CAIRO, Egypt — The Standard Chartered Foundation has announced a second Women in Tech Accelerator cohort in Egypt for women-led, technology-enabled startups that have demonstrated market validation and are preparing to scale.
The programme will be delivered with Egyptian entrepreneurship organisation Entlaq and global startup-support organisation Village Capital. Organisers say 12 companies will receive investment-readiness training, business-development support, mentorship and access to professional networks.
At the end of the programme, three participating startups are expected to share $35,000 in equity-free funding. “Equity-free” means founders should not surrender shares in exchange for the grant, although applicants must still review reporting, publicity and spending conditions.
Eligible businesses must have a gender-diverse team with at least one woman co-founder. They should be registered and operating in Egypt, have operated for at least one year and possess a minimum viable product. The programme targets seed to pre-Series A companies with technology-enabled, scalable solutions and demonstrable social, environmental or economic impact.
Founders should prepare registration documents, ownership information, customer or revenue evidence, product metrics and a clear explanation of how programme support would accelerate growth. Any claim of market validation should be supported by paying customers, pilots, contracts or comparable evidence.
The wider regional Women in Tech initiative says its 2025 participants reached nearly 16,000 new customers, created more than 430 jobs and increased revenue collectively by $2.7 million. Those are programme-reported figures and should not be treated as independently audited outcomes unless supporting data is released.
The Egypt announcement does not clearly state an application deadline. Secondary opportunity listings also describe the closing date as unspecified. Publishing an “apply now” story without a verified closing date risks directing founders toward an inactive or incomplete process.
SheFront should obtain three confirmations before release: the official application URL, the exact closing time and time zone, and whether all 12 businesses compete for the $35,000 or whether other country-level funding is available.
Once those details are confirmed, this will be a strong opportunity for Egyptian founders seeking structured preparation rather than only a competition cheque. Until then, the story must remain on hold.
Funding: $35,000 shared by three selected winners.
Planned cohort: 12 women-led or gender-diverse Egyptian startups.
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