Prime Highlight
- The ‘Elevate Her’ Programme will support 40 women-led startups in the Middle East and Africa with mentorship, business training, and access to global investor networks.
- The initiative aims to narrow the $42 billion funding gap for women entrepreneurs while strengthening resilient, sustainable businesses in the region.
Key Facts
- Startups will be selected from 13 countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Yemen, and will receive investment-readiness coaching and acceleration support.
- The programme prioritises ventures in sustainability, fintech, and agri-finance, key sectors for job creation, climate resilience, and financial inclusion.
Background
Seedstars and the SANAD Technical Assistance Facility launched the ‘Elevate Her’ Programme to support women-led startups in the Middle East and Africa. The program helps women founders with business training, investment preparation, and access to global networks of mentors and investors. The programme will select 40 startups, giving them tailored support to scale in markets where women often struggle to secure funding.
Seedstars, a Swiss venture builder working in more than 90 emerging markets, brings mentorship, venture-building experience, and catalytic capital to the initiative. SANAD TAF adds a strong regional focus on economic resilience and the inclusion of women and youth. Both organisations aim to narrow the nearly $42 billion funding gap for women entrepreneurs across the region.
According to the announcement, startups will be chosen from countries including Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda, and Yemen. Selected founders will take part in structured acceleration programmes and receive investment-readiness coaching. The initiative will also connect them with a global network of experienced mentors and interested investors.
The programme will prioritise ventures in sustainability, fintech, and agri-finance—sectors that play a major role in job creation, climate resilience, and financial inclusion. These areas are also increasingly shaped by women founders in emerging markets, despite their ongoing challenges in accessing early-stage capital.
Seedstars and SANAD TAF said the initiative reflects a broader shift where women entrepreneurs are developing solutions for essential needs such as energy, farming, and digital payments. By combining Seedstars’ market expertise with SANAD TAF’s development-driven mandate, Elevate Her aims to strengthen women-led businesses, help them withstand economic shocks, and build more resilient entrepreneurial ecosystems across MEA.
