Womena, a Dubai-based angel investment fund, has launched their very own accelerator program last March. They named the program Womentum,an early stage accelerator program, that aims to encourage and support female founders based in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The program will take place over the span of four months. The first cohort includes 10 startups from all over the MENA Region covering various industries.

The criteria to apply for the program was:

•  The startup team’s commitment to their business
• Innovativeness of their tech product
• Product Addresses a large and growing market
• The startup needs to be women-led and based in the MENA Region

Christina Andreassen, womentum’s program manager said: “This process has made it abundantly clear that the region holds a wealth of talented female leaders and we were proud to see women leading companies in verticals as diverse as edutech to health tech, nanotech and construction tech.” 

The program will kick off in July, with the startups traveling to Berlin for a two-week boot camp. Then they will have a two-month execution period back in their home countries, where they will have online mentoring sessions. Finally, they will wrap up the program in Dubai for another two-week boot camp and finally, the startups will be ready to pitch their ideas during demo day in October.

Here are the 9 selected startups (out of 150 applications) that will be participating in Womentum’s first Cohort:

1. X Pay (Egypt) – Working on the cashless transformation of communities through a mobile app for community members with a family wallet utilizing blockchain technology, as well as a community management web portal.
2. Seabex (Tunisia) – A precision farming hub that offers smart monitoring of environmental data using AI to help farmers make better decisions.
3. Sadeed (Jordan) – An AI-powered tool to manage and respond to public comments on social media platforms, using machine learning to improve performance and to better understand inputs of all languages.
4. We Share Property (UAE) – An integrated platform that aggregates upwards of $500 from multiple investors into a property they choose, earning rental income and capital growth with zero hassle.
5. Mrayti (Jordan) – A unique mobile salon for the Arab world where customers can book different services of their choosing, with a booking system for stylists and artists integrated with their calendars.
   
6. Mathaqi (Saudi Arabia) – Authentic home-cooked meals from a variety of international cuisines delivered to users on demand.
7. Zelij (Morocco) – Working to turn plastic waste into sustainable building materials, such as eco-friendly paving stones and floor tiles made from plastic waste.
8. Jaazi (Saudi Arabia/UAE) – An employee engagement tool that looks to combat disengagement in the workplace using a perks and benefits marketplace and a pulse-survey tool.
9. Furnwish (Egypt) – Using immersive augmented reality experiences to empower homeowners in discovering, visualizing and interacting with furniture in the space it will live in, making it more practical to shop for furniture and home decor. 

We’re hoping to see these 9 startups at STEP 2019 with our partner Womena!