Riyadia Digital Incubator for Women’s Empowerment (First Cohort)

About

The first cohort supports Egyptian women entrepreneurs and technology developers in turning business ideas or existing ventures into scalable, women-led startups through training, hackathons, incubation, mentoring, and investor and market connections, with a focus on the digital circular economy.

Benefits

• 💡Idea development
  Support to identify problems and opportunities and turn them into developable ideas.
• 🧠Capacity building
  Development of entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology skills according to participants’ needs.
• 🤝Business-technology pairing
  Bringing together women with business ideas or existing ventures and women with technical skills to build integrated solutions.
• 🧪Solution and business model development
  Testing ideas, developing prototypes, and validating practical business models.
• 🧭Mentoring
  Access to specialists and mentors for project and solution development.
• 🏢Incubation and networking
  Support for selected teams and projects and links to experts, relevant entities, and growth opportunities.
• 💰Financial support
  Financial support for developing high-value technological solutions, with terms not specified.
• 🚀Market and investor connections
  Selected projects receive technical support, specialized mentoring, and connections with partners and investors to support expansion and market access.

Eligibility Criteria

• Mandatory: applicants must be Egyptian women located in Greater Cairo (Cairo, Giza, Qalyubia), Upper Egypt, or the Red Sea governorate.
• Businesswoman track: applicants must be aged 18 to 50 and have an agricultural, environmental, or handicraft project idea, or an existing company that can be developed and digitally transformed.
• Businesswoman track: priority is given to ideas and projects related to the digital circular economy and sustainability.
• Businesswoman track: applicants must commit fully to the program, including attending the hackathon, intensive training bootcamp, and incubation stages.
• Businesswoman track: applicants must have partial or full availability to manage the nominated project and participate in mentoring and development.
• Technology developer track: applicants must be aged 18 to 30 and be final-year students or graduates in engineering, computers and information, artificial intelligence, or similar fields.
• Technology developer track: applicants must have programming skills sufficient to build and develop digital applications and platforms.
• Technology developer track: applicants must commit fully to the program, including attending the in-person hackathon, training bootcamp, and digital incubation stages.

Participation Commitments

• Applicants register either as a businesswoman or as a technology developer; registration does not mean choosing two separate programs.
• Applications are submitted through the Riyadia website.
• Businesswoman track applicants must commit fully to the program, including attending the in-person hackathon, the intensive training bootcamp, and the incubation stages.
• Businesswoman track applicants must have partial or full availability to manage the nominated project and participate in mentoring and development.
• Technology developer track applicants must commit fully to the program, including attending the in-person hackathon, the training bootcamp, and the digital incubation stages.
• The program stages explicitly include outreach and participant selection, training and capacity building, hackathons and practical activities, incubation, and networking with partners and investors.

Target Sector

Agriculture & Food, Manufacturing, Retail & Consumer, Other

Target Location

Geographic eligibility covers Egyptian women entrepreneurs and technology professionals in Greater Cairo (Cairo, Giza, Qalyubia), Upper Egypt, and the Red Sea governorate.