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In a big boost to the ongoing efforts supporting female entrepreneurship in the region, Standard Chartered Bank UAE has pledged to assist female-led startups across MENA reach their full potential.

To go about this objective, the multinational bank has forged an alliance with Womena. Per this new deal between the two entities, Standard Chartered will be launching its locally based “Womentum” accelerator program.

For those out of the loop, Womentum is a global program that was initiated under the Women in Tech program. It is designed to help encourage and assist female entrepreneurship across various sectors including, but not limited to, technology, retail, healthcare, and so on. 

The coming cohort of the program will be specifically designed to provide participating startups with all the tools and resources necessary to effectively navigate the challenges thrown in by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We are pleased to be launching the “Womentum” program alongside Womena for the second consecutive year. We’ve seen an incredible impact as the startups from previous cycles have raised $6 million in funding,” said Rola Abu Manneh, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank UAE.

She added, “This year is going to be even more critical as we plan to equip the startups with the right business mindset and capabilities to help them pivot their business model post-Covid. Investing in communities is one of the three priorities of the bank’s comprehensive sustainability strategy as we’ve continuously demonstrated through our flagship initiatives”.

At the end of the locally-based Womentum accelerator program, the three top-performing startups will receive a total of $30,000 in equity-free prize money, alongside several other in-kind perks.