FasterCapital, the Dubai-headquartered online incubator and accelerator, is in talks with two female-founded start-ups in GCC – KutKoot and BFF Gram – to help them to raise funds, the chief executive officer of the incubator said.
FasterCapital has initiated talks with these start-ups on the heels of finalising a capital-raising agreement with Volonte Business Management, another female-led start-up in the UAE.
“We will be tapping into our global network of venture capital, angel investors and also individual investors to tie-up the funds required for these women-led start-ups,” Hesham Zreik, chief executive officer of FasterCapital, told Arabian Business.
“We believe many innovative women in the Middle East are only waiting for the support needed to start ground-breaking businesses in different walks of life,” Zreik said.
Zreik said FasterCapital also offers a funding round each year that’s only open to women, with this year’s round opening in the UAE on June 16.
“We believe that supporting women entrepreneurship is still an ongoing process, and although a lot of progress has been achieved in this regard, more support needs to be provided,” said Zreik, a Forbes top 50 angel investor who has co-founded more than 40 start-ups and invested in over 100 start-ups.
The Saudi-based KutKoot – a children’s entertainment company focused on Arabic content – is co-founded by Mashael Makhadmi, who also developed a Middle East and African street wear brand Mojati, which has now been made into an Amazon brand.
BFF Gram is a UAE-based creative social network app, founded by Monah Al Jneibi, while Volonte Business Management, a business advisory start-up based in the UAE, is founded by Vida Moradinasab.
Zreik said FasterCapital was also in talks with a few other businesses led by women in the Middle East to raise capital for them.
Hesham Zreik, chief executive officer of FasterCapital
He, however, did not disclose the names of these ventures.
Zreik said his firm matches the businesses with its network of angels and partners to raise funds.
“We also reach out to people from outside of our network. A team of an expert and two to eight people work on promoting and matching the start-ups to raise the capital needed. The funding sources – such as angel investors, venture capitals or crowdfunding – are decided on the basis of plans discussed with the founders,” Zreik said.
Sector experts said many accelerators, institutional and individual investors – home grown and international – have been actively supporting female entrepreneurs with funding and mentoring, leading to the birth of several female-led start-ups in the GCC region of late.
Gathern, NOW Money, Bessern, Nomad Homes and Xcute are among the GCC-based female-led start-ups which have recently raised funds – ranging from $5,000 to $7 million in pre-seed to Series C rounds – from a clutch of Middle East and global investors, according to Crunchbase, which tracks and monitors private company data.
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