Saudi Women Are Not Only Driving Cars, They Are Driving Economies
Google San Francisco, where two companies join forces on a mission to invest in women led startups from Saudi Arabia to Silicon Valley.
Jul 31, 2018, 15:09 ET
SAN FRANCISCO, July 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Spark, the bay area's largest community of young philanthropists invested in gender equality, and Blossom, the first accelerator for female founders in Saudi Arabia put on a women & entrepreneurship empowerment event to both inspire and equip the next generation of current and future female leaders.
"Female founders received only 2% of VC dollars in 2017, and only 9% of U.S. VCs are women," explains Amanda Brock, the Executive Director of Spark.
The event has a rare focus targeting current Saudi students studying across California to prepare them with the best tools, network and resources to start and succeed at their next venture.
"As one of the youngest Saudi entrepreneurs in the kingdom my advice to especially the youth is to start now, start young," says Emon Shakoor, CEO & Founder of Blossom.
At the event attendees will meet the women changing the game of entrepreneurship globally.
"Invested is a dynamic, educational, and confidence boosting event with TED-style talks, mentorship from leaders in the field, and strategic networking activities with founders, funders, tech giants, leading accelerators and incubators from Silicon Valley and the Arab world," Emon elaborates.
Blossom also launched a promotional campaign for the event called the #Confidence_Campaign where they interviewed dozens of women across Saudi Arabia to share their stories of success and confidence to inspire other Saudi women to lean in and advocate for job creation in Saudi Arabia as it is currently part of Saudi Arabia's 2030 Vision.
Spark and Blossom are not in their mission alone with tremendous support from sponsors such as Silicon Valley Bank, Nour Nouf, SEDCO Holding's Rowad Riyali, Beauti, Saudis in USA and Destination Jeddah.
Emon confidently affirms, "Today, 70% of Saudi Arabia's population is under the age of 34, there are more Saudi women graduating college, more Saudi women starting businesses, and research shows that the most successful companies have at least one female founder on the team so this year Saudi women are not only driving cars, they are driving economies and are paving the way for Saudi Arabia's future."
SOURCE Blossom