Sharjah Launches Initiative to Support Women Entrepreneurs

• Sharjah marked Women's Entrepreneurship Day with concrete action
• The Sharjah Women Impact Fellowship - SWIF - is launched
• The program invests in women-led ventures that focus both on scale and social impact

The Women's Entrepreneurship Day, celebrated by Sharjah on November 19, provided tangible support for businesses run by women.

As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting women in business, Sharjah is now also investing, through the Sharjah Women Impact Fellowship (SWIF), into businesses that combine growth opportunity with social impact in several areas such as health care, infrastructure, design, sustainability, and food systems.

The fellowship was launched by the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center, Sheraa, and is under the leadership of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi.

It is designed to provide a cohort of 12 women founders leading established businesses with mentorship and support. The fellowship represents a growing commitment in the UAE to provide outlets for women entrepreneurs to play a role in national economic priorities.

This is only the continuation of the improving direction of what Sharjah has been doing for some time. The Sheraa entrepreneurship ecosystem has already supported over 450 founders who have created more than Dh372 million in revenues and thousands of jobs.

Women are at the centre: 51 percent of startups supported by Sheraa are women-led, a reflection of Sharjah's commitment to ensure equal opportunity and more sustained participation.

SWIF offers mentorship, access to investors and an equity-free Dh500, 000 grant funded in the name of Dr Asma Fikri and Amna Fikri after their late father, Dr Mahmoud Mohamed Fikri.

The programme looks to empower women founders with scalable businesses solving pragmatic challenges - in line with Sharjah's purpose-driven approach to entrepreneurship.

A number of participants operate at the crossroads of culture and commerce. Noora Shamsi Jewellery's founder, Dr Noora Alshamsi, fuses cultural heritage with sustainable production.

Locallure by Maitha Alansari nurtures emerging designers while creating more global access to the local talent pool.

Teel Floral Studio and Lamak Studios, founded by Noora AlSuwaidi, incorporate traditional motifs into modern floral and spatial design. Khateera, co-founded by Rana Askoul, specializes in women-centered Arab media, while her wellness project Nara creates community-based offerings.

Other founders focus on sustainable food ventures. Hylo, co-founded by Malin Raman Delin, is building a circular retail model to reduce waste.

Maya Sherif Ibrahim's "More.Than" is scaling a health-conscious food brand focused on local production. At Bumblebee Food, founder Qadreya Al Awadhi leads a children's nutrition company offering organic, farm-sourced meals and expanding its regional reach.