Coca-Cola Foundation Partners with Saudi Women-Led Tech Startup Lesser App

• Coca-Cola Foundation collaborates with Lesser App, which is a women-owned and women-founded Saudi tech startup
• Created to extend Lesser App's community-oriented programs
• Supports Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals on innovation and women empowerment

Emphasizing the increasing power of women businesspeople across the Gulf, the Coca-Cola Foundation has signed a strategic collaboration with Lesser App, a Saudi tech startup that was established and headed by women. On August 12 in Riyadh, the partnership was announced to accelerate the company's community-impact programs and pursue Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 objectives for innovation and gender parity.

Lesser App has received praise for its technology-driven social impact programs — from eco-friendly business software to programs that bring digital literacy to underserved communities. Through this partnership, the Coca-Cola Foundation will grant funds, mentorship, and exposure to its international network that will enable the startup to grow its presence within Saudi Arabia and across the wider Middle East.

The initiative will emphasize three priorities: building the technical competence of the startup, increasing access to markets, and increasing training of women and young people. It will also be lending support to the development of new employment in Saudi Arabia's fast expanding technology industry.

The move follows a shift in sentiment in the region towards women entrepreneurship. Traditionally, women startups struggled to raise cash and connect with networks, but policy shifts and corporate partnerships are now bridging that gap. Specialists predict high-profile partnerships like this one will encourage more women to join the tech sector and pour investment into an underserved part of the startup ecosystem.

With worldwide corporate support and the wave of national reform, Lesser App is becoming a shining model for socially inspired innovation in the Kingdom — one that can reshape the position of women in the region's tech scene.