The Women Innovators Programme (WIP) is a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Arab States and Four Years From Now (4YFN), the start-up platform of the global mobile operators’ association, GSMA. WIP is a mentorship programme for women-led, digital, social impact-oriented start-ups in the Arab States. While innovative, women-led start-ups are becoming more common in the region, women face many barriers to entrepreneurship, such as lack of access to finance and discriminatory gender norms. Among the barriers is also a lack of business-relevant mentorship opportunities and social networks, which this programme seeks to address.
Who are they looking for?
- Women who are Founders, Co-Founders or in the Executive Board of the Start-up.
- Startups that provide digital-based solutions including but not limited to: Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, Big Data, Blockchain,
- Start-ups should be Early Stage but already in the market (beyond ideation): and should contribute to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Start-ups should be based in one of the following Arab States: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, State of Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, & Yemen.
- Participants who are committed to actively participating in the full mentorship programme.
- Participants who are able to communicate effectively in English
The deadline to apply is March 21st.