In the Spotlight: Some inspiring women entrepreneurs from Egypt
#EgyptianWomenEntrepreneurs #BreakingBarriers #WomenInBusiness
Women from Egypt or “The Gift of the Nile” are making waves in the entrepreneurial world – redefining industries & driving economic change. Despite facing systemic challenges such as limited access to funding, societal expectations & regulatory hurdles, these women have turned obstacles into stepping stones for success. From launching tech startups to leading sustainable fashion brands and pioneering social enterprises, Egyptian women entrepreneurs are proving that innovation & resilience go hand in hand.
Trailblazing Women Entrepreneurs: Egypt’s Rising Stars in Business
The Egyptian government and private sector have taken notable steps to support female-led businesses – offering mentorship programs, funding opportunities & training initiatives. However, the journey of these women is not just about economic gain – it’s about rewriting the narrative, inspiring future generations & fostering a more inclusive business ecosystem.
As more Egyptian women step into leadership roles & create groundbreaking businesses, they are shaping a future where women are not just participants in the economy, but key drivers of progress & innovation.
Here, we highlight some of Egypt’s enterprising women, showcasing their impact, challenges & triumphs. Their stories not only reflect personal ambition but also the broader movement toward gender equality in entrepreneurship.
> May Abdel Asim, Founder of What Women Want… Magazine
For over a decade, May Abdel Asim’s company, Media & More has been breaking taboos and fighting paternalism through What Women Want… Magazine.
The idea was to create a woman’s catalogue, when she started the magazine; and in the market, she found there wasn’t anything that motivated her mind! She wanted to break the idea that women are just interested in makeup & fashion; and she felt that of course, women want to look good, but they also want to talk about careers & interesting topics too – that affect them in society.
So, steering away from clichés or stereotypes, her photo shoots swapped professional models for regular women. They wanted to show young girls that it’s ok to have curves or a bigger chest; and they want to promote a ‘positive’ body image.
With bold covers featuring female athletes, women with disabilities, and anti-bullying campaigns – the magazine has indeed, grown to become an industry power player changing the rules of advertising.
She explained that they do challenges that are different – to show that women empowerment is not about burning bra, nor is it about running crazily on the streets; it’s about getting justice for everyone and allowing women to make their own decisions, regardless of what direction they decide to take!!
> Shadw Helal, Co-Founder of Rescue App
This entrepreneur decided to launch her first business following a traumatic incident experienced by a friend, who had come to her in tears, as she was harassed by a man following her! That’s when young Shadw Helal stepped into starting something on her own, apart from studying medicine, running a blog & founding a game changing start-up – to protect women from sexual harassment.
So, Rescue App was launched, which she created with the help of a developer friend. Having run the start-up for just a couple of months, the young entrepreneur participated in the Orange start-up Cup and various women entrepreneurship competitions. They did an experimental launch for Android, and developed a prototype for a wearable device that activates through voice order.
Incidentally, her family thought she was crazy; but they supported her and they were her source of funding, and invested 80,000 LE to kick-start the business. Her start-up set up a network of volunteers scattered across different areas, who could rescue women calling for help. The app is available for free and through a premium service, including a wearable device and voice order.
Her journey went on to approaching investors and creating a business plan. Even though it doesn’t really solve the root of the problem, she is bent on continuing this in the future with self-defence lessons for women and awareness campaigns, to let men know how ladies feel walking in the streets. She admitted that doing business was not on her mind at first!
> Manar El Mokkadem, Founder of PoleFit Egypt
It was not until she actually kicked off her pole studio that Manar El Mokkadem realized the impact of her fitness start-up, in empowering women. Initially, her family didn’t know what she was doing!! She had to be very patient, because the industry didn’t exist and she had to educate the market. It was very common to have students coming and saying that not to mention they come here, if they met outside!
Soon, she realized the scope of what initially was an initiative to practice an activity unheard of, which went far beyond physical exercise. She admitted that there is a lot of psychology that happens around doing pole fitness. The first time this became evident to her was the first day a munaqaba (a woman wearing the full covered Niqab) entered the pole studio. It really creates a space where women begin to embrace the relationship between the mind and the body!
One very important thing it does is – fighting body-shaming. In fact, one of her students once openly shared that “pole taught me to look at my body as a beautiful thing”, and to her, pole was not something sexual but rather something that taught her to make peace with her own body and not hate it!!
Today, her business has been replicated by other pole fitness studios in Cairo, with which she is partnering in an effort to grow the entire industry. She also started bringing international performers to create the first global competition exclusively for women, which was the very first opportunity for hijabi women to join a competition and perform.
> Dina Sherif, CEO of Ahead of the Curve
This prominent entrepreneur, Dina Sheriff is really a power player in Egypt’s social start-up ecosystem who partnered with Facebook for the launch of the SheMeansBusiness programme. Setting off to lead the creation of a pool of women-led businesses, who are using social media and the digital space to scale across borders, the programme was launched contemporarily across various countries. Her consultancy, Ahead of the Curve, trained 300 women in Egypt in their first workshop!
At the heart of her mission lies a bigger pursuit: closing the asphyxiating gender gap that is stifling, not only the development of women but also the local economy. She realised that a very small percentage of women sit on boards; and globally, there are less than 15 percent, but in Egypt’s it’s only 1 percent. In fact, she felt that if there were an equal ratio of men and women in the formal economy, that could increase their GDP by 34 percent, if not more.
It’s not that women need to be empowered, they just need to be given the space, and they will take it – is her firm opinion.
> Rania Ayman, Founder of Entreprenelle and Organizer of the She Can Conference
It’s very hard to keep up with pace with her. At 24, Rania Ayman’s founded Entreprenelle, and in less than a year, she hosted more than five workshops and five mega events across Egyptian governorates. Her start-up strives to democratize an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is heavily English-language focused, but connects women with resources to become entrepreneurs – in Arabic.
She confesses that women are not under-represented; they are just not aware. But once they know, they will be equally present and represented!! Her start-up even won the Injaz MasterCard Cup and reached the finals at Start-up Cup Egypt. It was born from Ayman’s realization while working at a PR and marketing company. She used to focus on event management for start-ups initially, and she noted that out of 60 attendees, only two or three were women – one of them, usually, was the host. And, she realized women are not aware of the resources to launch business, so they are not encouraged to do it.
Recently, in her event, She Can, 300 eager would-be entrepreneurs gathered to share success and failure stories. And, while hosting on-the-spot workshops on ideation she got down to connecting them to accelerators and incubators. In Egypt, there are only one or two events for entrepreneurs, and they are not focused on women, especially the early-stage entrepreneurs and boots trappers. She shared that all anyone needs is 20,000 or 30,000 EGP to start a business! Relying on sponsorships, CSR programmes, and revenue from the event ticket, her
start-up kicked off with big goals, aiming to radically change the Egyptian entrepreneurial landscape. In the coming years, change will be huge, she predicts.
> Nadia Gamal El Din, Founder of Rahet Bally
Is motherhood an empowering experience? Nadia Gamal El Din turned the tables, catering to a market that was once locally considered economically inactive. She declared that in this society, people think that your life ends when you become a Mom, which is the case for many women who lack support! This company is focusing on giving mothers the resources they need to have personal space and continue with their professional and personal development, explains the entrepreneur, who launched her parenting platform – Rahet Bally.
She was actually inspired by her own experience as a Mom. The main challenge for women today is their career options, because their family members or husbands are usually too involved in approving and judging whether is it suitable, or safe, or prestigious enough!! Women should be free to travel the world, to choose her career, and to be told that she has everything it takes to do so, even after they have children, according to her.
Having invested LE 150,000, this entrepreneur resorted to bootstrapping and does not seek investment, but rather revenue streams that ensure the platform’s sustainability. Wanting to give back, she doesn’t consider her start-up a social business. And they have a solid revenue model too.
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