In Saudi Arabia culture the personal barriers to ancient beliefs, gender discrimination has always been a huge barrier to female progress in the working area and it’s the main reason of insufficiency of female at Chief level.
Regardless of Middle East’s sustained startup development the area yet has some different issues. Among the world average of about 47.8%, it has only 24.6% of female workers making it among the lowest of all.
According to the CEO of Saudi Arabia’s first woman-focused improver Emon Shakoor female participation is low in professional and technical jobs in comparison to males as reported by McKinsey.
She said that women face additional difficulties while starting up a business compared to men. For women, to start businesses, gender discrimination and cultural norms are extra challenges.
It was 2017 when in Saudia Arabia Emon as a 23-year-old started her own business and develop a strong ingenious network. At the start of Blossom‘s Idea, she otherwise finds it tough to access and communicate high-level sector.
She added that at that era of entrepreneurship difficult for women to have some initial advice or any sector that provide guidance. At that time she came to know that women have some different levels of problems while starting up her own business in KSA.
She said that she wants to provide experienced advice to women who wished to startup their businesses and to enlighten them about the problems they might face in the way with help of the Blossom platform. It’s a worldly issue that occurs even in silicon valley too, she added.
In 2019, 5.1% of total funding which is almost double to U.S figure goes to female founders solely. More than twice the US percentage, 4.5% deals were of women startup founders.
She said that yet we have a long journey to cover as she knows as a founder of Blossom that there are many efforts to add women part in the economy.
Providing accessibility to teachers, speakers, and investors she provides initial launchers a cadetship and intro day, besides enlightening them with required resources, education, and networking.
She said that the launchers will be provided with counseling from entrepreneurship models, business introductions, learning rules and making them into work, education relating to marketing and finance, and much more.
She said that Blossom is trying to provide women a total view of business startups in both national and international markets from both Silicon Valley and area with highly technical programs.
Including three big events as Techpreneureship Sprint, SELLA, and THIQAH, Blossom provides more than 300 women targeting launchers. A fourth event is about to happen online.
She said that the corona situation initiated the use of online culture and it would help us to make a network of Blossom strong and reach a global system of startups.
Its just initial steps of Shakoor Blossom is in the constant way of improving and growing with its teaching programs covering GCC and Mena.
She has a view that Blossom is moving forward and is a platform for women founders in MENA, it’s for every woman who has a dream of starting a business on a successful scale. She also has a plan for growing her business network and investing in many talents across the Middle East.