Forbes Middle East Reveals the Top 20 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands For 2023

Press release

Published July 7th, 2023 - 07:49 GMT

Forbes Middle East Reveals the Top 20 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands For 2023

With 11 entries, the U.A.E. is home to 55% of the tech brands on the list.

As MENA continues to evolve as a hub for visionary female founders igniting a technological revolution, Forbes Middle East has released its annual ranking of the most successful 20 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands for 2023. These remarkable entrepreneurs have not only established robust tech-enabled platforms but are also pushing the boundaries of creativity, innovation, and impact in their respective industries.

Selected from a vast pool of talent, the top 20 entries have astounded investors and consumers with their exceptional achievements, securing external funding and generating impressive revenues. Forbes Middle East's evaluation encompassed a comprehensive assessment of their entrepreneurial prowess, weighing their ability to create waves in diverse sectors such as Fintech, e-commerce, logistics, agri-tech, healthtech, and proptech, among others. The 20 entries were evaluated based on the amount of external funding they have raised, as well as their creativity, innovation, impact, and revenues.

The U.A.E. reigns as the preferred home for these companies with 11 entries, followed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia with three and two, respectively. Jordanians dominate the list with four founders, followed by Egyptians, British, and Turkish, each with two founders. Among the 20, 15 listees have more than one founding member.

Four of the top five women behind tech brands operate in the U.A.E. For the second consecutive year, iMile’s Founder & CEO Rita Huang Zhen tops the ranking. Between 2018 and 2023, the logistics player expanded its presence to 14 countries, with the most recent expansion being into Poland and Australia in 2023. Mumzworld’s Mona Ataya and Leena Khalil and agri-tech RedSea’s Derya Baran round up the top three. Proptech Rent Now Pay Later platform PRYPCO, established by Amira Sajwani, is the youngest tech company to feature on the list.

Top 5 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands 2023

1 | Rita Huang Zhen

Brand: iMile

Category: Logistics

Established: 2017

Nationality: Chinese

HQ: U.A.E.

2 | Mona Ataya & Leena Khalil

Brand: Mumzworld

Category: E-commerce

Established: 2011

Nationality: Palestinian; British

HQ: U.A.E.

3 | Derya Baran

Brand: RedSea

Category: Agri-tech

Established: 2018

Nationality: Turkish

HQ: Saudi Arabia

4 | Nour Sleiman

Brand: Cartlow

Category: E-commerce

Established: 2019

Nationality: Spanish

HQ: U.A.E.

5 | Ioanna Angelidaki

Brand: InstaShop

Category: E-commerce

Established: 2015

Nationality: Greek

HQ: U.A.E.

Click here for the complete ranking of the Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands 2023.

Background Information

Forbes Middle East

Forbes Middle East has a license for copy rights and distribution rights in the MENA region from Forbes Media, U.S.A. Under the guidelines standardized amongst all Forbes titles, the magazine features analysis and expert reporting related to the finance and business world, as well as investment opportunities in the Arab region. Forbes Middle East puts together its lists based on the criterion of neutrality, authenticity, commitment to the methodology of scientific research, and the quality of standards set globally by Forbes through its extensive experience in this field.

Forbes Middle East also serves as a guide for businessmen and decision makers by providing them with information and statistics necessary for making the right decisions. Thus, the magazine becomes the guiding compass for investments in the region. Through its wide network of press correspondents the magazine also works toward covering all the economic fields and issues concerning the Arab region.