FinTech for SMBs

Head of Strategic Partnerships for PayPal, Middle East and Africa

Ciprian Spiridon is a tech visionary and the CTO at Mumzworld.com, where he’s at the helm of everything from e-commerce to security. With a passion for innovation, he’s a regular speaker at major tech conferences, sharing his insights with audiences across the globe. When he’s not leading teams or speaking on stage, Ciprian is mentoring rising stars in tech and entrepreneurship through Plato and Antler, helping shape the future of tech leadership. His past adventures include transforming car-buying experiences at AWR, Carnab and SellAnyCar.com, leaving his mark on the Middle East’s automotive industry. Known for his forward-thinking approach and relentless curiosity, Ciprian is on a mission to inspire, lead, and make tech a little more fun.

Paymob is the leading financial services enabler in MENA delivering innovative financial technologies to customers across the region. Its gateway offers more than 50 omnichannel payment solutions and empowers close to 390,000 merchants including local SMEs and regional and global brands like Decathlon, Vodafone, LG, Uber, IKEA, and Shahid with access to innovative financial services. Paymob was the first fintech company to receive the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Payments Facilitator license in 2018. The company launched in the UAE in 2022 and received The CBUAE Retail Payment Services License in 2025. Paymob received Saudi Payments PTSP certification in May 2023 enabling it to launch its operation in KSA. In December 2023 Paymob was a granted PSP license in Oman. The Company is backed by global and regional investors including PayPal Ventures, Global Ventures, Kora Capital, Clay Point Capital, EBRD, Endeavor Catalyst, FMO, BII, Helios Digital Ventures, A15 and Nclude.

Hassan Reda is currently the Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer for CredibleX. Hassan has previously held positions as CPO for Further Ventures (Abu Dhabi based VC), Group Lead for Product and Design at Nexus – The BaaS (Banking as a Service) venture by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), Tribe Lead for Customer Squads and Product Owner role at Mox Bank, Business Manager to Group Retail COO and Associate to Group Retail CEO at SCB. Hassan speaks English, French and Arabic and has worked in different geographies in the USA, Asia (Singapore & Hong Kong) and currently in the UAE.

Sara Asad has been a regional catalyst in the tech and startup ecosystem throughout her career. She was part of the investments team at Novo Capital, a global institutional fund systematically investing in emerging technology markets and world class leaders like Uber, Airbnb, and Tabby . Prior to this,, Sara was the Growth Manager at Tamatem Games, MENA’s leading mobile games publisher, where she worked on building their payments infrastructure and lead strategic partnerships. Before Tamatem, she spent four years at Endeavor as the Entrepreneur Selection and Growth Manager identifying and scaling high impact entrepreneurs in global emerging markets and served on the Global Endeavor Council representing the Middle East. Sara was awarded her MBA from IE University, Spain in 2022 and completed her BA in International Business and Relations from University of Surrey, United Kingdom in 2017.

Harsh Didwania is the Head of Strategy at McFill Media Group, overseeing its three key publications: Finance World Magazine, The Technology Express Magazine, and Magzoid Magazine. These publications provide valuable insights into finance, technology, and creative industries, reaching a diverse audience. In addition to his media expertise, Harsh has demonstrated his thought leadership by moderating high-profile panel discussions on a range of topics, including Web3, Finance, Real Estate, and more. His ability to facilitate engaging discussions and provide valuable insights has earned him recognition in industry circles. With a strong background in both media and technology, Harsh Didwania continues to shape the conversation around emerging trends, offering his expertise to businesses and thought leaders worldwide.

Polly Dhaliwal is the Chief Operating Officer at Enterprise Nation, a leading platform supporting small businesses to start, grow, and scale. With a reach of over 1 million small businesses annually, Polly plays a key role in building strategic partnerships, developing scalable solutions, and driving innovation to empower entrepreneurs globally. With expertise in product, operations, and people, Polly has worked across startups, scaling ventures, and corporate ecosystems, helping businesses navigate growth and operational challenges. She is also a passionate advocate for female entrepreneurship, diversity in tech and access to education globally, regularly speaking at global events on leadership, innovation, and startup ecosystems.

Sebastian is responsible for Strategy including Business Planning and New Initiatives at Emirates NBD for Business Banking. Prior to ENBD he was working for 10 years within Consulting across UK, USA, Europe and the Middle East.

Alina is the Founding Partner of Utopia Capital Management (UTOPIA), a platform of VC funds and Venture Studios across Africa, Southeast Asia and soon-to-be-launched – the Middle East. Alina is also the co-founder of 54 Collective (formerly Founders Factory Africa), a pan-African venture studio and VC fund operating across the continent with a team of over 70, where she has invested in over 100 early-stage ventures and raised more than US$140 million from diverse LPs.

Gerold Ortlepp is a Manager in Dubai. He is a member of BCG Tech Advisory & Delivery, and a core member of BCG Platinion Delivery Excellence Team (in FI). He has more than 14 years of professional experience in the Financial Institutions sector, focusing on Europe and the Middle East.

Serial Entrepreneur with multiple exits and almost two decades of experience in Enterprise Financial Software, Banking, Fintech and Payments

Ayham is a Co-Founder at Pemo, and has been instrumental in developing the product offering over the past three years and driving its growth. Ayham has a strong tech background, and has driven Pemo’s product offering with the company making over 300 updates to its software solutions to ensure it is continually building and offering the best most efficient and effective solutions for its customers. Prior to joining Pemo, Ayham spent 14 years at Alpha-Apps in Abu Dhabi holding a Director position, where he supported the UAE’s leading mobile app company to develop stunning apps and help customers to create meaningful mobile strategies. He focused on Arabic Apps and Content during his time there. As well as this, Ayham has vast experience of launching, scaling and selling businesses, as he was Co-Founder of Fennec Ventures in Dubai, and then before this he launched Widgetlabs, from his home-town of Cologne, which was the first mover in Germany specialising on Micro Applications. His clients ranged across different sectors and sizes including Telekom, Vodafone, Bild. Graduating from the University of Cologne with a Masters in Business Administration, Ayham resides in Dubai with his family

Ajinkya is the Founder & CEO of CrossVal, an AI finance platform for businesses. An engineer by education but has spent most of his career in venture capital and private equity, before CrossVal, he oversaw 400mn in AUM at a private equity fund in Abu Dhabi. He has also worked at various startups in the region such as Magnitt He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Heriot Watt University and has cleared CFA Level 1.

Ahmad Coucha is the co-founder and CEO of FlapKap, the first and leading Revenue Based & Embedded Financing Platform in the MENA region. Prior to founding FlapKap, Coucha was the co-founder and Chief Strategy & Finance Officer of Kijamii, one of MENA’s largest and most awarded independent advertising agencies. On the academic side, Coucha finished his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering then pursued two masters, one in Business at ie business school in Madrid and a second in Economics & Public Finance at Harvard university in Boston

Zarik leads Tabby’s financial services across markets and is responsible for their P&L, product strategy, operations and go-to-market. Prior to Tabby, he led growth and strategic partnerships for LazyPay, India’s leading BNPL service part of the PayU group owned by Naspers. Over his 16 year career, Zarik has been deeply involved in building products across e-commerce and fintech, scaling user and partner growth, and leading consumer marketing and sales teams across large consumer brands as well as startups. Born and raised in Mumbai, he has a degree in Engineering from Mumbai University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto.

Omair Ansari is the CEO and Co-founder of ABHI, a financial wellness platform expanding across the MENAP region. With over a decade of experience in frontier markets, he specializes in equity, derivatives, impact investing, and fintech. Before ABHI, he held key roles at Morgan Stanley, Vostok Emerging Finance, and Renaissance Capital. Ansari’s career spans South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, giving him a deep insight into diverse markets. His education in finance and political science from McMaster University and living in over 9 countries shaped his global outlook. As a leader, Ansari is committed to driving innovation in the embedded finance space.

Akshata Namjoshi, Associate Partner at KARM, brings a decade of regulatory experience in banking and finance, with seven years in the UAE. She leads KARM’s Fintech, Payments, and Gaming sectors, advising on structuring, licensing, and compliance. Akshata has been instrumental in drafting open banking regulations and has received recognition from BW Legal World, Legal 500 EMEA and Legal Era Middle East as Fintech Lawyer of the year 2024.

Meenah Tariq is CEO/co-founder at Metric, a VC funded fintech building a financial management and business intelligence platform for SMEs, currently being used in 190 countries. Meenah was previously a Partner at Karavan, a VC fund focused on early-stage startups. She has supported thousands of entrepreneurs over the last decade across a wide variety of industries and geographies through her work with organizations such as the World Bank, DFID, and the USAID.

Kamal is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience in tech. In 2011, Kamal started the first e-commerce company in Morocco before selling it to a local holding company in 2018. Prior to Hmizate, Kamal worked for Spotfire (acquired by TIBCO) as a lead system engineer in charge of building large scalable infrastructure environments for software deployments. Kamal is an Endeavor entrepreneur with a B.S. & M.S. in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

Imad Gharazeddine is the co-founder & CEO at Mamo. Mamo is a UAE-based fintech company that helps hundreds of businesses save time and costs by automating payment collection and corporate expense management through a single platform. In 2022, Mamo became the first fintech startup licensed by the DFSA with a Category 3C Providing Money Services license.

Michael Ghandour is a serial entrepreneur (1x exit) and investor. Today, Michael is founder & CEO of Kema, a fintech startup accelerating cash flow for SMEs in the UAE and the broader MENA region. Prior to Kema, Michael has been deeply involved in the regional startup ecosystem – investing, building and scaling tech startups. Most notably, Michael was co-founder of mumzworld.com, a Dubai-born startup that became one of the largest baby e-commerce in MENA before it was acquired by Tamer Group in 2021. Michael is also an active investor, supporting exceptional entrepreneurs and regional VCs. Michael holds a MBA from London Business School and a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University.

Anjali Aggarwal, Head of Business GCC, Noon Payments: Anjali has a longstanding career in the banking and fintech sectors with expertise in driving robust payment solutions such as Ecommerce, Payment Gateways, BNPL, and VAS that enhance client networks and streamline payments in a cost effective manner. Anjali has contributed her strong leadership and knowledge to renowned organizations such as Noon, Zomato, Bank of America and her dedication, vision, and leadership have made her a respected figure within the Fintech and banking sectors in the MENA Region.

Omer is the Founder & CEO of PostEx, Pakistan’s largest e-commerce service provider, offering easy access to capital with embedded logistics. Previously, Omer has worked in finance & sales at different leading financial institutions and has also been a professional football player, representing the Pakistan National Football team for 2 years.

Nizar Almaree, Beehive Fintech’s Group Chief Development Officer and KSA Country Manager, spearheads operational growth and leads KSA expansion. He previously introduced embedded finance at Nymcard and led Beehive’s initial KSA expansion. His background includes key roles at the Ministry of Media and PWC, contributing to national transformation initiatives.

Warda is the Director for Strategic Communications at FTI Consulting, where she specializes in fintech and digital assets within the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) segment. In her role, she leads comprehensive strategic communications mandates that encompass strategy design, narrative and content development, media relations, stakeholder engagement, and government relations advisory. Warda also provides go-to-market strategy guidance, working closely with fintech companies, financial regulators, and cloud service providers to shape and execute impactful communication strategies.

Salman Attieh is the Founder and CEO of Jumlaty, a platform transforming supply chain finance for small and medium-sized enterprises in Saudi Arabia’s HORECA sector. He established one of Saudi Arabia’s first venture studios, which evolved into Jumlaty. Leveraging, smart finance solutions, software, and AI, Jumlaty empowers small restaurants and cafes to to operate more efficiently, contributing to the goals of Vision 2030. Salman attributes his success to his incredible team and remains committed to supporting the growth of the F&B industry in the region.

Naif AbuSaida is a seasoned Senior Executive with over a decade of experience in Strategy, Communications, Marketing, and Business Development. He has successfully led Corporate Communications, Public Relations, and Brand Management across various industries, including Energy, Telecom, Aviation, and Healthcare. Naif’s notable achievements include executing GE’s $1 billion investment plan in Saudi Arabia, launching the first National Breast Cancer Screening Program in partnership with the Ministry of Health, and managing GO Telecom’s IPO. He also brings 11 years of media experience as a journalist, reporter, and TV anchor for major outlets. Known for his results-driven approach, Naif has a proven track record of driving growth and innovation, contributing to both start-up and established organizations across the Middle East.