Eman Shakoor’s journey into entrepreneurship didn’t start in an investment hall, but with a deeply personal challenge. Living with epilepsy since childhood, her experience shaped a unique lens for understanding human systems—a perspective that would later define her work in building one of Saudi Arabia’s key ecosystem initiatives.
Quick Facts
- Founder: Eman Shakoor
- Initiative: Blossom Accelerator
- Founded: 2017
- Mission: First accelerator in Saudi Arabia focused on female founders
From Scientific Method to Startup Mission
With a background in cognitive science from UC San Diego, Shakoor’s early career was spent in scientific research, studying mirror neurons and their connection to emotion and learning. This rigorous training in hypothesis, testing, and iteration provided the foundational skills for her pivot from academia to entrepreneurship.
Upon returning to Saudi Arabia, she identified a clear gap in the tech ecosystem: the underrepresentation of women was not due to a lack of talent, but a lack of tailored support channels. This observation became her call to action. In 2017, she founded Blossom Accelerator, creating not just a symbolic support program but a practical platform offering mentorship, capacity building, and direct connections to capital and partners for female entrepreneurs.
Building Credibility Amid Silent Resistance
Launching a female-focused accelerator within a traditionally male-dominated tech sector came with its own set of hurdles, including securing funding and shifting established mindsets. Shakoor applied her scientific approach to the problem: analyze the challenge, design an experiment, measure the impact, and continuously improve.
A key strategy was aligning Blossom’s mission with the national priorities of Saudi Vision 2030, which places entrepreneurship and women’s economic participation at the heart of its transformation goals. This strategic positioning turned Blossom from an independent project into a systemic enabler, attracting major corporate partners, hosting hackathons, and opening tangible funding pathways for women-led startups.
Driving Change from Programs to Portfolios
Shakoor’s impact isn’t confined to Blossom. As an investment partner at Oryx Fund and an advisory board member at Oqal, she directly influences investment decisions, pushing for a more equitable distribution of opportunities. This expansion from running a program to shaping the market reflects her core philosophy: inclusion is incomplete without fundamentally changing the rules of access to capital.
Through Blossom, Shakoor has also cultivated a community where founders find a sense of belonging and the confidence to take risks. Her work demonstrates that the most powerful ventures are often measured not just by valuation, but by their ability to reshape an entire ecosystem.
About Blossom Accelerator
Blossom Accelerator is the first female-focused startup accelerator in Saudi Arabia. Founded in 2017, it provides women entrepreneurs with mentorship, skill-building workshops, and access to a network of investors and strategic partners to help them launch and scale their tech-enabled businesses.
Source: Arab Founders
