International Women’s Day – held every year on March 8, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender equality. There’s even a dedicated website for it you should definitely check out.
At Berytech, we believe that women should be celebrated every day, for their achievements, resilience, patience, passion, innovation, leadership, resourcefulness, and creativity.
We have created many support programs tailored for the busy lives of our women entrepreneurs and we’ve seen them emerge as leaders of successful startups that have grown from simple ideas to global companies.
Helping forge a gender equal world
Following the International Women’s Day theme “an equal world is an enabled world”, we are helping forge a gender equal world by celebrating women’s achievements. So, we’ve picked 18 startups led by women and mompreneurs, highlighting the diversity of their innovations. We invite you to explore their solutions and support their businesses and startups.
Da3douka
Afaf Balaa recently won the Kiri Mompreneur Challenge with her natural homemade playdough. She launched Da3douka in 2016 with her secret recipe. From a simple cooking pot at home, she catered for playdough needs and as orders for her Da3douka increased, she innovated a machine to boost her production. Da3douka is not only fun but also improves children’s motor skills. You can buy it by direct orders on her social media channel.
Jaleesa
To solve the problem of trusted childcare in Lebanon, Angela Solomon created a platform where you can book a babysitter online. Jaleesa now works with over 150 trusted and trained women providing a personalized service for busy parents. Download the app to book your babysitter by the hour, for activities and events, or on a monthly basis.
Taqa
After finding a gap in the healthy snack market in Lebanon, Soumaya Merhi decided to create her own. Taqa – her bakery, specializes in wheat-free, GMO-free, and vegan-friendly snacks. Taqa products are leading in the health and wellness food industry in Lebanon and are distributed all over the Middle East. Buy your Taqa cookies, maamoul, energy bars and crackers at your local supermarket.
Essmak
Essmak provides a practical solution for busy mothers. This startup supplies high quality, personalized labels for children’s belongings. Stephanie Hanna found the gap in the local market when she was faced with the daunting task of labeling the belongings of her twins. Today, you can order your waterproof and washable labels online, customized with just a few clicks.
Potion Kitchen
Rafa Hojeij is a biochemist with a master’s degree in industrial technology and a specialization in organic skincare. With a life-long dream of creating cosmetics, she’s invested her knowledge to formulate a plant-based skincare line made with high-end raw material. Shop products for your face, hair and body on the website.
Bokja
Did you know that Christian Louboutin chose a Bokja piece for each of his stores? Ever since they created the brand in 2000, Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri’s designs have toured the world. The duo has created an aesthetic trademark with their colorful textiles and embroideries. Shop embroidered furniture, cushions and clothes straight off their website.
Karoline Lang
The minimal luxurious designs of Karoline Tawil are based on exceptional Lebanese workmanship. The brand was created in 2010 and has since then grown an impressive international fashion presence. From Paris to Tokyo, check the brand’s website to find out where you can buy its signature pieces.
Loolia closet
Loolia Closet in another successful platform co-founded by Elsa Aoun, founder of Arabic content platforms Ounousa, Loolia and Sohati. The e-commerce website serves as an online marketplace for Loolia’s leading blogger network to sell products from their own closets. Shop new, used and original items on the website.
Instabeat
This innovative hardware startup made international news for creating wearable tech for swimmers. Hind Hobeika raised VC funding and crowdsourced for her startup as she moved headquarters to San Francisco to better keep up its growth. Instabeat is now sold worldwide on the company’s website.
Wonder.full Box
Saria Hanna created a series of curated experiences that can be gifted in the wonder.full box. The user can choose from different types of activities in catalog and book them on the spot. From spa treatments to nature hikes or even flower arrangement classes, this is a gift that is sure to please. Buy the box here.
Kamkalima
Siroun Shamigian created her award-winning platform Kamkalima to help Arabic teachers manage their daily tasks while making Arabic language more fun for their young students. The platform is currently being used by more than 60 schools around the Arab world. Watch this video on how the platform works.
MAD
Lise and Rima Yacoub turned their love for music, arts and design into a platform that connects more than 1000 artists from different disciplines to a growing audience in Europe and the Middle East. The platform allows you to discover new artists, buy their art and back their projects. Click here to start discovering.
Makerbrane
MakerBrane is a creative platform for both designing and building toys co-founded by Sabine de Maussion. The platform is disrupting the toy industry by bringing more diversity to a relatively traditional market. Start exploring this creative platform here.
Synkers
Audrey Nakad created Synkers to connect students to private tutors. Through the platform, you get access to more than 1000+ tutors in a multitude of subjects that you can book online. Discover how this platform has redesigned the tutoring experience here.
Batchig
Aline Kamakian has received many honors and rewards for her work in preserving and propagating traditional Armenian food. Batchig, a culinary experience that Aline has created, serves Levantine food with an Armenian inspiration. Discover the beautiful space and creative menu here.
Wakilni
Multi-award-winning engineer Yusr Sabra realized that everyone at some point would rather have someone else take care of their errands. This is how she started Wakilni, a courier service powered by high tech that provides a logistics arm for e-commerce businesses, startups, online stores and individuals. Visit their website to order a service.
The Little Engineer
A pioneer in STEAM education for kids, Rana Chemaitelly launched The Little Engineer in 2009, investing in young minds to prepare them for the future. The Little Engineer provides tailored hands-on learning activities that allow kids and teens to unleash their full potential in pre-engineering skills. Visit their website to learn more about this platform that has become a global partner for Airbus Foundation.
The Makers Hub
Founder of The Makers Hub, Sabine Kahi created this makerspace for youth to develop their practical skills and technical knowledge using open source technologies such as manufacturing, electronics, 3D printing and scanning. Find out about the different courses and services this platform provides on their website.
Celebrating Women’s Achievements
Berytech partnered with the Lebanese League for Women in Business – LLWB, to create a series of articles titled ‘Women on Top’, published on the Berytech blog.
“The purpose was to highlight women entrepreneurs and executives by writing a series of motivational interviews about their stories, overcoming their own challenges and their entrepreneurial endeavors,” explains Reina Dib Angoujard – Head of Communication and Outreach at Berytech.
The articles were promoted online and on social media to inspire others and celebrate women’s achievements. Read the profiles here.
So, let’s build a gender equal world
Equality is not a women’s issue, it’s a business issue. Gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive. A gender equal world can be healthier, wealthier and more harmonious – so what’s not great about that?
The race is on for the gender equal boardroom, a gender equal government, gender equal media coverage, gender equal workplaces, gender equal sports coverage, more gender equality in health and wealth … so let’s make it happen.[1]
