From solar to science labs: nine women-led businesses on the She’s Next Egypt shortlist

She’s Next Egypt’s latest shortlist brought together nine women-led businesses with serious range. Visa’s latest She’s Next Egypt round, run with CIB Business Banking and Shark Tank Egypt, featured companies working across cleaner energy, digital learning, health, safety, inclusive fashion, hospitality, and circular design. The program gave women founders visibility, strategic support, and a wider market for their business models.

The shortlist turned the data into names, products, and actual companies. Visa’s Women SMB Digitization Index describes a market where women entrepreneurs are funding, digitizing, and scaling their businesses while navigating bias and tight capital — and She’s Next sits within Visa’s longer push to support founders beyond one campaign cycle.

The nine broke into three snapshots of where women-led businesses are building. Some are expanding access to learning and knowledge: Asmaa Zakaria’s Codinger Platform teaches coding, AI, cybersecurity, and digital skills to children and teens; Mariam Soliman’s Learning Rockets develops educational apps; and Khadija Elbedweihy’s PraxiLabs offers 3D virtual science lab simulations.

Another group built around health, safety, and inclusion. Nesma Amin’s Aziza is a menstrual health app built in Egyptian Arabic, while Sara Aziz’s SAFE Egypt works on education and awareness around child protection and sexual abuse prevention. Noura Halawa’s Rafeya is an ethical fashion brand built around custom sizing and inclusive production.

The rest pointed to sustainability and new consumer models. Doaa Eid Mostafa’s Norko Solar focuses on renewable energy solutions; Yara Yassin’s Up-Fuse has built a business around upcycled fashion and artisanal production; and Amira Selim’s Kennah brings adaptive reuse into tech-enabled hospitality.

The shortlist already made its own point: nine women-led businesses put serious models in front of the market, spanning sectors where capital, customers, and corporate partnerships could turn visibility into scale.