A Moroccan cosmetics entrepreneur based in the UAE, a Jordanian who started an online and mobile network for readers, authors and publishers of Arabic literature, and a Lebanese developer of software for the hospitality industry will vie for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) regional crown in the  2015 Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards.

Mouna Abbassy, the owner of Izil Beauty (UAE), Eman Hylooz, who launched the Jordan-based portal Abjjad, and Sarah Hawilo, the co-founder of Ledabona’s SerVme, are among 18 finalists selected among over 1,700 applications from more than 100 countries for this year’s edition of the Awards.

Originally from Morocco, Abbassy moved to Dubai 10 years ago to start a career as a marketing professional for multinational cosmetic brands. Rediscovering age-old Moroccan beauty rituals, she decided in 2013 to launch her own brand Izil Beauty – which meaning “pure” in Moroccan Berber - with a line of cosmetics made of Argan oil and other rare natural ingredients imported from Morocco.

Meanwhile, Hylooz’s Abjjad provides an online and mobile social network for readers, authors and publishers of Arabic literature. Being an avid reader herself, Hylooz, 31, deplored the absence of an online database of Arabic books. She has a background in computer science and had been working in software development prior to launching the first version of Abjjad in 2012.

With a bachelor and a master’s degree in business, Hawilo, 30, had been working as a research consultant in a multinational firm for five years when she decided to move into the technology sector. She co-founded serVme, a mobile application and analytics software, to help restaurateurs adequately meet their clients’ expectations. serVme provides restaurants, bars, and clubs with a data analytics software that collects, stores, and analyses information about diners.

Founded in 2006, the awards are an international business plan competition created by Cartier, the Women’s Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD business school to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs.

In the competition, a jury selects the top three projects of each region - Latin America, North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mena, an Asia-Pacific - on the basis of their short business plans. 

These finalists will now be coached by professionals from Cartier, INSEAD and McKinsey & Company to prepare for the second round of the competition in October. 

The six winning laureates will be announced at a ceremony on October 15, 2015, at the Annual Global Meeting of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, in Deauville, France. 

They will each receive $20,000 of funding, one year of coaching, networking opportunities and media exposure.

This year’s finalists distinguished themselves by the impact they are making in bringing people together; developing a more connected science; redesigning our food supply; and creating from natural resources, according to the organisers.

The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards aim to encourage the most vulnerable category of entrepreneurs in their most vulnerable phase: women entrepreneurs starting up. Since their inception in 2006, they have accompanied over 160 promising female business-owners and recognized 44 laureates.

The international competition will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2016.

Based in France, Cartier is renowned for its watches, jewellery and luxury goods for men and women.