Nazanin Daneshvar (born in 1983,

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

) is an Iranian Internet entrepreneur who founded the discount website "Takhfifan".Iranwire.com
/ref> She is unusual as a woman establishing a company in Iran and she has attracted some attention. In 2019, she became one of

UNCTAD The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

's "eTrade for Women Advocates" from the developing world.

Life

Daneshvar was born in Tehran in 1983 and went to grad school in

. After that, she worked in London assisting a startup trying to break into the Iranian market. When Daneshvar started Takhfifan, she was on her own as there were no other female website entrepreneurs she could compete against. She faced a lot of poor judgment from potential business contacts, and she had to take her father along for the first year to show some gravitas, as they would not believe she was in charge. The company is very similar to

Groupon Groupon is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching soon af ...

but her company operates in Iran. The site offers large discounts to potential buyers and then passes on discounts the suppliers offer. Despite her difficulties, she believes that Iran is improving and she has encouraged other Iranian emigrants to return to Iran and help it improve further. In 2017, she was invited to speak at the fourth annual Global Female Leaders Summit in Berlin, where she explained the challenges that she has faced. She went on to lead a discussion about cultural glass ceilings and the possibilities and opportunities facing women managers in Iran. One of the advantages of Iran at the moment is the sanctions created by other countries that limit imports and exports. With these sanctions in place then, it creates a hothouse for establishing local versions of other sites. She demonstrates her confidence by mentoring other women using the ten years of experience she has gained in e-commerce. The Takhfifan.com is the biggest female-founded company still operating in Teheran. L to R Claudia de Heredia Helianti Hilman Nina Angelovska Patricia Zoundi Yao and Xiaofei Yao

L to R Claudia de Heredia Helianti Hilman Nina Angelovska Patricia Zoundi Yao and Xiaofei Yao

In September 2019, the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

announced seven "eTrade for Women Advocates" from the developing world. Daneshvar was named and the others were

Clarisse Iribagiza Clarisse Iribagiza (born 28 January 1988) is a computer scientist in Rwanda. She is the CEO and co-founder of the mobile technology company HeHe Limited and she is one of the UNCTAD's seven "eTrade for Women Advocates from the developing world". ...

Nina Angelovska Nina Angelovska (born 13 July 1988 in Skopje) is a Macedonian politician and the former Minister of Finance in North Macedonia. She is also an entrepreneur, UNCTAD eTrade for Women Advocate and president of the Macedonian E-commerce Associatio ...

, Xiaofei Yao,

Patricia Zoundi Yao Patricia Zoundi Yao (born in 1976 in Aboisso, Côte d'Ivoire) is a well-known social entrepreneur in Côte d'Ivoire. She is the founder of several companies, including Quickcash (fintech) and Canaan Land ( agribusiness). Her determination and l ...

Claudia de Heredia Claudia de Heredia Romo (born 28 August 1982) is a Mexican e-commerce entrepreneur. Life Romo was born in Mexico City. She took a degree in marketing at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe and graduated in 2006. She then worked in Procter ...

, and

Helianti Hilman Helianti Hilman (born ) is a lawyer involved in e-commerce in Indonesia with "Javara". The business's mission is to market indigenous Indonesian food products. In 2019 she became one of UNCTAD's "eTrade for Women Advocate". Life Hilman was born in ...

. The awards were announced on the periphery of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in New York, but Daneshvar and Clarisse Iribagiza from Rwanda did not attend the award ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daneshvar, Nazanin 1983 births Living people Businesspeople from Tehran Iranian computer scientists Women computer scientists