Coca-Cola Foundation Supports Female-led Saudi Tech Business for Enhanced Community Impact and Female Entrepreneurship Growth
The Coca-Cola Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with Lesser App, a Saudi technology startup that is making recycling easy, fun, and rewarding. This collaboration, unveiled on August 12 in Riyadh, aims to scale Lesser App's community impact initiatives while supporting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals.
Lesser App, developed by Naqaa Solutions, an environmental services provider in Saudi Arabia, is a women-founded and led startup that offers a user-friendly mobile platform for door-to-door collection services of recyclable materials, particularly focusing on PET plastic waste. The company's mission is to promote sustainable habits and contribute to a greener Saudi Arabia through technology-driven, community-centric recycling models.
In addition to its environmental focus, Lesser App is notable for blending technology with social good. The startup provides digital tools that support sustainability efforts and offers training programs in digital literacy, especially empowering women and youth in underserved communities.
The partnership between the Coca-Cola Foundation and Lesser App will provide funding, mentorship, and access to a global network to help the startup expand domestically and across the Middle East. The collaboration will focus on three key areas: technological capabilities, market access, and training programs for women and youth. This partnership is expected to create new job opportunities in Saudi Arabia's growing tech ecosystem.
A key project under this partnership is the implementation of targeted PET plastic collection initiatives in Riyadh and Jeddah as part of the Partnership for A Circular Tomorrow (PACT) program. Lesser App will run door-to-door collection services, establish community drop-off centers, place collection bins in mosques, manage logistics, and track progress via a proprietary Sustainability Dashboard.
The partnership is a significant example of the rising profile of women entrepreneurs in the Gulf. The startup's leadership, including CEO and co-founder Mona Othman, emphasizes the importance of female leadership in environmental sustainability and sees the partnership as an opportunity to demonstrate innovative and inclusive approaches to environmental challenges.
High-profile partnerships like this one can serve as catalysts for broader change, inspiring more women to pursue tech ventures and attracting investors to an underrepresented segment of the startup landscape. The partnership is also aimed at advancing Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals on gender inclusion and innovation.
The partnership between the Coca-Cola Foundation and Lesser App is a testament to the potential of women-led tech startups in the region and could help redefine the role of women in the region's technology sector.
- The Coca-Cola Foundation's partnership with Lesser App, a women-led Saudi technology startup, aims to scale its community impact initiatives and support Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals, focusing on technological capabilities, market access, and training programs.
- Lesser App, developed by Naqaa Solutions, offers a user-friendly mobile platform for door-to-door collection services of recyclable materials, such as PET plastic waste, while also empowering women and youth in underserved communities through digital literacy training.
- This partnership will provide Lesser App with funding, mentorship, and access to a global network, enabling the startup to expand domestically and across the Middle East, with a focus on targeted PET plastic collection initiatives in Riyadh and Jeddah.
- The collaboration between these two entities is a significant example of the rising profile of women entrepreneurs in the Gulf, demonstrating innovative and inclusive approaches to environmental challenges, and appealing to investors in the underrepresented startup landscape.
- By supporting women-led tech startups like Lesser App, this partnership could help redefine the role of women in the region's technology sector and inspire more women to pursue tech ventures, ultimately advancing Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals on gender inclusion and innovation.
- High-profile partnerships like the one between the Coca-Cola Foundation and Lesser App can serve as catalysts for broader change in the health-and-wellness, particularly women's health, and business sectors, driving industry-wide advancements in science, finance, and entrepreneurship.
