel discussion featured Flat6labs graduate Sabrine Assem, co-founder & CEO at UNTAP Technologies, Mai Abbas, Education Services Manager for RSA Security by Dell Technologies.

Talking about their decision to host the virtual forum, Hassan Mansi, StartEgypt Program Director said, “Flat6Labs has maintained a gender ratio of 30%-females amongst its incubation and accelerator programs due to a solid belief in the ability of Egyptian female entrepreneurs to lead and drive the economy forward. This has been evident in their role as breadwinners across all socio-economic levels. We offer the opportunity for aspiring female entrepreneurs to unleash their potential and to continue having a positive impact on the Egyptian economy.”

“I was delighted to take part in the Female Founders Forum and to share the virtual stage with so many inspiring female entrepreneurs. The British Embassy is proud to support this programme. It is of paramount importance that we empower Egyptian women with the right tools and skills to allow them to take charge of their own enterprises. I am pleased to announce that until the beginning of October we were able to reach 1180 women, who are looking to found their own businesses and make a real change in Egyptian society.”

— Julia Skorupska, Political and Economic Counsellor at the British Embassy in Cairo

In addition to the panel discussion, experts from Google and YouTube also shared their know-how via two training workshops on digital marketing and product management to support young women in actualizing their ambitions to establish businesses of their own. The forum also hosted the CEO of Azza Fahmy Jewelry, Fatma Ghali, for a fireside chat.

As well as encouraging aspiring women to set out on their entrepreneurial journey, StartEgypt hopes that the forum will allow them to connect with promising female start-ups that they can incubate. “Earlier this year, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, committed to increasing female participation in the workforce by 40%, by 2030,” said Mansi, adding that he hoped StartEgypt could contribute to achieving this developmental goal.

StartEgypt has previously organized multiple, nationwide workshops led by seasoned guest speakers and entrepreneurs. The Female Founders Forum is set to become an annual event, acting as a springboard for women exploring the possibility of launching their own businesses.