The entities hosted three workshops across Jeddah, Riyadh, and Khobar, with more than 100 participants across all the cities. Each workshop enabled the opportunity to foster connections among women from around the Kingdom, offering participants access to all-important learning and networking. The competition held at each workshop also provided the opportunity for one winner form each city to be granted the mentorship program.

Reima Sras, founder of Buthoor Tech, Munirah Alkadi, founder of Mawsim, and Sarah Albaiz, founder of Qantara Studio were selected as the competition’s three winners, each being enrolled on the innovative ‘Her Voice’ mentorship program facilitated by Blossom Accelerator.

Each participant was evaluated based on leadership, product viability in the market, business model strength, and other key criteria.

“As more Saudi women take the reins of leadership and drive the future of the Kingdom’s SME space, we must work to ensure that we continue pioneering innovative programs that bridge the entrepreneurship gender gap,” said Maria Medvedeva, Country Manager, Saudi Arabia, Mastercard. “At Mastercard, we believe collaboration is crucial to launching the effective platforms required to accomplish this goal, and we are pleased to have partnered with Saudia and Blossom Accelerator to empower even more women for season three of ‘Her Voice’. We look forward to seeing our mentees grow, flourish and thrive, realizing their considerable potential and serving as champions of Saudi female excellence.”

Essam Akhonbay, Vice President of Marketing at Saudia, stated: “As Saudi Arabia’s national flag carrier, we are deeply invested in the nation’s future and believe women are central to its success. Through ‘Her Voice,’ we empower female entrepreneurs to thrive, inspiring future generations and creating pathways for small businesses to prosper. By showcasing their remarkable stories on our in-flight entertainment system, we not only highlight their achievements but also reinforce Saudia’s commitment to promoting local content that fuels economic growth and social progress.”

“At Blossom Accelerator, we are proud to be a global leader in driving inclusive innovation, recognizing that diverse perspectives are key to unlocking economic potential and maximizing investment returns. Our mission is to empower female-led startups across the globe, equipping them with the essential tools and resources to excel in the competitive digital economy,” said Emon Shakoor, CEO & Founder. “We are thrilled to partner with Mastercard for the third season of ‘Her Voice,’ a strategic initiative aimed at amplifying the impact of women-led startups and SMEs. Through our comprehensive mentorship program, we provide participants with critical insights, invaluable experiences, and powerful connections to enhance their growth and attract investment.”

‘Her Voice’ season three shed an informative light on the stories of five guests — five inspiring women — showcasing how their love for their respective passions drove them to overcome the various hurdles they faced and attain unprecedented success.

The season focused on connecting people to their passions, with each episode exploring a different passion point, namely: “Gaming,” “Tech,” “Sustainability,” “Culinary,” and “Sport”. Over the course of each interview, guests recounted their personal and professional journeys in their own voices in conversation with the host, renowned Saudi actress and broadcaster, Danyah Shafei.

To tune into ‘Her Voice’ seasons, please click here: https://www.priceless.com/m/hervoice

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The podcast adds to the 5,000 hours of content available on Saudia’s Beyond inflight entertainment system, offering a high-quality interactive experience with a diverse range of content suitable for various guest preferences and age groups in more than 16 languages.

This season, Saudia and Mastercard are joining forces with Blossom Accelerator, Saudi Arabia’s first tech-inclusion and female-focused accelerator. Together, they will host three workshops in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Khobar, offering budding female entrepreneurs, aspiring leaders, and small business owners invaluable learning and networking opportunities.

Additionally, a competition will be launched, inviting startups to present their business concepts at priceless.com/hervoiceS3 for a chance to win a one-year mentorship program by Blossom Accelerator.

Essam Akhonbay, Vice President of Marketing at Saudia, said: “Saudia has been a pioneer in supporting women’s professional growth. By including ‘Her Voice’ on our in-flight entertainment system, we continue to champion women’s stories while enhancing our guests’ experience. Our Beyond entertainment system, with its extensive and interactive content, perfectly complements this initiative.”

Maria Medvedeva, Country Manager, Saudi Arabia, Mastercard, stated: “Amplifying the incredibly moving stories of Saudi women from all over the Kingdom, Her Voice has serves as the clarion call for the recognition of excellence. With women being at the heart of the Kingdom’s transformation into a global hub of innovation and nerve center of regional entrepreneurship, it is vital that we share their inspiring narratives with the rest of the world. We aim to continue doing exactly that with the third season of the podcast series, working closely with Saudia to action lasting and meaningful change.”

True to the spirit of the podcast, Season 3 of ‘Her Voice’ will spotlight the stories of seven inspiring women, showcasing how their passion for their respective fields helped them overcome various challenges and achieve unprecedented success.

Premiering on Aug 27th, this season will focus on connecting people to their passions, with each episode exploring a different area: ‘Culinary,’ ‘Entertainment,’ ‘Sport,’ ‘Tech,’ ‘E-gaming,’ ‘Sustainability,’ and ‘Travel’. As with the previous seasons of the podcast series, guests will be invited to recount their personal and professional journeys in their own voices in conversation with the host, renowned Saudi actress and broadcaster, Danyah Shafei.

Tune into ‘Her Voice’ on https://www.priceless.com/hervoiceS3

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The agreement brings Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments sector together with SiFi, a Saudi-based fintech that simplifies how businesses manage spend — to provide greater access to novel financial solutions: offerings designed to overcome challenges in controlling spend, managing expense reports, and accessing analytics to save money.

Utilizing Mastercard’s expertise, ecosystem, network, and resources, SiFi will have the ability to offer solutions with ease to SMEs and enterprises across the Kingdom, enabling them to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global economy.

“Mastercard is a key partner for SiFi. As a reputable player in the payment technology field, Mastercard’s expertise and flexibility helps us adapt to our evolving needs and improve our service to customers. With their support, we can better understand and address our customers’ expectations,” said H.E. Ahmed Alhakbani, Founder and CEO of SiFi.

“As Saudi Arabia’s SME space continues to grow, it is our responsibility to effect more positive change, serving as the partner of choice to fuel that growth. At Mastercard, we are committed to working closely with partners to co-create solutions and offer access to our technology and expertise. Our agreement with SiFi is fully geared towards achieving this goal,” said Adam Jones, Country General Manager, MENA Central, Mastercard.

Mastercard’s agreement with SiFi marks the latest step taken by the technology company to empower the Kingdom’s burgeoning fintech community and transform Saudi entrepreneurship.

Utilizing Mastercard’s expertise, ecosystem, network, and resources, SiFi will have the ability to issue corporate cards with ease — to SMEs and enterprises across the Kingdom, enabling them to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global economy.

“With SMEs playing a greater role in powering the economy, we understand the importance of offering access to quality, responsive solutions that enable businesses and fintech’s to grow. Whether empowering entities to accept more payment cards and methods or simplifying controlling and tracking expenses, we equip SMEs with the tools to accomplish their business goals,” said Maria Medvedeva, Country Manager, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Mastercard.

“We are in the business of empowering companies to take greater control of their expenses. By partnering with equally innovative entities, such as Mastercard, we aim to curate an advanced suite of offerings that resolve our customers’ financial management challenges,” said Fahad Alfozan, Business Development Manager at SiFi.

The partnership underlines Mastercard’s commitment to bringing one billion people, 50 million micro and small businesses, and 25 million women entrepreneurs into the digital economy by 2025. This is in keeping with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 aims of increasing the SME sector’s contribution to the Saudi economy to 35% by 2030 and raising SME lending to 20% of funding by the end of the decade.   

The exclusive agreement will support more SMEs around the country, with SiFi issuing commercial cards to employees, providing real-time expense tracking capabilities, and automating accounting entries. By enabling more businesses to streamline operations, the partnership will help to save time and money, while improving compliance and visibility into spending.

With the Fintech Saudi 21/22 Annual Report outlining that there are currently 147 active fintech’s in Saudi Arabia, Mastercard’s work with SiFi will contribute to the growth and development of the Kingdom’s SME and fintech sectors, providing more enterprises with the tools to scale and grow their businesses.

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