When Iliana Montauk launched a Gaza-based start-up incubator in 2014, she quickly discovered a rich pool of female engineers who were struggling to find jobs in the region—despite having graduated at the top of their universities with world-class skills.
Spotting an opportunity to link local jobseekers with U.S. and European tech companies, she went on to co-found Manara in 2020, a startup teaching computer scientists from the Middle East and North Africa the technical and soft skills to secure jobs and succeed at tech giants such as Meta and Google. The startup has since secured $3 million in pre-seed funding led by Stripe with additional funders including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, and others.
Workflow recently spoke with Montauk about why the region is bursting with talent and what diverse perspectives can bring to companies.
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