Qatar Science and Technology Park introducing global women's health startups to the Middle East region

IASP member Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) recently unveiled their new FemTech accelerator, an initiative designed for innovative women's health startups that brought about applications from 47 countries. The main goal of the project was to encourage female founders “who are solving for women´s health issues to consider the region and help solve the challenges we had regionally” as explained by QSTP President Rama Chakaki.  

From the 240 startups, 70% of the applicants were female founders working in areas of fertility, hormonal health, chronic disease, diagnostics, AI and preventative health. The acceleration, currently in its first phase, was launched in partnership with Merck, which identified women´s health as an area of unmet need and innovation. It is designed to provide market access, mentorship and support to access healthcare system, pilot programs and commercial access across the region.  

Interest in women’s health was facilitated by QSTP and the wider Qatar Foundation ecosystem and the region.  

Selected companies come from across the globe, including startups from Canada, the US, the UK, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Estonia, Australia, and the MENA region. Their innovations cover a broad range of women's health challenges, and one of the programme's key objectives is to help founders adapt solutions originally developed for other markets to the specific needs of healthcare systems across the Middle East, providing guidance to support market entry and local implementation. 

Based within the wider Qatar Foundation ecosystem, QSTP holds a privileged position to connect startups with a network of research, education and healthcare institutions, providing access not just to the human capital but also the data that aids in the accelerator´s aim to expose founders to very different healthcare systems and facilitate discussions to the highest levels of government.  

By bringing together international entrepreneurs, healthcare partners and regional institutions, the initiative demonstrates how science parks can help bridge innovation ecosystems, enabling startups to expand into new markets while addressing pressing healthcare challenges.