UAE women entrepreneurs driving startup scene but funding gap remains

The UAE and wider MENA region are seeing a marked rise in women-led business activity, but a stark funding shortfall persists. As of March 2026, 48,257 Emirati women are reported to be entrepreneurs and women own or co‑own more than 114,000 small and medium‑sized enterprises across the UAE. The Abu Dhabi Registration Authority issued 3,058 new economic licences to female entrepreneurs in the first half of 2026, up 6.4% from 2,873 in the same period in 2025. Yet capital flows tell a different story: male‑founded startups in MENA captured nearly $1.7 billion across 213 deals in H1 2026, while female‑founded companies secured only $2.5 million across 14 transactions — roughly 0.14% of total funding.

"Getting meetings with investors, we have sort of figured it out," said Divya Unnikrishnan, co‑founder of NoorConnect, describing the gulf between access and actual investment. "Two or three meetings in, they are still not convinced... The final cheque… it’s been a challenge."

Context and details

• Regional participation: TiE Women MENA runs an accelerator and pitch competition across five tracks — including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and parts of the Levant — that places finalists in front of investors and awards a $50,000 equity cash prize to the winner.
• Demand and supply: More than 200 women applied to TiE Women MENA’s programmes this year, roughly double the number when it began, according to Carlina Marani, who co‑leads the initiative.
• Sector focus: Marani and others see strong founder pipelines in AI and health tech; NoorConnect, for example, builds AI products at a moment when the technology is attracting major rounds.
• Global comparators: The World Economic Forum reported that in 2025 only 2% of total venture capital globally went to all‑female founder teams, a figure Marani cites to caution that the problem is not unique to the Middle East.

Investors and advocates identify structural barriers behind the numbers. Heather Henyon, founding partner of Mindshift Capital, which invests in women‑led companies across the US, Middle East and Europe, said the issue is not a lack of supply: "We are inundated by women‑led companies seeking capital. There certainly isn’t a shortage." Henyon added that the biggest funding gap for female founders appears at Series A, and pointed to the low share of women as general partners at venture firms as part of the problem: "Change one side to change the other."

Carlina Marani, after more than two decades in leadership roles at Accenture, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco and Dell, said the accelerator focuses on mentorship, investor access and networking but that disparities appear even when women reach late stages of the funding pipeline. "The biggest problem is the cheque size," she said, noting that women frequently ask for — and receive — smaller amounts than male counterparts.

Outlook

Momentum in licences, applications to accelerator programmes and founder quality suggest more women are building investable companies across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Levant. But participants and investors say closing the gap will require not only more founder support and competitions that spotlight women‑led teams, but also shifts in who controls capital and how cheque sizes are decided. Until those structural changes are made, founders like Unnikrishnan and initiatives like TiE Women MENA may continue to improve access without a matching rise in funded outcomes.