Dubai: Dubai SME and Womena launched the Future Founders and Future Funders Programme to boost support for entrepreneurship among Emirati women with the help of venture capitals (VC).

The programme targets university-level Emirati women, and aims to support them to become future investors and entrepreneurs.

Womena said it believes Emirati women have an important role to play as entrepreneurs and investors, after a 2017 Crunchbase report showed that just 7 per cent of decision-makers at VC firms in the United States are women.

According to ArabNet, in the Middle East and North Africa, female founders make up 14 per cent of entrepreneurs.

The programme launched by Dubai SME and Womena targeted young women who were considering a career in finance or were interested in entrepreneurship.

Saeed Matar Al Marri, deputy chief executive of Dubai SME, said that entrepreneurship has a crucial role in empowering women, and that Dubai SME is seeing an increase in entrepreneurial initiatives from women. To promote entrepreneurial talent, Dubai SME is focusing on bridging gaps, particularly in terms of knowledge and funding.

“Our partnership with Womena marks an important step that will enable women entrepreneurs and investors to deploy their resources on successful and sustainable initiatives,” he said.

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