She almost gave up on her hijab bodysuit. Then a Dubai jury handed her $25,000 for it.
Months before the final, her family lent her $25,000 to keep RUUQ going. Then the bodysuit beat more than 200 women-led businesses from 15 countries to win the TiE Women MENA finals.
In October 2022, Alizar Tawil stood on the Spotlight Stage at GITEX Global in Dubai, one of the largest tech events in the world, and pitched a piece of clothing.
She had already won the Levant round of the TiE Women competition against nine other startups from the region, in front of a jury of Adel Sajan, managing director of Danube Properties and founder of Danube Home; Rasha Manna, general manager of Flat6Labs; and Saeed Alnofeli, director of in5. In Dubai she faced four more finalists from across the Middle East and North Africa. The jury included Sima Ganwani Ved, founder of Apparel Group, the retail company behind hundreds of stores across the Gulf.
RUUQ won. The prize: $25,000, equity-free, from e& capital.
The number mattered more than anyone in the room knew. A few months earlier, Alizar had been ready to give up on RUUQ. Her family stepped in and lent her CA$30,000, about US$25,000 at the time, to keep the business going.
“Subhanallah, it does not escape me that the amount that I borrowed from my family is the exact same amount that I won at GITEX. For that to just materialize, for me, it was just such a miracle! It just gave me that assurance to keep going.”
Alizar Tawil, to Entrepreneur Middle East
Watch the pitch
Two years earlier, on American TV
Dubai wasn't the first time a panel of strangers heard the idea. In December 2020, Alizar pitched RUUQ on 2 Minute Drill, the business show hosted by David Meltzer, and won against three other entrepreneurs. The episode aired on January 29, 2021, on Bloomberg TV and Amazon Prime Video.
The judges had no connection to modest fashion. That's what made their reaction count.
“That's what made it real for me. That's when I knew it wasn't a small-time project anymore.”
Alizar Tawil, to Jordan News
It was the push she needed to take RUUQ full time.
So what did the judges actually see?
The idea started in front of a mirror. In Alizar's words:
“Every look needed the same five things: a long sleeve shirt, a turtleneck, an underscarf to stop the hijab slipping, the scarf itself, and pins to hold it all together.”
From her Letter from the Founder
Long sleeve shirtTurtleneckUnderscarf- The scarf itself
Pins
Her answer was one patented piece: a bodysuit with the undercap sewn into the neck. Full coverage from wrist to hip, nothing riding up, nothing to pin. Put it on, add the scarf, and it works under anything, from anywhere.
“One piece replaced five. The morning got shorter.”
Alizar Tawil
The bodysuit that won in Dubai, in Onyx and Ivory
Two long sleeve Hijab Bodysuits. The two colors that go under everything.