TiE Dubai, the regional chapter of TiE Global, has officially announced the winners of the sixth edition of the TiE Women MENA 2025 competition, following the MENA pitch finals held on 13th October at Expand North Star, the startup event of GITEX Global at Dubai Harbour. The MENA title went to Ayesha Mansha, Founder of Sahl, from Saudi Arabia, with Rahaf Aldruby and Seem Alkabbani, Co-Founders of TarKeys, from the rest of the ME track, named runner-up, receiving equity-free grants of AED 70,000 and AED 30,000, respectively.
This year drew almost 200 licensed, women-founded businesses, with strong showings in compliance and AI, edtech, clean beauty, femtech, and HR tech. After regional rounds across the program’s five tracks, five standout founders advanced to the regional finals: Anisha Oberoi, SECRET SKIN, from the UAE; Ayesha Mansha, Sahl, from Saudi Arabia; Mahra AlQubaisi, Elevation, from the Emirati track; Nesma Amin, Aziza, from Egypt; and Rahaf Aldruby and Seem Alkabbani, TarKeys, from the rest of the ME track. Each finalist was paired with one or two dedicated mentors who worked closely with them to get pitch- and market-ready, helping scale their businesses ahead of the regional finals.
All five regional winners advance to the TiE Global Summit in Jaipur, India, in January 2026 to compete for a USD 50,000 global prize pool. Each founder also received a pod to showcase their business at Expand North Star.
The winning company, Sahl, is a digital platform in KSA that simplifies and automates compliance processes, helping businesses manage regulatory requirements efficiently so they can focus on innovation and growth. The runner-up, TarKeys, is an e-learning platform transforming education in Syria by delivering interactive, high-quality content for baccalaureate students and empowering teachers to build a knowledge-driven future.
Ten mentors, the majority TiE Charter Members, will continue supporting the cohort beyond the finals.
Recent research reveals that gender parity could add US$2 trillion to MENA’s GDP, yet male-only ventures still raise roughly five times what women-only ventures do. Women lead under 5% of businesses region-wide, even as the UAE saw a 23.1% rise in women’s private-sector participation in 2024. TiE Dubai aims to make consistent efforts to close the gap through practical support, mentorship, funding access, visibility, and a clear path from pitch to market, continuing to back women entrepreneurs with regional networking and community engagement initiatives that strengthen their growth and presence in the ecosystem.
Through its diverse charter members, TiE Dubai provides assistance and guidance to a community of more than 3,000 budding entrepreneurs through events and programs that span Networking, Mentoring, Funding, Incubation and Education.
Next steps for finalists
All five winners will continue one-to-one work with their assigned mentors to refine go-to-market and investor materials ahead of the TiE Global Summit, Jaipur in India. TiE Dubai will coordinate preparation sessions and targeted introductions across the TiE global network.
For more information, visit the official TiE Women website.
