The Heartbeat of Tech in MENA

Dania is the Head of Strategy & Operations at Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), leading the relocation and business expansion program. Previously, she was a Program Manager at Techstars UAE, where she led accelerator programs, sourced and recruited startups, supported investment decisions, and coached companies on growth strategies. Dania holds an Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Jordan and has completed advanced courses at MIT and Stanford.

Julien is a Senior Partner at Oraseya Capital, spearheading the investments across all stages and managing the fund’s portfolio. He has been in the UAE startup ecosystem since 2012, as a founder then as Principal & Portfolio Manager of Dtec Ventures since 2019, holding board duties. He previously worked as an Investment Banker for Societe Generale CIB in Italy.

As a Senior Investment Professional with Shorooq Partners, Tina harnesses her passion for creating an impact by working with A+ founders with disruptive tech solutions, shaping tomorrow’s emerging market. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut, after which she completed her Master’s degree in International Political Economy, Finance Focus, at The London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to VC, Tina worked in Private Equity and Investment Banking.

Ryaan Sharif is the General Manager of Flat6Labs UAE. Ryaan has extensive experience working for EY, working on numerous engagements with multinational firms, to eventually working for the investment promotion agency of the Kingdom of Bahrain where hep ersonally account managed and attracted US$300 million in foreign direct investment. In the past 6 years, he has gone on to work in the venture capital field for the likes of, firstly, Flat6Labs Bahrain, where he was responsible for establishing the offices and investing in 35 portfolio companies and then moved to Batelco, Bahrain’s leading telecom provider,where he headed the B2C Investments in the Digital DevelopmentDepartment, responsible for deploying US$500 million, as a strategic investor, into high-growth digital companies. Ryaan is currently the General Manager of Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi who has launched a US$32 million fund in partnership with ADQ, the sovereignwealth fund of Abu Dhabi, which are focused on investing in initially 60 start-ups (already deployed capital into 46 companies) over the next 3years.

Entrepreneur turned VC, currently managing Techstars’ investments in MENA.

Hussein Attar is the CEO of Tech Invest Com, a 1Bn SAR saudi investment firm that invests in MENA-based growth-stage tech startups and private equity investments in technology companies. He founded a tech startup that was selected as one of the top 50 Arab startups by Forbes. He sits on the board of several tech companies and a member of Oqal and Falak angel investment groups. He is also a board member of the Saudi Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

Shadi Karra is a Senior Investment Associate at Antler. Prior to joining Antler, his experience spanned strategy and business operations within both the public and private sectors. Shadi began his career at the United Nations Development Programme and the San Francisco Mayor’s Office. He later transitioned to the startup ecosystem, overseeing business operations and strategy at a health tech startup, followed by a role as a strategic client partner at a leading media company. Shadi studied Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Hasan Haider is the Founder and Managing Partner of +VC, an early stage venture capital firm focused on investing in tech and tech-enabled startups in MENA and its diaspora. He has over 14 years of experience investing in MENA startups. Hasan was previously Managing Partner, MENA at 500 Startups and led the firm’s growth in the MENA region, turning 500 Startups into the most active VC fund in the MENA region, raising and deploying the 500 Falcons fund, building partnerships and running programs in the region to help build the regional ecosystem. Hasan has invested in around 230 startups in the region over the course of the last 14 years. Prior to 500, Hasan was the co-founder and CEO of Tenmou, the first business angel’s organization in Bahrain and one of the first in the MENA region. Hasan’s work in developing angel investment in emerging markets through Tenmou has been picked up as a Case Study by the World Bank and Harvard and was taught to Entrepreneurship Policy makers at Babson College. Hasan started off his career in finance and investment banking at Sico, before he moved to Tenmou.

Christos is the Founder & Managing Partner of Iliad Partners, a Venture Capital fund based in the UAE that invests in early-stage tech startups in the MENA region. He has been based in Dubai since 2007 and has been investing in MENA VC since 2016. He was an early investor in Trukker and other MENA success stories. Christos is an ex-tech entrepreneur (4x startups, 4x exits), digital executive (Yahoo Maktoob), and management consultant (Booz & Company, Accenture) with 23+ years in technology, business development, and investments in the US, Europe, and MENA.

Ghada Abdelkader is responsible for monitoring the existing Crescent Enterprises’ portfolio companies within the ports and logistics, business aviation, technology, and private equity sectors as well as the evaluation, structuring, execution, and post-acquisition management of new investments. Ghada has 14 years of experience in investment banking, corporate finance, and financial services consulting across the MENA region. She has executed deals of over billions of dollars, including private and public placements, mergers and acquisitions, and greenfield projects. Prior to joining Crescent Enterprises, Ghada worked in the Investment Banking Division of Al Mal Capital in the UAE, where she participated in various private and public transactions including the $325 million initial public offering of Drake & Scull International. Earlier, she worked with ASEC Cement Holding in Egypt, a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings, where she was involved in building the company’s portfolio through numerous acquisitions and greenfield and brownfield projects of cement plants throughout the MENA region. Ghada started her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Egypt, where she participated in business valuations and financial due diligence transactions across the manufacturing, services, and industrial sectors. Ghada holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cairo University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). She is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Emirates.

Anastasiya is an accomplished PR professional and business advisor who leads Dubai-based communications consultancy Sherpa Communications. With more than 16 years of expertise developing and executing all aspects of public relations and marketing campaigns, she provides senior counsel to brands of any size and structure helping them achieve business objectives and meaningful results through the strategic use of communication.

More than 20 years experience in public and private sector with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. Working in KAUST and developing innovation Ecosystem overseeing entrepreneurship programs, venture funds and managing a thriving research and Technology park.

Noor is an Industrial Engineer and holds MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship, with more than 12 years of experience in the innovation, entrepreneurship, and business consultation fields. Currently, Noor is the Program Director at Falak Investment Hub, designing and managing acceleration and incubation programs in KSA. Before that she was Program Director at Rainmaking and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Supervisor at The Tank by Umniah, as she managed the incubator for 3 years. She is the founder of SHEE, which is an empowerment hub that helps women to reach empowerment. Also, she is a Trainer and Mentor for many startups and worked as a Consultant, Researcher and Coach in the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment Fields. This allows her to build a wide network in the entrepreneurship field, understand the entrepreneurship ecosystem and help hundreds of startups in their journeys.

Khalil Alami is the Founder & CEO of the leading online payment gateway, Telr. Khalil has more than two decades of experience in the financial services sector, including 23 years in the payment and card industry, with a focus on payment infrastructure and system implementation. Khalil has deep knowledge of industry structure, with emphasis on card processing and settlement, the four-party system, international payments architecture, electronic and mobile payments, consumer touch points, and network security. Khalil is also a Member of the Regional Fintech Working Group of the Arab Monetary Fund. Khalil has an MBA from the American University of Beirut and a Bachelor of Science from Purdue University in Economics.

Josh has invested over $300m into startup companies and venture capital funds during his career across Europe, the US, Asia and MENA. At Spring Studios, he leads the investment team and is responsible for all aspects across fund management including sourcing and executing investment opportunities, and portfolio management. Through this experience, Josh has worked across organisations of all sizes from larger entities (such as the Guardian Media Group and Cambridge University) to pre-seed startups.

Karim Helal is a successful entrepreneur, mentor and angel investor, having been involved in the Entrepreneurship ecosystem for over 15 years. As the Founder and CEO of ProTenders, the leading ConstructionTech platform in the MENA region, Karim has helped streamline the way 30,000 companies working in the Construction Industry get found, connect, source new opportunities and manage over $50B worth of bids – all while being bootstrapped. Karim has also been an ardent member of the UAE Entrepreneurial scene by actively mentoring in over 50 startups, including at incubators & accelerators such as Seed Startup, Startup Weekend, Flat6Labs and Founders Institute. He was recently named as on the Top 50 Construction Tech Entrepreneurs by US-based Builtworlds.

Co-Owner and Managing Director for the largest digital specialist recruitment agency in the MENA region. www.welovesalt.com

Founder, investor, and senior technology executive with over 20 years of experience who excels at defining the technology vision, strategy, and execution roadmap to develop and bring innovative offerings to market and position companies for accelerated commercial success. Track record of building and scaling new businesses (2x exits), directing multi million-dollar projects, and forging trusted client relationships. Hands-on technical leader with an extensive background encompassing software engineering, cyber security, and artificial intelligence. Passionate innovator directly responsible for creating valuable intellectual property and commercial software products achieving hundreds of millions in sales. Ryan is also an active startup mentor, public speaker/panelist, member of the Economic Collaboration Committee – SME Work group in Abu Dhabi, graduate of the yearlong Chief Technology Officer program at MIT, was one of the few chosen to present at the Innovation Spotlight to an audience of global CXOs at the MIT campus in Cambridge, and was honored to represent the UAE as a speaker at the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance Summit in India.

Avneet Kohli is a Life and Business Vision Coach and the Co-Founder of StartUp Network Encubay. Avneet is the Co-Founder of Encubay, a startup network that helps women accelerate business growth by providing them access to mentorship, premium networking, and fundraising opportunities to scale up their ventures globally. She specialises in Growth Strategy & Marketing for early stage ventures. She helps driven founders take a holistic and sustainable approach to entrepreneurship and achieve their life and career goals faster. She recently authored the Life Planner, a thinking system toolkit that helps ambitious minds achieve growth and tangible results in life and business. Visit her website at www.avneetkohli.com and explore more about Encubay on www.encubay.com.

Ali Abulhasan’s interest in payments and technology has grown into a continuous road of discovery for over 10 years. Throughout his career working in the oil, banking, and telecom sectors, he always found himself struggling with the complexity of online payments in the region. This is why he founded Tap Payments in 2014: to help enable startups and SMEs to accept online payments easily throughout the MENA region. He also shares an interest in arts, design, and product development.