- Reem Dad, a 22-year-old from Saudi Arabia, is developing a platform for pilgrims and tourists to experience a virtual reality tour of the holy city of Madinah.
Dad and Zahid were among 14 young women social entrepreneurs from the kingdom who recently attended an intensive program at Halcyon, a Washington-based business incubator, to turn their ideas into reality."Everything is changing now... There is space for females everywhere," said Dad, whose virtual reality program is called Taibah VR.
Other projects include an Arabic-language app to help autistic children communicate, matching employers and workers to reduce unemployment and underemployment, as well as a video game to motivate youths to engage in community service.
The Saudi government's Vision 2030 aims in part to promote local businesses, including those run by women, whose participation in the workforce is expected to grow from 22 per cent to 30 per cent by the end of the next decade.
Halcyon fellow Asmaa Alabdallah, 22, founded BitGo, a Pokemon Go-like augmented reality game that uses gamification techniques to encourage community service.
"Of course, we have a lot of challenges... but the most important thing is that you will never give up," she said, insisting like Dad that her greatest obstacle lay not in finding local programming talent.
The training was funded in part by Madinah-based Taibah University, which launched a competition with support from the Saudi consulate in New York.
During their two-week stay, the women fine-tuned their business pitches, built up their strategic networks and participated in workshops on negotiations, sales and vulnerability.
They got advice from large companies like Amazon Web Services, other startups and consultants such as Deloitte.
The program ended with the women presenting their fledgling ventures to some 150 investors, philanthropists, as well as international organisation and embassy representatives.
"We expect these women to return to Saudi Arabia not just as future leaders for their country and their region, but to start successful ventures," said Halcyon director of policy and international programs Josh Mandell.
The women got workspace and housing at one of Washington's most illustrious addresses in the tony Georgetown neighbourhood, Halcyon House, a sprawling red brick mansion with a sweeping view of the Potomac River.
Since its inception in 2014, Halcyon Incubator's full-time fellowship has supported 61 ventures it says have raised more than $56 million and created some 500 jobs positively impacting 675,000 people.
Last year, Halcyon became an independent non-profit organisation that also encompasses public policy and the arts.It was launched by Kate Goodall and Japanese American biochemist Sachiko Kuno, a co-founder of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and a driving force behind the Washington-based, female-led investment fund WE Capital. - AFP
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