He is the co founder of lune Technologies.

–

Meghan Gregonis is the United States Consul General in Dubai starting August, 2021. A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, Meghan was the U.S. Consul General in Munich, Germany from 2018-2021. She managed support for the two largest in-person U.S. delegations and the first virtual delegation to the Munich Security Conference during her time there. She also focused on innovation themes in Germany and launched the first Germany-wide Transatlantic Innovation Week to further develop innovation and trade and investment relationships. Meghan’s previous overseas assignments include Islamabad, Riyadh, Rome, Baghdad, and Jerusalem. Her Washington assignments include directing public engagement efforts in Europe; managing relations with Turkey from the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; and coordinating U.S. engagement with Jordan from the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Meghan was also responsible for relations with Turkey during an assignment to the White House, where she served as a member of the National Security Council. Meghan is a distinguished graduate of the National War College and an alumna of New York University. She has completed graduate studies at Temple University and earned professional certifications from the University of Southern California and MIT’s Seminar XXI for national security professionals. Meghan speaks Italian and German, and basic French and Arabic. She worked for a venture capital firm in her hometown of Philadelphia before joining the Foreign Service in 2001. Meghan is accompanied in Dubai by her husband, Dr. Alessio Volante.

–

–

Amna Almansoori: Founder of Brewtiful Coffee Amna loves two things: coffee & Art! This ambition that formed Brewtiful coffee shop, it’s the trendiest hotspot in Abu Dhabi. Where people who enjoy coffee and love art connect, it’s the best of both worlds filled with loud vibes. Brew-tiful is from a play word that derives from brewing coffee and the word beautiful. which reflects in the beauty in everything we do and present. The character of the brand reflects Amna and everything she believes in. As she’s a beautiful woman who is independent, intelligent, and powerful just like everyone who visits Brewtiful. Amna Almansoori is a graduate of Khalifa University, Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineer and currently working in ADNOC GAS and a Certified Barista by SCA standards. An Art Collector in Middle East region. Wither it’s painting on a cup or a canvas or designing a costume to participate in an event like Comic-Con, Photography or film making, Amna believes in creating more spaces for everyone to connect with the beauty within and around in a joyful environment. Exploring different worlds, expressing their unique selves and having great coffee while they do so.

Brad is one of the Founders of Cashee – a teen banking app and edtech platform.

Engaging business leader with a vast international corporate career who decided to follow his dream – building a startup that is all about what he calls ‘Impact-Commerce’.

David Munir Nabti runs entrepreneurship and skills development programs that help enterprises and individuals flourish. He co-founded Bloom.pm (@bloomemea), a social enterprise that runs online+hybrid programs for startups and accelerators in 10 MENA+African countries. Bloom also builds tools+software (the Bloom platform & library) to help individuals, enterprises, and accelerator programs. Bloom (and partner entities AltCity and Pitchworthy) has run 80 sprint and accelerator programs in the last 8 years directly or in collaboration with partner organizations. They’re currently running the HerMeNow Accelerator for women-led social enterprises in MENA+Africa (www.bloom.pm/hermenow) with 9 teams currently at STEP. He graduated from UC Berkeley in Political Science and International Economics, and previously worked for the UN/FAO, Stanford University (Graduate Program in Journalism), Google, and the UC Berkeley Service-Learning Research and Development Center. Find him on Twtr/Insta/LinkedIn @dmnabti.

Patrick Weiss is the MENA Head of Real Estate of Silkhaus, a proptech startup on a mission to power short-term rentals across Asia. Patrick drives the Business Development department, a team of real estate professionals that develops Silkhaus’ relationships with the largest developers, family offices, agencies and brokerages across the region.

Paola is the Head of Partnerships of Dubai at Nomad Homes. She joined Nomad pre-seed and has driven impact in Nomad Homes, which is now a Series A property technology company simplifying home ownership across EMEA. Paola is a full rounded expert with 10 years of experience in the Real Estate Industry. Prior to Nomad, she worked for global Real Estate brokerages such as Engel & Volkers and luxury Real Estate market leaders like Luxhabitat Sotheby’s. At Nomad, Paola seeks to complement the journey of real estate buyers by securing integral partnerships.

Amel Mabrouk is Foodics’ UAE Country Manager, looking after the operations of the entire country leading both core businesses – Foodics RMS and Foodics Pay. Perfectly tri-lingual, and with a Masters Degree in Statistics, Amel has over 8 years of experience in banking, sales, and management. Previously, she served as the Head of Sales for the UAE market supporting the expansion of Foodics across the country. Currently, along with her Country Manager role, she’s also the Lead with different UAE government entities, establishing Foodics as one of their strategic technology partners.

A business technologist, advisor, and published author, Ali Shabdar advocates for practical and profitable digital transformation, with added focus on customer and employee experience as well as information management and privacy. In addition to his role in Zoho Corp, Ali serves as the Chair of the Community Outreach at MENA Cloud Alliance, and a founding member of the Cloud Computing Business Group under Dubai Chambers. Passionate about people, process, education, and business strategy, Ali presents ideas about the best uses of technology in service of the business and society with a triple-bottom-line approach.

Mohamad Fattal is the Founder & CEO of Alfan, a leading platform that empowers creators to manage and scale their businesses. As an early adopter of YouTube, Mohamad has managed and built some of today’s most successful digital creators. With Alfan’s suite of products, it currently enables over 13,000 creators to generate more than 3 billion monthly views across their content. Mohammad is widely recognized as one of the early developers of the creator economy in the MENA region, having facilitated numerous successful brand activations across his network of content creators.

Ollie is the co-founder & CEO of Plain Tiger. He is a tech, fintech and banking executive with over 18 years’ experience leading businesses in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, at start up, scale up and FTSE100 level. Ollie studied Sustainability at the University of Cambridge and as an entrepreneur, he is grateful to have experienced making a difference in the townships of Africa, the labour camps of Dubai and the slums of Mumbai. Making a positive impact in his work is inspiring. He is hugely motivated by the opportunity Plain Tiger has to positively impact the environment, by growing ethical entrepreneurs globally, and helping retailers & hotels improve their impact on people & the planet. He represents Top Tier Impact as their Ambassador for the UAE.

Unicorn Orange is an agency that champions brands on Amazon. Our competitive edge is the volume of data we compile through our own APIs and third-party APIs to perform analysis through our dashboards. This, along with our combined 35+ years of Amazon experience, makes us true experts in our space. We are proud to have been nominated for 3 awards to in the last 6 months: 1) The top 100 SME Elite Business Awards; (2) Family Business of the year; (3) UK Amazon Growth Performance award (1 of 4 agencies to be shortlisted).

Elodie is an ecosystem enabler and angel investor, passionate about deeptech. She supported the creation of the first aerospace industrial cluster in the UAE in the early 2000s. After 15 years enabling industrial partnerships for aerospace leaders (Airbus and Thales) in Middle East and Africa, she joined the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit, a joint initiative by the United Arab Emirates Government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, to promote the future of industry in alignment with the SDGs. She contributed to the new space start up ecosystem in the region and backs several entrepreneurs from the vertical through Alidade Ventures. She heads growth and strategy at Hub 71, Abu Dhabi global tech ecosystem, supporting the Emirate’s economic transformation, cultivating market and investment access for entrepreneurs through partnerships between government, corporates and investors. She is volunteering for French Tech, as President of the UAE community.

Scott Bond is UAE Country Manager for Property Finder, the MENA Region’s #1 property portal. In this role, Scott is responsible for leading revenue and customer growth. Prior to coming to Property Finder, Scott spent 5.5 years with Zillow Group in the United States as Senior Director of Sales & Customer Service teams.

Abdelrazak curates startup programs that provide the essential support for founders to turn their ideas into successful ventures. With a focus on market research, product testing, building customer bases, and scaling operations, Abdelrazak guides startups through every stage of their validation journey. With the ability to design and deliver training and mentoring programs and connect startups with investors and industry experts, Abdelrazak has helped many entrepreneurs achieve success.

Founder and CEO of Slash Coffee and Liwa Roastery. Scaling cafes to 10 outlets in 1 year and built one of the largest coffee factories in UAE.

Scott Bond is UAE Country Manager for Property Finder, the MENA Region’s #1 property portal. In this role, Scott is responsible for leading revenue and customer growth. Prior to coming to Property Finder, Scott spent 5.5 years with Zillow Group in the United States as Senior Director of Sales & Customer Service teams.

Mohammed Bostaji’s passion for F&B and hospitality is his driving force within this industry. He has been instrumental in helping shape the future of multiple companies by introducing the best practices and highest standards to the way they operate. His sound leadership has earned him respect in both within the business and beyond. With a broad-based business acumen, a deep insight of the UAE business environment and significant experience in global best practices in the field, Mohammed Bostaji had over 30+ years’ experience in the market. Graduated from University of Jordan, Mohammed Bostaji pursued his education in Business Management and further progressed to obtain Masters in Business Administration from University of Bradford School of Management.

Saeed Alnofeli is the Director of in5 and joined the business incubator with a mandate to drive innovation across Dubai’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in 2020. He is responsible for supporting startups and members of the enabling platform by turning early-stage startups into commercially viable ventures. With 15 years of commercial, telecommunications, technology, and command and control systems experience, Saeed’s unique skillset has enabled local firms to take their idea from concept to prototype to market. Prior to joining in5, he worked with the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center as a Programs Manager where he trained, mentored and graduated over 100 startups at pre-seed and seed stage. As Co-Founder and CEO of tech startup Jamalytic, which has brought cutting-edge data analytics capabilities to the billion- dollar camel racing industry, Saeed has a track record of developing successful homegrown companies and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship in the UAE. He holds a Master’s in Engineering Systems and Management with a specialisation in technology management, innovation and entrepreneurship from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Security and Network Technologies from Zayed University.

Founder and CEO of Slash Coffee and Liwa Roastery. Scaling cafes to 10 outlets in 1 year and built one of the largest coffee factories in UAE.

Co-Founder of ROCKETECH, a software development company that converts business to digital form for customers. Rocketech team helps small startups and well-known brands grow their revenue with up-to-date software solutions. Alexey has a wide experience in the business development, team management and startup consultation a decade and driven by two primary passions – solving the problem of digitalisation for consumers and helping companies increase their bottom line. Brings together the major consultants to tackle both areas for B2B, B2C, B2G of local and global markets. Passionate about creating successful digital products and teams in fast-growing markets. Overall current startups evaluations that we help to achieve is $25M+ from 0 each in 2 years, we are doing this at scale and in 90% cases that we take.

Aby Sam Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Middle East, a business magazine catering to the region’s entrepreneurs and business-minded readership. In this role, Aby writes and edits for Entrepreneur Middle East’s monthly print publication, as well as for its website, www.entrepreneur.com/me. He is especially interested in stories on startups and the people behind them, and finding out how they put a successful enterprise together. Before working in the media sector, Aby was an analyst programmer with Accenture, where he worked with J. P. Morgan Chase’s investment banking arm at offices in Mumbai, London and New York. He holds a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

Jumana Al Darwish is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, Web3 investor and celebrated philanthropist with over 18 years of extensive experience shaping the public and private sectors. Al Darwish is the founder of the internationally-renowned social enterprises known as The Happy Box, The Happy Studio and Happy Hearts Global, as well as co-founder of the female-centric Web3 platform Made For You Global. With the belief that blockchain’s potential to improve the world is not only unrealized but actually limitless, Al Darwish is dedicated in contributing to its growth and cohesive adoption using all her knowledge, skills and experience, with the ultimate goal of supporting only truly impactful and innovative projects and helping the rapidly changing blockchain world to add real value to people’s lives.

Zohare (zo-hay-rr) is an award-winning entrepreneur who is building jalebi.io, a B2B SaaS Techstars-backed startup that helps restaurants unlock working capital, increase margins and reduce waste by simply optimizing their inventory. Previously, he founded Digital Street – an award-winning digital agency, among other ventures he created or helped launch. Zohare is deeply involved with the regional startup ecosystem and celebrates a past life slumming with corporates for over 15 years.

Zain’s mission is to to build an impact-driven future. Her experience focuses on the interplay between sustainability, technology, and communication. Zain is now leading Green Future Projects growth in MENA, helping pioneer sustainability and climate action in the region.

Deniz is the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Archireef, a climate tech startup that invented the world’s first 3D-printed reef tiles to restore and protect global coral reef populations. Prior to this, Deniz co-founded travel technology startup Portier Technologies, launching its product across 11 countries. Deniz was also the Head of Growth at Hong Kong’s first unicorn and founder of Vintage Outfitter in the UK.

Alex is part of Payoneer’s core team for SAMEA and manages its regional strategic partnerships, Marketplace Partnerships & business development initiatives. He has worked for over 12 years across the Middle East serving several industries including; Travel technology, Hospitality & FinTech. Over the past decade, Alex has developed in-depth expertise across the fields of global e-commerce, international partnerships, payments eco-systems & multi-regional development.

Baldeep is currently the founder and CEO of Revent, a B2C marketplace for preowned electronic devices. He has over 12+ years of eCommerce leadership experience with companies like Walmart, Rocket Internet, Snapdeal and Caterpillar. During his last corporate stint as a Senior Vice President, he built Noon.com’s Recommerce business in three major markets in MENA. He loves reading non-fiction and playing badminton.

Firas Abdulwahed is the founder and CEO of SanoCRM an omnichannel social commerce platform that enables b2c businesses to market, support & sell better on chat. He has a strong background in Finance and Tech development with a Masters degree in Finance from the University of Rochester in New York. His innovative thinking and entrepreneurial mindset, combined with his deep understanding of the latest trends in the market, have led him to develop a leading Customer Experience solution for businesses in emerging markets.

Skye Nguyen is the Head of Global Expansion at prop-tech start-up Stella Stays. She is an award-winning Growth Strategist with significant experience putting tech start-ups globally on the Unicorn trajectory.

Wassim is a serial entrepreneur of AI & Blockchain startups for bringing ease and trust to global commerce. He set up his first business in 2010 when he was appointed as a channel partner for Nokia-Microsoft to operators and omni-channels. Before turning to an entrepreneur, Wassim held many leadership positions with global companies between 1995 and 2009. By order, Head of Retail business with Microsoft, Head of GTM with Nokia and Business Development Manager with Kraft Foods UK. Wassim lectures on Blockchain’s wide applicability for boosting enterprise productivity and yield and build direct-to-consumer relationships and Web3 rewards. Wassim and Verofax has received many awards in US, EU, Asia and the middle East and has developed 4 patents on “Blockchain and AI for digital Twinning”. Wassim holds a Bachelors in Business Computer and Executive MBA diplomas from Wharton, Insead and Sheffield-Hallam. https://youtu.be/chCftleL5CY https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wassimmerheby_leap-leap23-rocketfuel-activity-7029834606388359168-pL7w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Salim A. Essaid is a Dubai-based business correspondent for Al-Monitor who covers innovation, business, technology, and conducts news analysis in the Middle East. For more than a decade, Salim broke original news, features, and data-led analysis for outlets including TIME Magazine, CNN, NHK World, Agence France Presse (AFP) and the Associated Press (AP). Until the end of 2020, he was the lead reporter on Euronews’ weekly Inspire Middle East, and later the host of Sci-Tech. He produced more than 120 episodes exploring the latest happenings in the MENA region’s technology, business, and cultural scene. As a moderator and host he has led panel discussions about how fintech is empowering young Arabs to save and invest, cryptocurrencies’ potential to liberate migrant workers, and how to effectively report from the Middle East for a global audience. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Arabic and Japanese from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Master’s degree in broadcasting from the Columbia School of Journalism in New York.

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.

Award Winning, Founder of CryptoTalks & DxTalks The Digital Leaders Platform | BCCManagement Consultancy | Forbes Technology Council | Keynote Speaker | Mentor | Advisor | Specialized in consulting on Digital Transformation Strategies, Fintech, Cybersecurity, Governance, and Blockchain

Ahmed Al Aradi has been part of the Tap journey for over 4 years, starting off in Growth and Business Development. Today as the Group EVP of Business and the MD in Bahrain, he leads Tap’s business team; manages the strategic partnerships, and ecosystems; while also leading the team in Bahrain and driving growth there. Ahmed is an MBA graduate from Ahlia University in Bahrain and has worked in industries such as Telecom, Cybersecurity, and Payments with companies such as AMEX, SCT technology solutions, and more.

Nina is a passionate entrepreneur and branding expert with 19 years of experience. She believes in the power of purpose-driven businesses and works with companies committed to a greater cause. As a loving mother, Nina wants to ensure a bright future for her children and future generations. Through her work, she inspires others to create businesses that positively impact the world. Nina relocated to Dubai 25 years ago and kickstarted her entrepreneurial journey after graduation. She founded one of the first business conference companies in the Middle East, growing it into a well-respected and significant player in the region. With a team of highly motivated and talented individuals, Nina worked with top executives from the pharmaceutical, banking, and oil and gas industries. It was a time when she learned the true value of networking. Nina’s career took a new turn when she joined the branding sector and took on the role of Director of Business Development at Fitch. There, she established strong relationships with key clients and honed her skills in business development. This pivotal experience, over a decade ago, fueled her drive to establish Ninth Space, a strategy and design firm dedicated to helping clients in creating meaningful and impactful brands. Despite having no formal business development efforts, Nina and her team have been able to attract high-profile clients, including the UAE and Oman Governments, Expo 2020, Emirates Group, AirAsia, Aldar Properties, MAF, Four Seasons Hotels, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, St. Regis Hotels, Abu Dhabi University, and many others. Ninth Space has become one of the best and most innovative boutique brand and design consultancies in the Middle East and beyond, with a portfolio of over 100 projects in 10 countries. Nina is dedicated to her vision of inspiring the creation of meaningful brands. To further this goal, she has co-founded Vea, an educational platform, and shares her expertise through speaking engagements, mentorship, and her business podcast, “”Brands Through Stories.

–

A seasoned management consultant turned into a startup founder on a mission to make sports easy and help communities be more active

Tammer is a Founding Partner of VentureSouq, a GCC-based venture capital firm that invests globally with a particular focus on MENA. VentureSouq has a portfolio of over 250 early stage technology investments. Previously, he was Vice President of Private Equity at Waha Capital, based in Abu Dhabi. Prior to joining Waha, Tammer worked in structured products and investment banking with UBS and HSBC in New York and Dubai, respectively. Previously he served as a Fulbright Scholar in Damascus, Syria and worked with the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House in Washington, D.C. Tammer holds a B.A. from Yale University and serves on the Board of Directors of the Yale Arab Alumni Association.

–

Aboudi Al-Qattan is the Investment Principal at DASH Ventures, one of MENA’s longest-standing VC firms. He started his career at DASH as an analyst, before moving to Kuwait to play professional basketball for two years. In Kuwait Aboudi worked part time as an investment professional at Messilah Ventures, before returning to DASH at the start of the pandemic. Aboudi is originally Palestinian but was raised between Texas and London, before studying Entrepreneurship at Babson College.

Andrew Gazdecki is a 4x founder with 3x exits, former CRO, and founder of Acquire.com. Gazdecki has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as prominent industry blogs such as Mashable, TechCrunch and VentureBeat.

Emma Rosso is the BD Department Manager for the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Pakistan at data platform MAGNiTT. Emma supports corporates, government entities, investors and enablers with access to data and research on the tech startup and VC ecosystems across emerging venture markets. Emma has more than ten years experience of growing revenues, market share, and client bases for tech startups in the UAE.

Rachel Crawford is the Director of Special Projects at Village Capital. She has been with Village Capital for over six years. At Village Capital Rachel led an IFC supported multi year research program on strategies to reduce the gender financing gap. Previously, Rachel worked on the investment team of real estate-driven private equity firm Patron Capital Advisors and subsequently led strategic projects for their largest portfolio company, Generator, which was sold for 450m euros in 2017. She then joined the travel tech startup Tripr App, before joining Village Capital’s Emerging Markets team in Nairobi. She is now based in London.

Alexandra has 20 years experience leading strategy and innovation initiatives that shift perceptions and generate growth.  During her 10 years in the Middle East,  Alexandra has become a trusted advisor to a number of UAE Government entities including KHDA,  The Executive Office,  DMCC,  Dubai Future Foundation,  Dubai Tourism, Dubai Chamber,  amongst others.   Alexandra professionally coaches and mentors future leaders in the areas of foresight, innovation, ESG and leadership.  In her 8 years as a senior advisor to Companies Creating Change (C3), Alexandra has mentored multiple social impact entrepreneurs across the MENA region.  Alexandra has contributed to multiple foresight reports as well as two books on the future, the World in 2025 and Six Challenges for the Next Decade.  She is a frequent contributor to Arab News on public attitudes and behaviours across the MENA region. 

Julie is the Co-Founder of Crunchmoms, a community and the first and only professional platform for women at all stages of their careers and motherhood. She is building a community to support women with their career ambitions and motherhood journey whether it’s returning to the workforce, growing in their current field, or starting and growing a business. Since its launch, Crunchmoms has grown organically and now has 3,000+ bold, ambitious women. Julie is a founding steerco member of the 2022 Female Angels movement and an active member and speaker within the startup community. She is passionate about empowering women and building a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, and marketers. She is mother of a four year old and 11 month old baby.

Stephen Severance is the Director of Growth at Masdar City. He oversees numerous projects to ensure they meet program baselines that balance sustainability and economic requirements, as well as program controls guaranteeing each project meets sustainability, revenue, cost, and schedule targets. Additionally, Mr. Severance leads the development of the technology lines of business including district cooling, mobility, and smart city initiatives. He develops new business models, execution strategies, and partnerships with leading global companies to implement the technology requirements. Mr. Severance has 20 years of experience in project and program management, strategy consulting, financial analysis, and economic development. He joined Masdar City from Booz & Company in Los Angeles, where he was an Engagement Manager. During nine years at Booz & Company, he led teams handling senior-level clients and their major projects in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He also headed the development of operating models, governance, organization, processes, and tools required to improve the success of these projects. Additionally, he led project teams in growth strategy, cost reduction, and economic analysis. Before joining Booz & Company, Mr. Severance served as Project Director for the nonprofit Citizen’s Network in Moldova and as a Business Consultant for the Peace Corps in Moldova. He has also worked for Sun Microsystems, Wyse Technologies, and Amdahl Corp., all in California. Mr. Severance graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from San Jose State University in California, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration – Emphasis on Finance, from Cedarville University in the United States.

Nic is a business leader, entrepreneur, investor, and advisor passionate about merging business and technology in key sectors of mobility, fintech, blockchain, and SAAS. He has a 20+ year career in leading teams and building companies in India, Africa, the Middle East and the United States across multiple sectors.

German Architect and Project Manager with more than 25 years of experience in the fields of design, project management, and site supervision as well as extensive expertise in material resource management, process efficiency and training. Since 2005 based in the Middle East and involved in projects related to material resource management, e.g. zero steel waste precast factory in Dubai, initiative of waste segregation in Ras Al Khaimah by RAK Waste Management Authority. Certified tourist guide by BTEA (Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority) since January 2017 with over 5 years of experience in eco-tourism, VIP guest tours, exclusive private tours, adventure and nature tours, exhibition guiding, sports trip preparation with DNATA, Best of Bahrain, Visit Bahrain, Bahrain International Travel and Al Gosaibi Travel. CEO and founder of W-AI-STE, wastrepreneur, ecopreneuer, inspireneur, edutainer and speaker in conferences on environmental awareness, sustainability and eco-tourism. Developer of a training program to enhance knowledge and build local capacities on MRM (Material Resource Management) and EPP (Efficiency Performance Processing). Island Innovation Ambassador for The Kingdom of Bahrain in May 2021 and developer of eco-tourism activities with Amazing Bahrain. Supporting local and international environmental initiatives like World CleanUp Day, Island Innovation, CleanUp Bahrain, Bahrain Diving Volunteer Team or environmental projects like Rooftop Home or Hidden Treasure Garden Diraz project and blogging about environmental issues, innovative technology and future solutions.

Rachel McArthur is a Dubai-based journalist, editor, and MC/moderator, with 15+ years of experience in digital, print and broadcast media. She is the founder and managing editor of Digital Ink Media, a publisher that curates exclusive content – including editorial copy, photography, and video – for some of the region’s best-known media outlets and brands. Having edited/been published in titles including The Washington Post, T Emirates: The NY Times Magazine, Thomson Reuters, and Wamda, Rachel covers a variety of subjects. However, healthcare journalism is at the core of her reporting. A qualified medical journalist, Rachel has a keen interest in latest research, digital health, and healthtech. She is a member of the Medical Journalists’ Association (UK), and the Association of Health Care Journalists (USA). Rachel is fluent in English and Arabic.

Nicolas has been at the helm of Blacklane ME since May 2022. He previously worked for the company as the Global Head of Strategic Partnerships from their UAE base for four years after relocating from the Berlin HQ where he served as the Head of Driver Operations. Prior to joining Blacklane, Nicolas spend a decade with Sony, working between London, Singapore and the U.A.E. A former management consultant with a Master of Science in Management, Audit and Finance, Nicolas is focused on the growth and development of Blacklane regionally, maintaining the company’s core commitment to carbon-neutral, luxury and sustainable travel.

Sirine is an award-winning fintech leader with extensive experience in MENA and Europe. Prior to Spades where she leads partnerships and growth, Sirine lead Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program across CEMEA and DTEC’s (DSOA) Tech Incubator investing in early to Series A tech startups from across the globe.

Golden Scent pioneered fragrance & beauty e-commerce in the MENA region when it launched in 2014. Today, GoldenScent.com has the largest fragrance library worldwide covering more than 20,000 products. As a founder of the company, I have directed, set up or been involved in practically all departments of the company, its vision, strategy and operations, its growth from zero to multi million USD market leader in its category, where we work with world class fragrance houses and supply chain partners across Europe, Middle East and Asia as well as make use of state of the art data infrastructure in search of the latest consumer trends to cate our customer with the right products.

Sophie is the Founder and CEO of Nabta Health, a hybrid healthcare platform for women providing personalised healthcare to women in emerging markets. Prior to founding Nabta, Sophie worked for Accenture as a technology consultant and then founded several impact enterprises including myZindagi (a doctor-finding platform based in Pakistan) and Le Plastics (a plastic recycling company based in Sierra Leone). Sophie’s lifetime ambition is to make healthcare affordable and accessible for all women. Sophie read History at the University of Cambridge and completed an MBA with Quantic School of Business and Technology.

With more than 11 years of experience in Marketing, Ali continues to find passion in ideas that resonate with different mindsets and hold an award-winning potential. He heavily focuses on unlocking the potential of new and existing clients as they address concern in a dynamic and competitive industry. With a human-first approach, Ali leads the strategy and development teams at Boopin to streamline processes and ensure any marketing efforts are measurably profitable. Even with his consumer-centric belief, AI and future innovations are an area Ali is interested in exploring. His current challenge is how to bridge the connection between human and machine.

Fouad is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Maqsam, MENA’s friendliest cloud communication suite for SMEs. Previously, Fouad has served as a partner and manager at a number of forward thinking ventures between the United States and MENA region, particularly in Jordan. He has offered and led technical as well as strategic consulting efforts to top tier telecom, software & internet companies such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon & others.

Michiel is a branding builder with years of experience at the intersection of strategy, story and technology. As Chief Brand Officer of ROBINHQ.com, he gained extensive domain knowledge in the fields of customer service, customer experience and conversational commerce. As part of the CM.com Strategy Office, Michiel monitors the latest trends and developments to help companies adapt to new engagement models and build intelligence for the brand-new generation of consumers.

Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Madiha has led a versatile and ambitious career over the years across finance, tech and media. Madiha pursued her university education in the United States, graduating from Harvard University with a degree in History & Literature. She then headed various positions in New York, Karachi and Dubai. Madiha’s professional background includes investment banking and management consulting at McKinsey in the US, global corporate strategy at banks like Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan, and heading strategic initiatives for 21st Century Fox’s media JV in the region. Furthermore, Madiha still found some time to indulge her passion for writing and politics as a current affairs journalist in Pakistan. She joined Careem in 2018 and has taken on several roles across the company’s services. She now holds the position Vice President for Careem Pay, where she leads strategy development and key partnerships for Careem’s fintech business and products. Moreover, she supports the corporate division on investments, mergers and acquisitions, and establishes governance and performance-reporting structures as well as advises Careem’s CEO on key matters.

Elie is the co-founder of Anghami – the leading music streaming service in the Middle East. Anghami has reached over 40 million users, raised many millions from Venture Capital firms over several rounds and partnered with MBC – the top media group in the region – as well as over 20 mobile operators. At Anghami, Elie runs the operations and product development, spending most of his time working between clouds, streams and pixels.

Nida Sumar is the Founder & CEO of 60 Day Startups provides a platform to accelerates female-founded startups to revenue. She is also the founder of The Table Project, a thriving food community built around a shared passion for food soaked in tradition. The common thread that ties both ventures is Nida’s exceptional ability to create strong communities that create lasting impact. She started her career in finance and became the one of youngest few female CFA Charter holders in the UAE in 2013 and worked in 2 of the Big 4’s across New York and Dubai. After half a dozen years in traditional financeNida founded her first award-winning foodtech startup in 2016 and successfully exited the company in early 2019. Nida’s entrepreneurial journey continued when she founded The Table Project in 2019. It has now served over 121 nationalities and held events for over 8000 diners in the globally. Her work with The Table Project has been featured several times on television and radio in the region. Nida has been at the forefront of the culinary revolution in the region and is passionate about creating a community that will evolve as thought leaders of the UAE food scene. In 2020, Nida founded 60 Day Startups and once again, brought together a community of passionate and accomplished individuals and industry experts to flip the numbers representing female entrepreneurship in the region. 60DS is set apart from the rest because it concentrates on sustainable business practices and shifts the focus from becoming investment-ready to becoming revenue-generating. In just a few months, Nida has managed to partner with heavy weights like P&G, Notion, Stripe and Microsoft whilst keeping community stars like Pitfire Pizza, Zoho, Earth & Ethics and others equally excited and involved in the building of this unique accelerator. With over 18 years of experience in the world of finance, food and entrepreneurship, Nida focuses her experience and energy in creating meaningful impact and building communities for good. She regularly mentors startups, advocates for mental health issues and champions sustainable food practices and speaks for women in the world of business. Her work and career is often featured and celebrated in local community events as well as notable media. She is truly the face of a woman that would be an asset to any community or country. Nida believes business runs in her blood, and bringing meaning to business runs in her upbringing – with her fourth startup getting set to launch in 2023, we believe it too.

Nathalie is the Lead Partner of True Middle East. True Search is a US headquartered global Executive Search firm focused on innovative PE and VC backed high growth tech businesses. Nathalie launched the MENA office in 2019 and the team is based in Dubai Internet City. She has extensive experience of leadership recruiting and start up advisory in the tech scene in the region over the past 13 years, having previously headed the people functions at Dubizzle and Property Finder.

Racha Ghamlouch is the co-founder of the Digital Digest, the MENA region’s digital economy news and market intelligence aggregator. Racha Ghamlouch has 10 years of experience in community development, events, and content creation. She led content, initiatives and programs at ArabNet for 7 years and moved on to build community engagement at BECO capital, after which she switched to focus on the Digital Digest, a digital economy news aggregator and consulting companies on the MENA region’s digital economy.

Elliott is a climber. An avid surfer. A wind-loving kiter. An obsessive freediver. And a remarkably average golfer. Elliott sits on the intersection between people, business, and technology. He now leads the Startup Programs team in Dtec Ventures. Notably, Elliott runs the landmark startup program, SANDBOX; the region’s landmark founder-focused 12-month program supporting early-stage technology entrepreneurs to scale, fundraise and grow. Launched early 2022, SANDBOX is fast becoming the most sought after startup program in the UAE. If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur, ambitious to make waves, consider SANDBOX.

Supreet Raju is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of OneRare, the world’s first Food Metaverse. Having a passion for trends & design, she pursued her design degree from NIFT, Delhi, ending as a Gold Medalist. She specializes in creating interactive spaces and increasing engagement through her designs, winning multiple awards for her work. She currently spearheads the creative strategy at OneRare and her prime focus lies in bringing the Food & Beverage Industry to Web3 and creating a new global monetisation model for Food businesses.

Shaker Zainal is the Chief mSMEs Officer at EDB. He is leading plans to enhance the bank’s offering as part of EDB’s new strategy to become a key engine for growth of the UAE’s economy and the post-COVID recovery, emphasizing on entrepreneurship and innovation, adopting advanced technologies, generating In-Country Value as well as the 4th Industrial Revolution. He is also Head of MBRIF, on behalf of Emirates Development Bank, who have been appointed by Ministry of Finance to host and operate the fund. Mr Zainal holds an executive MBA from HULT International Business School (Boston, USA) and a Bachelor’s in Accounting from the UAE University.

Wassim is a serial entrepreneur of AI & Blockchain startups for bringing ease and trust to global commerce. He set up his first business in 2010 when he was appointed as a channel partner for Nokia-Microsoft to operators and omni-channels. Before turning to an entrepreneur, Wassim held many leadership positions with global companies between 1995 and 2009. By order, Head of Retail business with Microsoft, Head of GTM with Nokia and Business Development Manager with Kraft Foods UK. Wassim lectures on Blockchain’s wide applicability for boosting enterprise productivity and yield and build direct-to-consumer relationships and Web3 rewards. Wassim and Verofax has received many awards in US, EU, Asia and the middle East and has developed 4 patents on “Blockchain and AI for digital Twinning”. Wassim holds a Bachelors in Business Computer and Executive MBA diplomas from Wharton, Insead and Sheffield-Hallam. https://youtu.be/chCftleL5CY https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wassimmerheby_leap-leap23-rocketfuel-activity-7029834606388359168-pL7w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

In his role as Head of Fintech, Hassan is spearheading talabat’s payments and other fintech initiatives in the region. He has over a decade of experience working in the fintech space within banking, telco, ride-hailing and online delivery industries across the MENA region and helped ideate, launch and scale multiple fintech products used by millions of customers today. Hassan is Business Management graduate from Lancaster University, he also completed leadership development programs at Lahore University of Management Sciences, and INSEAD.

Richard Fitzgerald is CEO and Founder of Augustus Media, an award-winning modern media company in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, publishers of Lovin Dubai, Lovin Saudi and Smashi TV. Working in digital, media and social media agencies in Europe and the Middle East for 11 years, most recently former Regional Head of Social Media for Mindshare MENA, Richard founded Augustus Media in 2015 to what has grown to be 70 employees with offices in Cairo, Riyadh and Dubai to become one of the leading modern media companies in the region. The Lovin platform is present in 15 cities across the region, and Smashi streaming service has 12 vertical channels. In addition to running Augustus Meida, he also manages a portfolio of media, tech and content investments under Fitzy Fund.

Ahmed is CEO and co-founder at Gameball; a leading customer engagement and retention CRM that works with over 20 million consumers in 70+ countries. Before Gameball, he spent 10+ years working in multiple technical and commercial roles at multinationals and startups. Ahmed worked previously in Egypt, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar and managed the execution and delivery of multi-million dollars projects to clients like Aramco, ExxonMobil, Sabic, Petronas, Total, Braskem and many others. As a business consultant, Ahmed consulted and mentored startups in Egypt, UAE and Canada as well as corporates in the fields of technology and real estate.

Mohammed Khashoggi is a Tech Entrepreneur. Founder and CEO of Ejaro, the first licensed peer to peer car-sharing platform in Saudi

Abdullah Mutawi is a partner at Taylor Wessing LLP, a global law firm specialising in venture capital and technology transactions. He specializes in corporate law, M&A, early and growth stage VC and private equity transactions, and has worked with some of the region’s most high-profile clients, including VC and PE funds, family offices, and sovereign wealth investors. Abdullah has led transactions involving companies and assets in 33 developed and emerging markets globally with an aggregate deal value in excess of $40 billion. Prior to joining Taylor Wessing, he worked at other leading law firms in London and the Middle East.

Ali Halabi is a Lebanese Turkish mobility tech entrepreneur and is the founder and CEO of Volt Lines.

Nitin has a diversified background in venture capital, direct investments and business operations across 22 years of experience in Canada and the GCC. He has built businesses from the ground up and assumed the role of a transformational C-level executive for companies navigating their way through the growth phase.

Sophie is the Founder and CEO of Nabta Health, a hybrid healthcare platform for women providing personalised healthcare to women in emerging markets. Prior to founding Nabta, Sophie worked for Accenture as a technology consultant and then founded several impact enterprises including myZindagi (a doctor-finding platform based in Pakistan) and Le Plastics (a plastic recycling company based in Sierra Leone). Sophie’s lifetime ambition is to make healthcare affordable and accessible for all women. Sophie read History at the University of Cambridge and completed an MBA with Quantic School of Business and Technology.

–

Entrepreneur, digital strategist, and leadership expert with a track record of successfully launching multiple businesses. Skilled in driving growth and success through innovative strategies and a passion for excellence. Dedicated to mentoring and guiding others to reach their full potential as leaders.

Ava is a co-founder and board member of Hoopfull.com, UAE’s first online directory of qualified mental health professionals.  She is a psychologist in private practice in Dubai and has previously cofounded Aurelia Psychology LLC and Insights Psychology DMCC. Ava holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and a masters in counselling psychology (Adler University, Chicago) and an Honors B.Sc. in Psychology (York University, Toronto). She is currently training at the Synthesis Institute (Amsterdam) to become a legal psychedelic practitioner. Ava is licensed in Dubai, as well as Ontario, Canada. She has been living and working in the UAE since 2014. Ava works with a wide range of psychological difficulties resulting from stress and trauma; she has a special interest in helping the public have access to qualified mental health professionals.

Laila Bin Hareb Almheiri is an Emirati serial entrepreneur, the founder & CEO of Alive Group, a keynote speaker, and an expert on multiple disciplines with more than three decades of experience in transforming the aviation, cybersecurity, public transportation, and holistic healthcare sectors. She used her knowledge of organic leadership, organizational transformation, and digital innovation to contribute immensely to the development of the UAE.

Ed Mathot is the founder & chief vision officer of Fuelees — Plant Based Energy on a Sustainable Mission — The most relevant and impact-driven Health & Performance Nutrition startup, based in Dubai UAE. Personally driven to fuel people’s brain & body with the cleanest range of functional beverages to unlock their full potential while also caring for their health, their longevity, and our planet.

Meet Rima, a Personal Development Specialist with a passion for helping people build confidence and live their best life. Rima has a unique skillset that blends the science of the mind with practical techniques to help her clients reach their full potential. Rima has worked with people from all walks of life, helping them to overcome their fears and insecurities, and to develop the confidence they need to achieve their goals. Rima’s approach is always personalized and tailored to the unique needs of each client. With her infectious energy and unwavering commitment to empowering others, she is changing lives and helping people achieve their dreams. If you’re looking to build confidence and take control of your life, Rima is here to help you every step of the way.

Jen is the founder of Female Fusion, the largest community for female entrepreneurs in the UAE and growing globally. With over 20 years of entrepreneurship expertise, she leverages Female Fusion’s platform and network to support women in starting, building, growing and scaling their businesses.

Zeina is the Founder of PAZ Marketing Management in Dubai and Colibri Events in Saudi Arabia 22 years of experience working with tourism government bodies luxury brands and channels Lead the “Rebuilding Iraq” PR effort for 2 years Publicist for Diplomats and Ministers globally The Woman behind all the main digital techs/.com’s launches (Souq.com until its acquisition by Amazon, Namshi, Tabby and many more) Women in Business Awardee – Category “Queen of the .com’s” Trainer introducing “Humanizing PR” program for Leaders and Entrepreneurs Board Member at the Arab Fashion Council Moderator and Speaker at events and Media outlets Owns and Hosts an Arabic Podacast / Youtube Show نص ساعة Social Media trainers and guider for the public under “EntaPreneurship” segment in Arabic

Founder & Managing Partner of BIM Ventures, the leading Saudi Venture Studio. Passionate about building innovative, exciting and financially sustainable ventures.

A finance professional and one of the leaders of BIM Ventures, which is the most prominent and successful Venture Studio in Saudi Arabia and the region, as it plays a fundamental role in the innovation and technology system by building successful and financially sustainable companies. He established the studio and invested in 18 technology startups with 30 entrepreneurs in the past 24 months, which directly contributed to the employment of more than 350 people, and the numbers are still increasing. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Accounting from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in addition to the Fellowship of the Certified Management Accountant “CMA” and holds a Master of Business Administration majoring in Entrepreneurship from Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Management and Entrepreneurship (MBSC).

The New York Times has called Peter Shankman ‘a rockstar who knows everything about social media and then some.’ He is a 5x best selling author, entrepreneur and corporate keynote speaker, focusing on customer service and the new and emerging customer and neurodiverse economy. With three successful startup launches and exits under his belt, (most notably Help a Reporter Out) Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about the customer experience, social media, PR, marketing, advertising, and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and the new neurodiverse and remote economies. He’s currently the Futurist in Residence at Price Benowitz and BluShark Digital. Peter is a father, a 2x Ironman triathlete, a Class B licensed skydiver, and has a pretty serious Peloton addiction. When he’s not traveling around the world speaking to companies big and small, he’s based in NYC with his nine year old daughter and two year old dog, both of whom consistently refuse him access to his couch.

Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, a Social Enterprise established in 2009 and dedicated to raising awareness among the local community on Sustainability and Green Living. Goumbook is one of the oldest Social Enterprises in the UAE and today it manages different projects such as Give a Ghaf and Trees Matter, regional and global tree planting programs to encourage reforestation and rehabilitation of ecosystems; Drop It – Rethink Plastic campaign to help businesses and individuals reduce single use plastics, and SustainableMena, a business directory dedicated to promoting sustainable products and services in the region. Most recently Goumbook was proud to conceptualize, and project manage, Dubai Can, a campaign by HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. Tatiana sits on the Engage Committee, under Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s umbrella and has been nominated Environmental Ambassador for the Middle East Youth Expo. She also acts as a sustainability advisor to events such as Art Dubai or the Emirates Literature Festival. Since 2012 she has been proud to be a judge of the Gulf Capital SME Awards for the ‘Most Sustainable Business of the Year’. In 2020 Tatiana also joined the Advisory Board of the Gulf Sustainability Awards.

Anna-Liisa Goggs joined CREO in January 2020 as Managing Director, EMEA. As a successful entrepreneur dedicated to supporting impact businesses she is passionate about leveraging networks and partnerships to help scale climate solutions and broaden climate finance. Prior to joining CREO, Anna-Liisa developed and managed a flourishing results-focused curriculum and investor matching programme for over 250 social enterprises in the Middle East involved in health, climate and education sectors, among others. Alongside this, Anna-Liisa is a highly experienced corporate lawyer, accomplished in corporate finance transactions, M&A activity and IPOs. She has also supported family businesses to set up foundations and develop ESG investment strategies. Anna-Liisa holds an MBA with the Open University (England) and a BA Law with French from the University of Sheffield (England). Anna-Liisa is based in London.

Samar Alshorafa is the Founding CEO of She is Arab, a social business with a vision to increase women’s participation in the workforce in the Arab World and beyond. Prior to that, Samar spent over 15 years working in the field of international development and consulting in MENA handling a variety of regional roles with organizations such as IFC – World Bank Group, European Commission’s Industrial Modernization Program for Egypt, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and Education for Employment. An advocate for women’s economic empowerment, Samar has been named one of the ‘Top 10 LinkedIn Voices on Gender Equity in MENA 2022,’ an inaugural list announced on International Women’s Day. She was also recognized as one of ’50 Inspiring Female Business Leaders 2022’ by Arabian Business, as well as the prestigious ‘Vital Voices Grow Fellowship 2021’ as one of 50 global women leaders driving a business with social impact. She was previously recognized on the ‘Arab Power List 2021’ among 100 business leaders who have had a significant impact on life in MENA by Arabian Business.

Tena is a social impact consultant passionate about women empowerment, community development and social impact measurement. She is based in India with extensive experience in the Middle East, Caribbean, Africa and South and Southeast Asia. She is the Founder of Project Kal, a gender leadership academy focusing on dismantling toxic masculinity patterns in India. Project Kal works in prevention of gender-based violence by proactively and intentionally engaging men in the greater conversations around equality. Project Kal’s clients include schools, corporates, universities and social enterprises around India. Project Kal also focuses on policy advisory and thought leadership in the gender and development space. Tena is also co-founder of Parenthesis, a feminist parenting platform. Tena has worked globally on projects relating to gender, human rights and gender mainstreaming.

Sara Tabana (MSc Supply Chain Management) Sr. Director, Digital Partnerships, Fintech and Ventures MENA Working with state-of-the-art corporations in the US and MENA regions, Sara Tabana has held multiple positions in business development, operations, strategy and partner management. Her main emphasis has been in supply chain management (Maersk), healthcare IT (Oracle Cerner) and payments (Network International and now Visa). For more than a decade, she has also been actively engaged with Dubai’s dynamic community, through personal and Government initiatives and start- ups focused on social enterprise in the fields of sustainability, female empowerment, and sports. Sara founded Roots Bistro, the U.A.E’s first certified sustainable restaurant and co-authored the book She Dares, a collaboration of inspirational stories of women from across the globe. Today, Sara is the Senior Director of Digital Partnerships, Fintech and Ventures for the MENA region at Visa and is a mentor at the DIFC FinTech Hive (the largest Financial Technology Accelerator in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia).

Nadia is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Seed South Capital, an investment firm focused on de-risking opportunities for later-stage investors. The firm focuses on IP commercialisation of deep and hard tech stemming from Universities and R&D institutes and works closely with the Department of Science and Innovation, the Technology Innovation Agency, publicly financed R&D institutions such as the CSIR, and the Private sector to stimulate the South African market as a catalyst for growth. Additionally, Nadia is the Chief Strategy Officer and Board Member of Women-in-Tech™️ Global. She oversees the expansion, strategic partnerships and development of the Academy and Programs, particularly in Web3. The organisation, which is present in 45 countries, is on a mission to close the gender gap in STEM. The 4 focus areas of the organization are social inclusion, education, business, and advocacy. Nadia Mannell, mother of 2, consistently curious, and an impact investor who is passionate about digital disruption and advocates for diverse leadership in tech, “build the world you want to see or help startups who are doing just that”. Nadia sits on the Steering Committee for the 2022 Female Angel Network in Dubai and is an Advisor for her female-led startup investments in the areas of Health-tech, Blockchain, Creator Economy and Social Commerce.

Haninder P. Singh is a seasoned entrepreneur and builder. He started his career with Booz & Company, advising Fortune 100 enterprises and Governments. He moved to the Middle East in 2014 to manage a high-growth e-commerce venture, leading its strategy and analytics function, raising a $10m bridge loan, and managing 30+ M&A DDs. He further managed the winding down of the venture in 2016, which had raised $100m+ venture capital since its inception. After personally experiencing a shortage of talent in strategy and management in the Middle East, Haninder decided to co-build StrategyConnect – a platform to access talent internationally with a vision of bringing the best talent from the globe to the region. Thus far, StrategyConnect has aggregated 5,000+ curated consultants & industry experts who have worked with 200+ organizations and government entities. Knowing what independent knowledge workers go through, Haninder is co-building a work identity solution to enhance how the skills & capabilities of the workforce of the future get evaluated.

I have not got this one. Can I send later?

Syrian-American Impact Tech Entrepreneur, Investor and philanthropist. Rama is a partner in Transform VC, a Silicon Valley firm enabling 1000 tech founders to impact a billion and make a billion by investing in deep tech with climate and social impact. Rama was instrumental in building the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Middle East. In addition to her corporate roles, Rama runs an edTech nonprofit (VIP.fund) supporting youth impacted by conflict. Rama has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, the Monitor, Arab Women Rising, a Wharton School of Business Publication and The power of presence, a book by Joy Moore.

Anna is passionate about using experiential education and technology to develop people. She has lived and worked in the UAE for 15 years and has led education program development and product development for organizations across the Middle East, USA and Asia for 20 years. Her company Bon Education has developed and delivered youth empowerment and workforce readiness programs to over 1 million program beneficiaries. Bon’s client portfolio includes organizations such as ADNOC, Google, Microsoft, CISCO, Canon, Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation, ADEK, Mubadala and many other governments and multinationals. Anna holds an MA in International and Comparative Education from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from the College of William and Mary. She is a mother of three, yogi, entrepreneur, wife, coach, and lover of travel and learning.

Amr is the cofounder and CEO of FinFlx, a fintech provider offering flexible workplace savings solutions for SMEs in MENA. Before starting FinFlx, Amr was the managing director of an investment management firm. Amr is a certified wealth manager with 10 years of experience in financial services.

Alexandra has 20 years experience leading strategy and innovation initiatives that shift perceptions and generate growth.  During her 10 years in the Middle East,  Alexandra has become a trusted advisor to a number of UAE Government entities including KHDA,  The Executive Office,  DMCC,  Dubai Future Foundation,  Dubai Tourism, Dubai Chamber,  amongst others.   Alexandra professionally coaches and mentors future leaders in the areas of foresight, innovation, ESG and leadership.  In her 8 years as a senior advisor to Companies Creating Change (C3), Alexandra has mentored multiple social impact entrepreneurs across the MENA region.  Alexandra has contributed to multiple foresight reports as well as two books on the future, the World in 2025 and Six Challenges for the Next Decade.  She is a frequent contributor to Arab News on public attitudes and behaviours across the MENA region. 

Christina Mueller is heading Strategic Planning, Business Operations and Government Compliance for the London Stock Exchange in the CEEMA Region. Amongst others, her team manages daily business activities, the long-term planning of the market, and engages into thought leadership partnerships with government customers. She joined the business (Thomson Reuters / Refinitiv) in 2016 as Strategic Projects Director for Government Projects in Dubai, after having lived in Canada where she worked in start-up advisory and research commercialization at the University of Toronto (Canada) under the mantra of bringing Science to Society. Prior, Dr Mueller led a tech venture as Cofounder and CEO from inception to commercialization. Dr Mueller holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Toronto (Canada), a Master of Science from the Philipps University of Marburg (Germany), and an Executive MBA from IE Business School (Madrid, Spain). Building on her academic interest and engagement, she is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship at IE Business School. Aside her corporate career, Dr Mueller is passionate about diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and people development. She is the MEA lead for the LSEG Foundation, an active #IamRemarkable educator, and actively participates in a D&I discussions.

Hatem is a cross-border strategic and venture capital investor with deep experience in technology and sustainability. Prior to joining SIP Global Partners, he worked as Head of Venture Capital Investment at Riyadh Valley Company, the investment arm of King Saud University where he was responsible for sourcing, due diligence, investments, investor relations and driving value-add for portfolio companies in the private and public sector. In this position, he also managed a portfolio of 19 international venture capital investments in the areas of healthcare & life sciences, information & communication technology and sustainable resources for international companies based across the US, Europe, and Asia.

A Tech Product manager & a Certified Coach. Specialized in strategic digital transformation including UX/UI for SaaS and customer facing products. As a Brand strategist, she worked with businesses across Dubai, New York, & Bahrain to scale local startups focusing on Customer-centric strategies. She recently launched “Qissatk”, a brand that aims to grow local businesses in the UAE. She holds MSc in Systems in Leadership & Strategy from New York University, New York. Distinguished as a former scholar from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Scholars Program (SMSP), batch 2017/2018

Ankit is a Partner at MEVP and over the past 10 years, Ankit has invested in early stage technology companies in India and in MENA. At MEVP his portfolio cuts across consumer internet startups such as Nana, breakthrough Fintech platforms such as Xare, and wholistic B2B2C platforms such as The Cloud. Prior to MEVP, Ankit was Vice President of Boson Ventures which was his debut stint in the Middle East. Prior to that Ankit was Vice President of Capital18, a specialist VC-fund HQed in New Delhi and focused on mobile, media and entertainment.

In his role as Head of Fintech, Hassan is spearheading talabat’s payments and other fintech initiatives in the region. He has over a decade of experience working in the fintech space within banking, telco, ride-hailing and online delivery industries across the MENA region and helped ideate, launch and scale multiple fintech products used by millions of customers today. Hassan is Business Management graduate from Lancaster University, he also completed leadership development programs at Lahore University of Management Sciences, and INSEAD.

Hi, I’m a sustainabilist. My purpose is to create an impact in the world of mobility and create a better future for our generations. I’m the founder of ONE MOTO – an award-winning, impact driven EV ecosystem focused on changing the way we move. I have a wealth of experience when it comes to sustainable product development, tech-driven vehicles and delivering the future of mobility to everyday commuters and logistics sector. I’m also a speaker on Future and Smart Mobility, and mentor start-ups in the region. I have successfully built four businesses in Dubai over 14 years – The MEDIACUBED Group – with a fantastic portfolio of award-winning clients and a diverse team that supported my vision before achieving a successful exit in 2020.

The Co-founder & CEO of Lucky financial, Egypt’s leading consumer fintech platform. In 2022, Lucky was recognized by forbes as one of the top 10 most funded fintechs in the middle east & the 1st in Egypt. As a serial entrepreneur in MEA region for over a decade & before embarking on the journey to build Lucky, co-founded Dsquares, currently the leading loyalty solutions provider in the region operating in 7 markets. In addition, Ayman’s corporate career includes leadership roles at Vodafone & Temasek, angel invests & sits on the board of a few tech startups in Egypt. Endeavor Egypt entrepreneur & board member. Columbia business school alumni & studied electronics engineering.

Philipp is a Senior Associate at the Dubai Future District Fund, managing direct investments and the portfolio development. Before his current role, he founded 3 startups, including a crypto investment fund. He also helped launch the Microsoft for Startups program, the Microsoft GrowthX Accelerator and the Highway to 100 Unicorns conference in partnership with ADIO across MEA.

Lara has gathered 15 years of international experience developing data and tech-enabled solutions, loyalty programs, customer relationship management, and customer outreach programs across different industries. Holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and a Master’s degree in International Hospitality Management from EADA Business School, Barcelona. Lara is also a connector, impact creator, mental health advocate, and storyteller.

Morgan Eldred is the founder of Digital Energy. Previously he worked as an energy research director, in strategy development and transformational program delivery for Gartner, Maersk Oil and Shell. He holds a Legal Law Masters, an Executive Masters in Business Administration and a PhD in Computing.

Managing Partner of Scopernia’s MENA office, based in Dubai. Scopernia is an innovative and future-centered management consulting firm with 30 years of experience, transitioning from Web1 to Web2, Digital Transformation, Gaming & esports, and now Web3 with the launch of Imagin3 Studio, that Jeremy Co-Founded in early 2022. Imagin3 Studio is helping organizations enter Web3 and the Metaverse, and has delivered multiple Metaverse and NFT projects for public and private organizations in the MENA region. Jeremy is strongly passionate about new technologies and their impact on human lives.

Mossab started ethical hacking at the age of 13. In 2009 he landed his first official white-hat hacking job with Souq (now Amazon.ae). For most of his career, he’s been building software and products by the day (namely at Careem in 2015), and hacking software by night. He’s been Co-founder and Chief Security Officer at spiderSilk since 2019, a cybersecurity tech company headquartered in Dubai with backing from Global Ventures and STV.

As a marketer with experience in the beauty industry, I have transitioned to web3 and accumulated extensive experience in the field over the past 2.5 years. I have worked on over 50 projects at a web3 VC and supported startups as a consultant/CMO. My current focus includes researching digital identity and launching a DAO on the topic, while also contributing to marketing efforts for Positive Fibers, a pioneer in the bio circular fashion industry.

Dr Tatiana Zalan has 30+ years of experience in business and academia across Australia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Tatiana’s business experience includes two startups, one of them being a new private university in Australia, where she was the MBA Programme Director. She has been academic advisor to several startups and is now co-founder of Vernissage, a web3 community for digital creators. Tatiana frequently presents at international industry and academic conferences on topics related to digital disruption, blockchain, metaverse, cryptocurrencies, NFTs and digital art. She is the host of The Fringe show dedicated to the future of technology, art and society and has recently been named LinkedIn’s Top Voice on technology.

Riaz is an editor in H+K’s Corporate+Brand practice in Dubai. He has worked with a range of clients, including Visa, Ford, ADNOC Distribution, Dubai Holding, Disney, PwC, and DCT, creating content such as op-eds on behalf of client C-level execs; Q&A interviews with board-level VPs; internal comms collaterals; and sectoral-/topic-led features. He has also collaborated strategically, co-creating messaging and planning campaigns. A former journalist, his work has appeared in Fast Company Middle East, Arabian Business, Gulf News, Khaleej Times, and Wired ME. Riaz has also moderated panel discussions at the Step Conference and on behalf of Fast Company Middle East.

Dr. Muneer Zuhdi is currently MEA CTO for Nokia Enterprise where he guides cities and enterprises in their digitalization vision and cognitive transformation journey. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Nokia Bell-Labs where he advised executives on digital transformation paths, diversification strategies, value creation, and new business models. Dr. Zuhdi has over 20 years of global experience working for technology providers, operators, and consultancies. He led functions such as Technology Strategy, Network & Digital Transformation, Smart City Solutions, and global R&D. He has a Ph.D., MSEE, MBA, and 25 American patents.

Elie is co-founder and CEO of right farm, a start-up disrupting the food value chain in the MENAPT region. Prior to this, he worked on building an e-commerce venture where he is now a Board Member. He also headed business development and partnerships at Surkus and Careem (acq. Uber) in MENAPT. His previous roles include demand planning and pricing at AstraZeneca and management consulting at PWC. Elie holds an MBA from IESE Business School and a BBA from the American University of Beirut.

Pablo is an EdTech growth expert with tactical/consulting and business development experience. He is the Managing Partner of EDT&Partners, founder and CEO of Exams for Zoom.

Ahmad Alwazzan is the Group EVP and the Managing Director of Tap Payments in UAE. A key member of the Tap team since the early days, Ahmad has played an instrumental role in driving the company’s growth and success. With a background in audit and assurance services at Ernst & Young and a career in risk, compliance, and corporate banking at the National Bank of Kuwait, Ahmad brings a diverse range of skills and expertise to the table. When he’s not leading the charge at Tap Payments, Ahmad is an accomplished athlete. He was a competitive tennis player, earning multiple medals on a local and regional level, and was also a member of the Junior Kuwait National Team from 1997-2002.

Mohamed Elkasstawi is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Tribal Credit, a crypto-powered payments and financing platform for startups and growing enterprises in emerging markets. Kasstawi leads Tribal’s efforts to create an innovative product offering at the nexus of TradFi and DeFi, leveraging crypto to accelerate growth for its startup clients. In recent months, Kasstawi spearheaded the launch of Tribal’s crypto-powered B2B cross-border payment service and the company’s $40 million hybrid fiat-USDC debt round. Kasstawi is a seasoned expert in leveraging blockchain to serve real-world use cases. In addition to his work at Tribal, Kasstawi is also the founding partner of zk Capital, a research-focused blockchain firm. He was featured by Scene Arabia magazine as a leading Middle Eastern blockchain entrepreneur. Kasstawi is a firm believer in the power of crypto to transform people’s financial lives, especially in emerging markets. Kasstawi has a B.S. in Engineering Management from Northern Illinois University and studied entrepreneurship at Stanford.

Basil is a General Partner at Nclude, a Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals based in Cairo. Basil has 20 years of experience in venture capital as an advisor, investor and board member to numerous global tech companies. Prior to joining Nclude, Basil was General Partner at Global Ventures from 2018. He served as President of the Intellectual Property and Science business at Thomson Reuters and previously led a $600 million business for the company across emerging markets. Basil holds a bachelors’ degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University in Cairo and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nancy is an accomplished professional with a passion for empowering women through their personal and professional journey. As the co-founder and CEO of Cloudhoods, an EdTech platform that supports, connects & empowers women to reach their full potential through access to like-minded women & expert resources on professional growth, mental health & parenting, Nancy is committed to creating an ecosystem that advances gender equity. Nancy is also an active member of the community, serving as a steerco member of Female Angels 2022, a movement focused on achieving gender equity in the MENA investment ecosystem. With a background in creative direction, branding and teaching at a university, a mother of two boys, traveler, and outdoor enthusiast, Nancy’s philanthropic efforts that have led her to climb Mt Kilimanjaro for charity in October 2022.

Remo is an experienced payments professional with over 12 years’ experience in supporting entrepreneurs and business leaders to scale their businesses across the Middle East, Africa and APAC regions through developing and implementing commercial strategies according to company goals and objectives aiming to accelerate growth. At Checkout.com, Abbondanolo is responsible for expanding the business and driving commercial success across the Middle East and North Africa region. His industry knowledge and business experience has been an asset to Checkout.com’s growing commercial department. Prior to joining Checkout.com, Remo worked for Africa’s largest online travel agency, Travelstart, where he oversaw the company’s expansion into the Middle Eastern market. He was also part of the founding team of Africa Internet Accelerator (a Naspers’ investment)

Michael Ryberg Hartmann is Chief Business Officer at Fintech Galaxy – the leading Open Finance Platform in MENA that aims to move the needle on Financial inclusion. He leads Fintech Galaxy’s brand expansion and growth across the MENA region spanning all activities across Business Development, Sales, Marketing and Public Relations, Partnerships, and Innovation. Michael is an experienced Product, Engineering & Innovation leader with 19+ years of experience driving digital transformation, scaling platforms, and activating ecosystems through partnerships across Financial Services, Telco, and Startup space. Michael previously served in leadership positions at Nordic companies such as Danske Bank, Unwire, TDC Group and Unwire, leading, amongst other things, the delivery of District – a new Financial Services Platform for Business post-PSD2, TDC NET Platform – a Telco based Network as a Service platform, Paii – a joint Telco Wallet platform and the international role out of the leading shift-based scheduling platform Planday (now Xero) He is a passionate believer in platform-based ecosystems as the catalyst to unleash the potential value of a market – fostering strong partnerships and collaborations among the participants. He holds a Master of Science in Information Technology from IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark and a Bachelor in Computer Science from Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

Talal is a founder and the Chief Executive Officer of CoinMENA, a fully regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in the MENA region. Previously he was the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Jibrel Network out of Zug, Switzerland, a blockchain-based fintech company building DeFi solutions on the Ethereum blockchain. Under Talal’s leadership, CoinMENA has emerged as the fastest-growing crypto exchange for retail and institutional clients to buy and sell digital assets. Catering to both beginners and experienced crypto traders, CoinMENA is available in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Egypt. Talal is passionate about crypto and DeFi education and loves to inspire the crypto-curious to enter the digital economy. He believes crypto is the future of finance and is devoted to building a more equitable financial system built on crypto rails.

A strong believer in the power of communication, currently leading a team of 28 content creators, strategists, and social media innovators at Boopin. Over 12 years of experience across communication strategies, campaign management, team leadership, content, copywriting, influencer management and client servicing, supported by an extensive client portfolio and a passion to help brands and businesses elevate their online presence and digital footprint.

I am a marketing strategist that prefers an interesting vice over a virtue that bores. Started my career in the interesting and virtues place of Saudi Arabia, working for key global networks such as McCann and JWT as it should be known (if you know you know). Until I decided to up and quit and co-found Interesting Times in 2010. Before Interesting Times, the work I had enjoyed was for brand such as STC, Shell, HSBC, and most definitely The Diamond Trading Company. In 2010 I started Interesting Times, a marketing company that helps other companies in their transformation journey through strategy, communication, e-commerce, and technology. My new experience comes from working on Red Bull since 2011 until this day. And Red Bull Mobile as of recently (and it’s hard to believe but yes Red Bull Mobile is a real telco service). Other long work experiences include Ooredoo Kuwait, Cadillac Arabia, Lebanese Brew, and Absolut. Along with many government entities which I am not sure I should mention. Today I am based in Dubai, flying around France, KSA, Oman, and Saudi where we operate.

Natasha Tynes is a Jordanian-American author and communications professional based in Washington, DC. She regularly contributes to several publications inside and outside the United States. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Nature Magazine, Elle Magazine, Esquire magazine, Aljazeera, among others. She has appeared on several TV programs, including Larry King Live, PBS’s Foreign Exchange, Paula Zahn show, CBS’s Morning show, Scarborough Country, and BBC’s Up all night, among others. She runs her own digital media agency, Suburban Media Group, where she advises clients on the best digital media practices for their brands. She has over twenty years of experience as a journalist, writer, and social media manager. She hosts the podcast “Read and Write with Natasha,” where she chats with authors and talks about the art of reading, writing, and publishing. She is the head writer of Stepfeed newsletter. Tynes is the author of the mystery novel They Called Me Wyatt.

Chaymae Samir is an entrepreneur and CEO of Made By Brands, a portfolio company creating, building, and scaling homegrown brands globally. It all started with MADEBYSUNDAY.COM, a no bs skincare brand shaking up the overpriced, overcomplicated beauty world. In less than 4 years and with no external funding, the brand has amassed a great number of die hard fans who are now shopping highly concentrated, clean and effective formulas, at accessible prices, through their website and 800 stockists around the world. The brand was also recognised as one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK and was awarded the Best E-Commerce Award in England. Prior to this, Chaymae exited two businesses and has spoken to and advised Fortune 500 and heads of states on matters related to entrepreneurship and marketing. Chaymae’s inspiring narrative led to her ranking in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Europe as well as one of the most influential women behind brands in the Middle East by Forbes and one of the most powerful women in business in Morocco, aged 25. Now, with a considerable global reach, Chaymae is obsessed with bringing high quality, accessible and sustainable brands for all, while inspiring others to achieve their goals and settle for nothing short of extraordinary. ​ Her work and writing have been featured in several leading business publications including Forbes, Reuters, BBC, The Telegraph and The World Economic Forum.

Nader started his career in the FMCG industry with Unilever, Kraft Foods/Mondelez, and Coca-Cola. He quickly asserted himself as a passionate innovator, with a strong multidisciplinary experience in brand management, innovation management, and trade/shopper marketing. Nader founded el Grocer, a mobile grocery delivery platform to once again be an innovation leader through helping make consumers’ lives even more convenient by combining his passions in FMCG & Technology. In 2022, elGrocer was acquired by the Etisalat Group. Nader continues to lead elGrocer as the Chief Operating Officer.

Ali Al Ebrahim loves two things – coffee & technology! Passions that inspired him to establish COFE App, an online coffee-centric marketplace that is changing the way coffee lovers access their daily cuppa. An entrepreneur by nature, Ali has always sought to create collaborative business environments, all the while challenging the status-quo. Ali Al Ebrahim is a graduate of UMKC Bloch School (USA), he pursued his executive education in Technology, Operations & Value Chain Management from MIT – Sloan School of Management. Aside from his startup, Ali also founded Tmkeen – an accelerator that aims at creating a healthy ecosystem for entrepreneurial endeavors in Kuwait. Through Tmkeen Ali intends to bridge the gap between global business visionaries and local entrepreneurs. Ali is also the recipient of Kuwait Award of Entrepreneurial Excellence under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Nawaf Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2020), the Arabian Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019), while COFE App was shortlisted as a finalist for the London Tech Innovation Award, listed by Forbes (ME) as one of the top 50 startups in the Arab World to Watch (2018), and the most promising 100 Arab Start Ups by Arab Youth Centre in Dubai, UAE (2017).

Sami Bejjani is the Chief Financial Officer of Kitopi, the world’s leading tech-powered, multi-brand restaurant. Founded in Dubai, UAE, in January 2018, Kitopi’s mission is to satisfy the world’s appetite. With 4000+ employees and 200+ locations across the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, Kitopi operates a portfolio of invested and franchised brands, helping them grow and scale – both in the delivery and dine-in space. In addition to its markets of operations, Kitopi operates its global Customer Experience Center in Dubai, UAE, its Engineering Hub in Krakow, Poland, and its Robotics Hub in Odense, Denmark. Prior to joining Kitopi, Sami was a partner at McKinsey, leading their Capital Projects practice across industries in the Middle East region and co-leading the procurement practice in the region. An engineer by training, Sami holds a BE from the American University of Beirut, an MS from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from INSEAD.

After years of consulting for Canada’s major financial institutions as a member of Accenture Strategy’s Financial Services division, Lebanese national Mark Chahwan co-founded Sarwa, a wealth advisory service, in 2017. Before Accenture, Mark worked in asset management at Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), one of Canada’s largest pension funds with $270 billion or more in AUM. Prior to that, Mark obtained his BComm from McGill University, where he majored in entrepreneurship and finance.

I’m a Co-Founder of Clara, a legaltech platform that gets startups venture-ready by empowering founders to digitally form, manage and scale their startups, including allowing them to generate key startup legal documents, manage their cap table, share their profile with investors and successfully navigate funding rounds. Prior to Clara, I spent 10 years as a lawyer at Freshfields doing M&A across the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Southeast Asia and 5 years at Support Legal, building a NewLaw provider of world class legal advice.

Philip Bahoshy is the founder and CEO of MAGNiTT, the first startup data platform serving founders and investors across emerging venture markets. Raised in the UK with Iraqi origins, Philip obtained an MBA from INSEAD in 2013 and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. During his time in Dubai, Philip worked at Oliver Wyman in the Financial Services practice for three years, followed by nearly three years at Barclays Wealth working as Chief of Staff to the CEO, advising on strategic initiatives. Philip has lived in the UAE for more than 13 years and is passionate about cross-pollinating entrepreneurship ecosystems across emerging venture markets. Philip is a firm believer that data should drive decisions.

Hamad Altamimi is an entrepreneur and product manager, who is committed to building products that people love using. Right now, Hamad is part of Zid, where he is spearheading the creation of a B2B2C marketplace which will enable a tailored fun and memorable shopping experience. Prior to this, Hamad founded CARVA, a marketplace startup in wellness sector. Hamad and a couple of product pioneers in the region are establishing a product network in Saudi. He is always keen to support and advice entrepreneurs and product managers to have better products.

Eyad Latif advises private and public companies and venture capital and private equity firms in the technology, life sciences, and other growth industries. Mr. Latif helps private and public technology and life sciences companies, as well as institutional investors navigate a range of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and investments. He also advises emerging and growth companies on formation, corporate governance, and transactional matters. Mr. Latif guides clients through complex transactions and growth initiatives with business-oriented advice. Mr. Latif previously worked in the firm’s San Francisco and New York offices with a practice focused on general corporate and technology transactions matters. Mr. Latif received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he received the American Jurisprudence Award in Islamic Law and co-founded the Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law.

Since 2010 I have been designing, planning and executing innovation and entrepreneurship programs for universities, foundations and banks such as University of Arts London, Emirates Foundation, Impact Hub, Abu Dhabi Arts and Music Foundation, Commercial Bank of Dubai and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Up until 2022 I managed the Intelak Hub – a technology and innovation start-up hub based in Dubai led by the Emirates Group, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, Accenture, Amadeus and Microsoft. Whilst at Intelak Hub I managed the Intelak Hub operations and the Idea Lab, Incubator, and Accelerator programs and the plethora of activities that focused on igniting, launching, growing and scaling local and global startups within the aviation, travel and tourism sectors. In January 2023 I launched Fluid Labs which is a pop-up innovation lab and I have been the Aerospace Xelerated Ambassador and Startup Studio Manager for the Startup Venture Studio led by the Ministry of Tourism in Saudi Arabia.

Yousef is the co-founder and CEO of alfii, a fintech enabled HR-tech platform, built to help startups and SME’s manage their team’s full lifecycle, benefits and payroll, all in one, easy to use and highly intuitive platform.

Patrick is the CEO of EQ2 Ventures, a Dubai-based holding that invests in tech-enabled startups addressing major consumer and business gaps across Middle East & Africa. He is also a founding & investment committee member of Dubai Angel Investors. Patrick graduated with a Master in Finance from EDHEC and holds an INSEAD Executive MBA.

Shubham is an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of business. Shubham has more than 14 years of experience in Strategy & Operation working at Rocket Internet and MarkaVIP where he focused on leading the Middle East operations and business expansion across GCC. Before his MBA Shubham started his career at Siemens as a project manager in their Energy Division. Shubham is solution-oriented, comfortable with unstructured environments, and takes an iterative approach to problem-solving.

Kamal is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 10 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 and holds a B.S & M.S in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

Currently overseeing all platform related activities and community building initiatives at Outliers.

Award-winning social entrepreneur and impact investor chosen as Forbes Most Powerful Women, Mary is the Chairperson of Landmark Hotels and the Founder of 17 Ventures and MVMNT, a wellness hub and evolving platform. 17 Ventures was inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Mary is passionate about building and supporting sustainable and conscious businesses. She comes from a background of justice activism and is a UK Barrister. She is a multiethnic mother of 3 children and continues on her lifelong mission to help make the world a fairer and more inclusive place. She is a volunteer brand ambassador for several social enterprises that align with her values such as SEP, Jordan’s first B-Corp in the Gaza Refugee Camp, and Lumeyo, a social enterprise empowering Bedouin women in Wadi Rum.

Ahmad Coucha is the co-founder and CEO of FlapKap, the first and leading Revenue Based Financing Platform in the MENA region. Prior to founding FlapKap, Coucha was the co-founder and Chief Strategy & Finance Officer at GP&K, holding group of Good People and Kijamii, one of MENA’s largest and most awarded independent advertising networks. On the academic side, Coucha finished his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering then pursued a Master in Business at IE business school in Madrid. He is also a holder of Master’s degree in Economics & Public Finance from Harvard university in Boston.

Hani AlAita is the Co-Founder & CEO of QFIL – with a vision to build disruptive AI-driven fintech solutions to better minimize risks and maximize gains for millennial/Gen Z traders in this new landscape of simplified trading and embedded finance. With over two decades as a marketing & business development leader in top-tier multinational organizations, Hani’s motto of challenging the status quo with insightful technologies and digital adaption has steered these organizations to transformational growth on multiple brands and categories across Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. AlAita is also a mentor for a number of innovative and disruptive early-stage start-ups, providing start-up advisory services related to business plan and financial models, brand positioning, go-to-market strategy, fundraising, and marketing strategy.

Nagham is a key opinion leader. She seeks to spread Web3 knowledge and adoption by providing educational content on her social media site – “Bintcoin” Nagham was featured in numerous publications and participated as a guest speaker, panelist, and host in prominent blockchain events.

In her capacity as Executive Vice President of Strategy at Paymob, Imane is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s strategic vision. She also plays a key role in driving the company’s growth through the creation of new products and services, as well as the development of innovative business models. Imane is passionate about leading value-based digital transformation for all types of merchants to enable a more financially literate and inclusive world, by driving business growth, transparency, and value creation across the ecosystem. She is committed to developing ESG strategies that enable sustainable finance outcomes. Prior to joining Paymob, Imane led Mastercard’s acceptance business in the MENA region and was integral in developing strategies to digitize cash-heavy market segments. In addition, she was an avid driver of Mastercard’s vision of a “World Beyond Cash.” Imane also developed & executed the Microlending & BNPL segment strategy in EEMEA. Imane holds a Master of Science in Strategic Planning from Edinburgh Business School and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the American University in Cairo

Emir Isik is the Head of Business Development at Tarabut Gateway. He brings over 8 years of diverse sales & marketing experience that he attained in tech companies, Financial Institutions, and FinTechs in Boston, New York, Bahrain, and UAE respectively. Prior to joining Tarabut Gateway, Emir worked for Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in New York, managing UHNW portfolios. He then discovered his passion for FinTech and made a move to Bahrain partnering with startups to manage their regulatory setup as well as assisting pioneers of newly emerging licensees to graduate from the CBB Regulatory Sandbox. He then worked for Arab Financial Services where he managed the P&L for their Merchant Program across acquiring as well as fintech solutions. As the Head of Business Development at Tarabut Gateway, Emir is responsible for sales strategies and execution of key value drivers for regional financial service clients across Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Emir holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and a minor in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A, and has completed several certificate programs including Digital Marketing by Columbia Business School, Emeritus Institute of Management, and Payments Innovation Programme by Centre for Finance, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (CFTE)

Lloyed is the Co-founder of Boast.AI, a fintech platform that helps businesses access funding for R&D. After bootstrapping to 8 figures in revenue, Boast took nearly $150M in capital. Lloyed also runs Traction, a non-profit community of +100k innovators where leaders from the fastest growing companies share learnings on building, growing, and scaling companies via webinars, podcasts, meetups, retreats, and conferences. Lloyed has been covered in Forbes, TechCrunch, Fox Business, SF Biz Journals, and VentureBeat. He has also been featured on more than 40 podcasts including Entrepreneurs on Fire, Marketing School, Mixergy, SaaStr, and 1Mby1M.

Ritesh Tilani is the founder of Enhance Ventures, a venture studio focused on the future of finance and commerce in MENAPT. Enhance Ventures’ portfolio includes Joi Gifts, Clevr, Blue Terra, Right Farm and BNS, among others. Ritesh also serves on the board of StudioHub, the largest community of startup studios and venture builders across Europe. Ritesh is a native of the UAE with over 30 years of experience in the region. He holds a B.Sc. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from INSEAD. Ritesh is an avid squash player, having played for Penn’s NCAA 1st Division varsity squash team.

–

Andrew Lee Miller is an American startup marketing expert, also known as @AndrewStartups, who has driven growth for three startup exits including two in Dubai (Dubizzle and GoNabIt). After Dubai, Andrew moved to Silicon Valley and has since lectured in over 15 countries, written for INC magazine, StartupGrind, and StartupNation, and his first book entitled The Startup Growth Book is one of the top startup marketing books on Amazon. You can learn more about Andrew and how he helps startups grow at www.andrewstartups.com

Colin McDonagh leads the Emerging Business team at Velocity Global, which is focused on delivering products and services that simplify the process of working with anyone, anywhere, anyhow. Colin applies more than a decade of experience innovating programs to source top external talent for global companies. He is a frequent expert speaker and contributor on the topic of the Future of Work and was the architect for Meta’s (formerly Facebook) highly respected Direct Source Program.

Priya is Market Lead for India and MENA in SVB’s international market development team, Global Gateway. She provides market entry advice and insights on cross-border engagement focused on constituents in the innovation ecosystem – founders and investors. Priya’s work with Indian entrepreneurs and venture capital funds has yielded tangible value with founders accessing leading programs in the U.S. like Y-Combinator and investors getting visibility of great founders and deals. Priya calls on her experience, expertise and connections to champion a more inclusive innovation economy. She works closely with community leaders, including Change Catalyst, Kapor Capital, and YC Female Founders. She sits on the board of directors at non-profits Big Brothers Big Sisters and Women Who Code – an organization dedicated to helping women excel in technology careers. As a venture partner at Xfund, Priya connects VC firms with superior research universities and advisor at Entrepreneurship at Cornell University. Priya co-created the Diaspora Community initiative at SVB and is a charter member of TiE, a nonprofit focused on nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs with Indian ties. Prior to joining Global Gateway, Priya was a Director in our early stage practice (Startup Banking) where she led university programs and SVB Trek for student entrepreneurs. Leading to partnerships with Dorm Room Fund, The House Fund, Stanford Venture Studio and Rough Draft Ventures. Priya’s career at SVB Financial Group began as a global group financial officer, a pivotal role in the Finance team. Earlier in her career, she held financial management positions at Charles Schwab and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from the University of Madras and a master’s degree in international business from Queen’s University, Priya holds an MBA in business administration from Cornell University and a California CPA in accounting and business administration. Priya enjoys travelling the world, opening doors, and meeting new people. When not on a plane, Priya enjoys classical music – after studying music for over a decade, she passed on this passion and skill to her two children.

Mohannad Ali is the CEO of Hotjar, the Product Experience Insights software of choice for small and medium businesses. Before joining Hotjar in 2019, he was VP of Engineering at HelloFresh, and at Hotjar, Mohannad initially held the role of Chief Product and Technology Officer.

Nora Ali is the CEO & Co-Founder of new entertainment company Mason Media, and host at business media company Morning Brew. Nora recently covered tech, business, and entertainment news at Cheddar, anchoring daily from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, where she also created, produced, and hosted several specialty TV series. Nora previously led teams of engineers and designers as a Senior Product Manager at Jet.com, which she joined prior to its launch and acquisition by Walmart for $3.3 billion. She started her career by advising institutional investors on equity investments and IPOs, as an Asian Equities Associate at Goldman Sachs. Nora has been invited to be a keynote speaker and moderate conversations around the world, on the topics of technology, business, finance, entrepreneurship, creator economy, diversity and inclusion, and others. As a child of Bangladeshi immigrants, Nora is passionate about elevating historically excluded voices and telling the stories of those who feel like ‘outsiders.’ Nora graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Quantitative Finance, where she was also the Concertmaster of the Harvard Pops Orchestra, having played the violin and piano since she was four years old. Nora currently resides in New York City.

Laila Bin Hareb Almheiri is an Emirati serial entrepreneur, the founder & CEO of Alive Group, a keynote speaker, and an expert on multiple disciplines with more than three decades of experience in transforming the aviation, cybersecurity, public transportation, and holistic healthcare sectors. She used her knowledge of organic leadership, organizational transformation, and digital innovation to contribute immensely to the development of the UAE.

Beginning his career in Investment Advisory in London, David has been working in the financial services sector for the past 10 years. Moving to the UAE five years ago, David has built two digital banks, working as both a Chief of Staff and a Chief Operating Officer. Currently working as the COO at Nomo Fintech, a Shariah-compliant digital challenger banking platform provider, David is a passionate fintech leader and keen advocate of organisational agility and promoting cultures of innovation and continuous improvement.

GV Ravishankar, Managing Director, Sequoia India At Sequoia, GV Ravishankar advises on both technology as well as non-technology investments. He’s deeply interested in technology’s role in helping to drive efficiencies, reduce costs and improve access in consumer and healthcare markets. He currently serves on the boards of companies in the Middle East such as Huspy, Lean Technologies, and Tabby. Others across India include – axio, BYJUs, Eruditus Learning, Faces Cosmetics, Five Star Business Finance, Finova Capital, HomeLane, India Shelter Finance Corporation, Indigo Paints, K12 Technoservices, Prataap Snacks (NSE: DIAMONDYD), Rebel Foods, Rupeek, Suburban Diagnostics and Turtlemint. Prior to this, GV worked at McKinsey & Company, where he advised senior management of top Indian companies on a variety of issues including business building, channel management and leadership development. He also had a prior stint with Wipro Technologies in their Embedded and Internet Access division. GV is the recipient of the Midas Touch award by Economic Times Startup Awards 2020 and IIM Ahmedabad’s Young Alumni Achiever’s Award, 2019-20 in the Corporate Leadership category.

Amal is a seasoned professional with experience in startup investments, corporate innovation, and consulting in the MENA region. Previous to joining 500 Global, Ms. Dokhan was the Managing Director of Babson Global for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Previously, she was the Manager of Learning and Design at the Entrepreneurship Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology where she led the New Ventures Acceleration and Corporate Innovation programs. Prior to that engagement she worked in the KAUST Seed Fund developing marketing and events, while also providing a range of services to startup clients. Ms. Dokhan sits on the board of several organizations such as Wayakit Company, Cranfield University UK, King Abdulaziz University. She contributes to a monthly column at Leaders Magazine on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and has been a speaker at Davos World Economic Forum, TEDx at Kaust, the Annual Conference of the Islamic Development Bank, among others. Ms. Dokhan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, English Language & Literature from the King Abdul Aziz University, and a Masters of Strategic Marketing and Marketing Management from the University of Wollongong.

Christopher Leacock a.k.a Jillionaire is a Trinidadian entrepreneur who uses music, food and technology to examine relationships between the Caribbean and the diaspora. Leacock has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Rolling Stone, and has appeared at Web Summit, Collision and Slush, discussing the intersection between technology and culture.

Padmini Gupta is the Co-founder and CEO of Xare. Xare is one of the fastest-growing fintechs globally now with more than 2 million users. Xare won Entrepreneur’s “Fastest Growing Fintech of the Year” for 2021. She began her entrepreneurial journey with Rise, a fintech platform that democratizes access to essential financial services for millions of migrants globally. Rise was Entrepreneur’s “MENA Fintech of the Year” for 2020. Rise launched Xare which was inspired by its migrant customers, and allows anyone, anywhere to share money with anyone, anywhere. Before her entrepreneurship journey, she was an award-winning Banker from California, a World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow, and an Oxford MBA.

Nile is an experienced Payment’s technology and services executive who contributes as FinTech Mentor at DIFC FinTech Hive and who has recently joined the HyperPay team as the Senior Regional Director of Strategic Products. He has accumulated 20+ years of global experience in Sales, Product Management & Business Leadership roles at a variety of FinTech companies ranging in size from global multinationals to seed stage startups. His diverse background brings a deep understanding of the global landscape in the fields of; retail, digital payments, mobile wallets, personal money transfer, B2B remittance, emerging payment technology as well as government and the financial services sector regulation. Recognized as a payments industry specialist and Keynote Speaker, he has most recently represented global giants such as Mastercard and Worldline in the Middle East region.

Masaood Rahma Al Masaood is the Chairman of Emirates Angels Investors Association, a non-profit association that focuses on startup growth and facilitates investors’ investment and entrepreneurs’ activities in the country. He concurrently serves as the Vice Chairman of Al Masaood Oil and Gas and is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Al Masaood Group. An entrepreneur and investor, Masaood has been involved in key PPP projects, is an active philanthropist, and a socially committed member who strives to make significant contributions to the community. He led the business restructuring of Al Masaood Oil and Gas that has been awarded with several major contracts under his leadership, including the largest 3D Seismic Surveying contract, valued at over USD 1.6 billion.

Khaled is Managing Partner at Nuwa Capital. Prior to launching Nuwa Capital, Khaled was Managing Partner at Wamda Capital, the region’s first institutionalized Venture Capital fund investing in technology-enabled companies in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. Khaled has centered his career around identifying and investing in disruptive businesses that displace incumbent inefficiencies in traditional sectors of the economy. He has invested in and managed over 150 early stage transactions, including Careem, Mumzworld, Insider, Modanisa, Twiga Foods, and Tamatem.

Khaled is an award-winning Startups Coach & Strategic Advisor, & the Founder of Irtiqa International Consulting. He is also the author of The Art of Winning People Over. At 27, Khaled lead various businesses ranging from AI, tech, & F&B, & consulting where he caught the entrepreneurial bug. This lead him to starting an ed-tech startup with 2 co-founders where he learned key lessons of being a founder. Today, he shares those insights with Founders internationally & locally through strategic partnerships with VC’s like Shorooq Partners, & startups ready to accelerate growth from Seed to Scale. Khaled Ghorab is helping transform the MENAP startup ecosystem through coaching & advising startups & government entities through expertise in strategy, leadership, & organizational culture to organizations such as Meta, Twitter, Ministry of Tolerance & Coexistence, Hakkini, & Shorooq Partners.

As the CEO of Mestaria and owner of the Mestaria Gallery, Peter is a visionary leader in the Marketing and Communications industry. He specialises in providing cutting-edge solutions that help clients stay ahead of the curve and become self-sufficient through the use of advanced MARTECH technology. Additionally, he runs a contemporary Art Gallery under the Mestaria brand.

Based in the UAE, Sabrin is the Director of Domestic and Reginal Engagement for COP 28, as a part of the UAE Climate Change Special Envoy. In her previous role as Managing Director of Sustainability for EMEA at HSBC, she responsible for the sustainable finance agenda across Europe and Middle East and with a focus on innovation in products, strategic advisory and thought leadership on a range of topics including ESG integration and the just & inclusive transition. HSBC was named the Middle East's Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in 2019-2022 by Euromoney in addition to for Western Europe in 2020. Sabrin also has experience in implementing large complex sustainability projects across borders in partnership with think tanks, non-profits and academia. She is also a contributor for the Sustainable Finance course at the University of Cambridge. Sabrin was named as one of Australia's Brightest Young Minds in 2008, awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service award from Macquarie University in 2011 and nominated for Young Australian of the Year in 2015. She holds a Masters in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney specializing in peace and business. She is also a certified UK Chartered Banker Green and Sustainable Finance Professional.

Sacha is a Partner at Global Ventures focused on Digital Health, EnergyTech, Edtech and the Future of Work. Sacha has over 9 years investment experience, and prior to Global Ventures, worked in mid-cap Private Equity across, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Sacha is fluent in Spanish and Urdu, and holds a BA in History and Politics from the University of Warwick.

As Director General of Emirates Nature-WWF, Laila Mostafa Abdullatif leads the delivery of high-impact, science-based solutions for conservation, sustainability and the green recovery at a regional scale. Alongside representing the organisation and heading up its initiatives across education, engagement, research and policy, Laila plays a hands-on role in managing the Board of Directors, fundraising and strategic stakeholder engagement. At a global level, Laila sits on the WWF Innovation Committee and is a member of the WWF Asia Pacific Shareholders Executive Team, responsible for leading environmental strategy and driving change in the region. She has also been a judge on the high-profile Hult Prize, which supports social impact enterprises around the world. Since her appointment as Emirate Nature-WWF’s Director General in 2017, and prior to that as Deputy DG, Laila has been implementing her vision for an activated civil society, one that acknowledges the vital connection between nature and humanity. Laila believes in the importance of mobilising all sectors of society, including the UAE government, the private sector and the general public in taking action for nature. While cultivating a high-performance culture at Emirates Nature-WWF, she has overseen the launch of the Leaders of Change programme, the UAE’s biggest movement for nature and one that makes participation in the country’s green solutions accessible to all. She was recently elected as the Chair of WWF Asia Pacific Growth Strategy (APGS) across twenty-eight countries in the region.

Noor is the Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures, a UAE-based, Series-A focused, emerging-market venture capital firm with presence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. With $200 million AUM, and financial returns rating it as a top decile fund, Global Ventures has become a leading investor across the Middle East and Africa. Since its inception in 2018, Global Ventures has completed 50 investments across ten markets, deliberately focused on sectors positively affecting millions of lives across the world, such as FinTech, Digital Health, EdTech and AgriTech. In addition to generating top decile returns, the portfolio has had a demonstrable impact on millions of lives through its company founders creating 9,500 jobs, enabling female leadership, powering financial inclusion for over 48 million people and expanding healthcare access to over 4 million patients. Prior to Global Ventures, Noor was the first woman to operate, scale and IPO a company in the MENA region, listing Depa on NASDAQ Dubai and the London Stock Exchange for US$1.1 billion in April 2008. One of the world’s largest interior contractors, Noor scaled Depa tenfold, expanding operations from six countries to 22, including four cross-border acquisitions. Identified by Forbes as one of the “World’s Top 50 Women in Tech” and by Arabian Business as one of the “Most Influential Arabs”, Noor’s previous roles include Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation and a Founding Partner at Leap Ventures. Noor also founded the largest chain of yoga and pilates studios in the Middle East, ZenYoga, which was acquired by Cedarbridge in 2014. Noor is an active, independent board director of Clue, the largest femtech company in Europe. She is the Founding Chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association, a Director of the Global Private Capital Association, TechWadi, and the Karman Fellowship. She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. She previously held Board Director roles at MIT Sloan and was a founding board member of Endeavor UAE. Noor holds Bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Economics from Boston College, and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

Medea Nocentini is the Founder of C3 – Companies Creating Change, a UAE-based social enterprise helping impact-driven entrepreneurs in the Middle East and Africa unlock their growth potential and maximise their positive impact on the community. Medea is also Senior Partner at Global Ventures, an international venture capital firm investing in startups with the potential to transform emerging markets, and scale globally Medea has been selected as one of the Meaningful Business 100 for her contribution to combining profit and purpose to help achieve the United Nations Global Goals. Before joining Global Ventures, Medea served as Chief Strategy Officer at the AW Rostamani Group, an international and diversified family group, as well as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development at OSN, a leading Pay TV platform in the MENA region. Earlier in her career, she spent several years at Booz Allen Hamilton developing strategies for TMT, consumer, and public sector’s clients across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School (New York, USA), an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and an Engineering Diploma from Ecole Centrale Paris (France).

John’s 20+ year career across 3 continents has spanned: ⚡ Climate Solutions, particularly Carbon Markets ⚡ Sustainability, innovation and change ⚡ Deep Tech and IP Commercialisation ⚡ Co-founding a PushStart Seed Accelerator ⚡ Experienced board member, coach and mentor

Kevin has over 20 years of strategy and finance experience across the globe, with broad exposure to different sectors and business models within complex and dynamic environments. He is the Managing Director of C3 (Companies Creating Change), a UAE-based social enterprise enabling impact-driven entrepreneurs to become active agents of positive impact by providing access to transformative innovation and acceleration programs across MEA. Kevin has previously held senior positions at AW Rostamani Group, OSN, Global Integrated Security, Networkers International Plc, and Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc. He has substantial experience in high growth, fast-paced, innovative environments, with exceptional strengths in strategic development and execution, impact investing, and social entrepreneurship. Kevin is a qualified chartered management accountant (London, UK) and an MBA from Warwick Business school (Warwick, UK).

A lecturer of Pediatrics who got out of comfort zone to help more chronic patients and found Chefaa; A GPS enabled pharmacy benefits platform for patients to order, schedule & refill recurring prescriptions and boost their compliance to treatment through a comprehensive approach

Daniel Solomon is a serial entrepreneur, startup builder, and the Founder of HeroGo – the UAE’s first subscription box service for high-quality food produce – eliminating food waste by automating discounts. As a serial entrepreneur, Daniel is on a mission to enable tech solutions to solve environmental and societal challenges by helping consumers and stakeholders gain awareness of sustainable practices. Daniel earned an MBA from the University of Liverpool and a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from Middlesex University. His expertise blends leadership, people’s culture, technical skills, and practical case studies aimed to help intelligent businesses to grow and change the way world works. Previously, Daniel was the CEO and founder of EROE, a digital agency serving global brands such as Publicis, PwC and Toyota.

Said is a Partner at Global Ventures. Before joining Global Ventures, Said was COO of the e-commerce platform, Jamalon, where he led the company’s operational efforts and played a pivotal role in helping the company raise its Series B round. Prior to that, Said was COO at EFS Facilities Services leading the security services business and EFS’s activities in Jordan. Said also previously held the position of CEO of Groupon UAE, where he was responsible for managing and sustainably growing Groupon’s Local, Goods and Travel business lines’ revenue across the UAE through the acquisition of new merchants. Before Groupon, Said worked with Deloitte’s strategy consulting team, as well as at SHUAA Capital as an AVP in the CEO’s Office, in addition to previously working in private equity at the firms Dubai International Capital (including Jordan Dubai Capital), and Abraaj Capital. Said holds an MBA from INSEAD, France and a BEng in Materials Science and Engineering with Management from Imperial College London.

Sallyann Della Casa, launched the world’s first utility NFT, a marketplace tokenizing industry experts time and wisdom in October 2022. Global experts such as the Head of Innovation at Siemens Energy, 40+ patent holder Dr. Patrick Hosein of MIT and Bell Labs providence, The CEO’s of the world’s leading digital banks, Saudi’s first female rally car driver have entrusted their time and reputation to her NFT project, called Lovely Humans. The wisdom of her NFTS experts will be stitched together to build the world’s first Mixed Reality Living Museum of Wisdom in 2023. She has a weekly NFT column and a Metaverse Podcast Business School on Spotify. Sallyann is one of the 4% of women globally who has a patent-pending method to signal and train agents in human ingenuity and wisdom . In 2016, she served as the only female at a C-suite level at Careem to help stabilize the workforce and shape its organizational culture.

Jay is on a mission to cool cities. He holds a master’s degree in International Business from the University of Wollongong. He was ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as the Youngest Executive Director in the Middle East, in 2015. Jay took his full-time job as a salesman at a classified newspaper in 2006 at the age of 17, and continued to build his career and experience between different international corporations while going through his startup journey. He started his first venture at the age of 21 and is presently running his 3rd startup (FortyGuard). Born and raised in the UAE, Jay has more than 16 years of experience and he worked closely with government officials, international leaders, and royal family members in mega projects and investment portfolios.

Helen Al Uzaizi is a full time advocate of positive social change, an established businesswoman and an active community member. With over 20 years of experience spanning marketing, non-profit management, and entrepreneurship, Helen has been supporting major brands, non-profit organizations, and startups across the region as a mentor, Board member and advisor. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of PACES Charity and Advisor and Brand Ambassador for SEP both of which work with refugee women and children. She is also Board Member of Augustus Media and Advisor to the Womanity Foundation. Helen is the CEO of BizWorld in the Middle East teaching kids entrepreneurship skills and has been named leading entrepreneurship program in the region on multiple occasions. She is also the Founder of Future Entrepreneurs, a platform that aims to empower youth entrepreneurs in MENA working with organizations such as GEMS Education and the Ministry of Economy – UAE on their ‘Entrepreneurial Nation’ program. She was recently named one of the UAE’s 100 Smartest People and one of the 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab World. She was also a TedX Speaker on the topic of entrepreneurship education. On a personal level, Helen is a mother of 2, runner, triathlete and adventurer who believes in making dreams come to life and that anything is possible.

Innovative and dynamic People & Culture professional with an empathetic mindset. A Six Sigma Lean Master and a Wellness Coach.

Melis is a serial entrepreneur with three major, industry-moving startups under her belt. She is the founder of Kizlar Sahada, a social enterprise that trains over 500 girls in 14 different locations around Turkey between the ages of 9-24 for free to empower them challenging gender stereotypes. She is also the founder of SWEATers App, a platform for socializing through sports that is the official app for Istanbul’s IAAF Gold Label Status Marathon. Finally she is the founder of Wellbees, an HR Tech product, specifically a corporate wellbeing platform that works to create a world where everybody reaches her potential whilst being caring to one another. Wellbees serves over 100K+ employees in 50+ companies 17 countries and 8 languages. Melis is a Columbia graduate with Mathematics and Art History double major, which she thinks that complete one another perfectly. She also is the mom of Mila, a spitfire that runs through the house like the Tasmania Monster. She describes herself as an avid reader, runner, collector of memories.

Sarah Boutros is a Self Empowerment Mentor and the Founder of The Self Love Tribe, a community created for people in Dubai to have meaningful connections & learn how to start loving themselves. She teaches others how to empower themselves and become their own biggest supporter so they can live an authentic & happy life.

Tia is a Gut Health & Empowerment coach. She helps women heal from ongoing digestive issues, low energy, weight & hormone fluctuations. She’s also a yoga teacher, podcaster, public speaker & self development advocate. She combines her knowledge of functional nutrition with mind/body medicine while her team specialise in functional medicine lab testing – a perfect combination to give her clients a full 360 degree healing experience.

Chanda Lokendra Kundnaney is Founder of femtech startup LiZZOM. Mostly known as an impact entrepreneur in startup community. A TEDX speaker and strong believer of innovation in business. She has dedicated her life to developing a solution to ensure schools and businesses could sustainably provide quality period products to menstruating women in bathrooms through LiZZOM Period Care Program. She is passionate about sustainability and loves to work on educating students to ensure greater health for all women as well as the environment.

Ivan Palomino is the founder of PeopleKult. He is a recognized expert on Behavioral Sciences applied to Culture Change and Learning. He is a Wellbeing at Work Advocate – he co-founded Bessern, an EdTech platform to improve human skills and wellbeing. His current life project is with PeopleKult – developing human-centric work cultures using behavioral sciences and analytics. As part of the senior leadership team in a global corporation, Ivan has led teams across all continents and delivered a track record of innovation and human development. Ivan is the co-author of the book The Rough Guide to Awesome Leadership – A brain friendly approach to take action and be an inspiring leader; and he is also the host of the Growth Hacking Culture podcast.

Since 2005, Brendan Kane has helped the largest brands and celebrities in the world reverse engineer how to make content go viral. Brendan and his team at Hook Point have generated 60 billion views and 100+ million followers for the content they have worked on. Over the course of his career, Brendan: Developed the first ever influencer campaign on YouTube in 2007 Oversaw $200 million in marketing spend Worked with major corporations MTV, Viacom, Vice Magazine, Paramount Pictures, IKEA and Sketchers Generated $1 billion in revenue for clients Worked with celebrities Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Adriana Lima on their digital strategy Generated over a million followers on my personal Facebook and Instagram account as an experiment Authored best selling books One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Audience in 30 Days and Hook Point: How to Stand out in a 3-Second World And most recently developed The Hook Point Guide to Going Viral

Daniela is a strategic, creative and dynamic professional and startup enthusiast with 20 years of international experience in the Omnichannel Retail Industry. Born and raised in Italy, after living and working in Milan, Melbourne and London, Daniela settled down in Dubai where she founded Unlimited, a multimedia podcast platform to promote female entrepreneurship in the UAE. On podcast, on print, on stage Daniela’s mission is to give voice to pioneering business women and female leaders from the Mena Region and beyond, to engage in inspiring conversations from Entrepreneurship to Retail, Artificial Intelligence, Wellbeing, Sustainability & more to challenge stereotypes, spread awareness, inspire and drive growth.

A passionate and ambitious Marketing & Business Development Professional with 13 years of diverse experience across the AMET region (Africa, Middle East and Turkey). I gained rich and dynamic FMCG experience across multiple business functions, categories, regions and brands. Recently accepted a new challenge and joined the exciting world of Retail.

Ahella El Saban is currently Co-founder/ Chief Commercial Officer for Exits.me ; the first online Fintch investment marketplace platform in MENA which connects startups and SMEs with potential buyers and investors. She is also the Chief Marketing Officer for Pie Consultancy, a Mergers & Acquisitions firm in MENA. Additionally, Ahella is the founder of Lumas Global, a firm working with youth, entrepreneurs and businesses in helping to bridge the skill related gaps through customized trainings and Market research projects focusing on online digital consumer behavior. Previously, Ahella worked for a several years in academia at The British University in Egypt within the Marketing discipline before moving into the B2B ads Marketing team at Google MENA, helping businesses in digital transformation and consumer insights. After finishing her MA from Durham University in Consumer Behavior and Marketing, she is currently a PhD researcher at London South Bank University with a focus on consumer behavior.

Lemya Soltani is the Commercial Director of Next Broadcast Media, the largest digital audio & podcast marketplace in MENA. Lemya is in charge of partnerships and of developing and implementing effective strategies to drive Next Broadcast’s growth across the MENA region and globally. Previously, she was the Commercial Lead at dubizzle/ OLX Group, where she helped advance the company’s strategic objectives. Prior to that, Lemya was the Head of Sales at InMobi in London, and prior to that she was responsible for agency relationships at Yahoo Germany. Lemya holds a Masters in Business Administration & Marketing Management from Munich University of Applied Sciences.

Sergiu Ardelean is a visionary entrepreneur from Austria who has made a name for himself in the world of Augmented Reality. As the founder of a successful AR agency that served major clients such as Volkswagen and Audi across 42 countries, Sergiu has a proven track record of delivering cutting-edge solutions. He is now taking his expertise to the next level with his new startup, Artivive. This innovative company is revolutionizing the art world by blending haptic and digital art through augmented reality. With offices in Europe, the US, and China, Artivive is already being used by 220,000 artists in 120 countries. The company’s collaborations with renowned museums and galleries in cities such as Vienna, Munich, San Francisco, Seoul, and Shanghai are a testament to the exciting new dimensions that augmented art can bring. Sergiu is the CEO of Artivive and is responsible for overseeing product development and ensuring that the company stays true to its vision and mission.

Mamta Varerkar has more than 17 years of experience in Branding, Advertising, Content and Communications, with a focus on providing clients with Digital solutions. Mamta is a General Manager and Partner at Yellow – a branding, communications and digital agency based in Dubai Design District. Mamta has also been an independent marketing consultant to several SMEs and startups helping them meet their marketing and business objectives. Mamta shares her experience working with startups in her podcast: Startup Hustle Middle East, which includes stories of startups and VCs from the ecosystem.

A graduate of Manchester Business School, Nik has worked across a wide range of industries, including market research, economic analysis, and digital advertising. Having now worked in influencer marketing for almost a decade, Nik is a leading industry expert and has given talks on the development and future of influencer marketing, regulations, campaign management, and influencer fraud. He is also a member of the Advertising Standards Authority’s Industry Advisory Panel. Nik oversees the MENA business, and the ownership of the New Business team across the whole of the UK business, alongside supporting the commercial leads on strategic revenue growth. Nik leads on the commercial organisation, development, and growth of Influencer, ensuring that Influencer are delivering campaigns of the highest quality, using the most up-to-date influencer marketing best practice, to clients across the globe.

Moe Minkara is the founder and Executive Creative Dircetor of mink, a content driven marketing communications agency with a love for branding & design! Today Mink is a team of 30 multi disciplinary creative communicators with offices in Dubai and Beirut. Prior to opening up his agency, Moe held posts as the Executive Creative Director of Leo Burnett MENA and as the Regional Executive Creative Director at Memac Ogilvy responsible for the Levant & North Africa region. Moe has over 20 years of experience in advertising from the Middle East to London and then Zagreb where he was the Creative Director of Bruketa & Zinic and a co founder of Brandoctor. His experience has won him numerous awards from around the world such as the New York Festivals, Epica, London International Awards, Art Directors Club, D&AD London, MIAF-Moscow, Clio, Dubai Lynx, Red Dot, and many more. Along the years he was also a Jury member at various international advertising festivals.

Entrepreneurial and innovative, Brooke is an experienced user-focused business leader. She has spent over 15 years growing multi-million businesses and has helped brands in the Middle East reach their audiences—with impact. She has wide-ranging experience including events & marketing to managing fast-scaling teams and launching new digital products to market, all with a focus on improving user experience to drive growth.

An Enthusiastic Business Professional with 15 years of proven track record in Strategic planning, Brand management & development, Idea Validation, Product management, B2C & B2B marketing, Business strategy, Marketing mix modeling and Integrated marketing communication. Proficient in enabling startups to be Sustainable and Scalable.

Anisha Oberoi started her corporate career in Hospitality and Fashion prior to joining the Ecommerce industry in 2014 as part of the founding team that launched Amazon Fashion in India and Australia. She moved to the UAE in 2019 to launch the online vertical of Bloomingdale’s Middle East. Secret Skin was born in 2020 with a unique framework committed to ‘People, Planet and Purpose’ as an award-winning ecommerce discovery platform that connects global conscious brands to beauty consumers in the Middle East. Anisha holds an MBA from INSEAD, ranked in the top three business schools in the world by the FT. Having battled Breast Cancer at an early age, Anisha works passionately with hospitals to raise awareness of early detection amongst the youth. She mentors young women leaders and MBA aspirants in their career progression path and has been featured in many global publications.

Heidi Shara is the Founder of Wear That, a Technology and Data driven company with the mission to be every #realgirls styling solution. Wear That was founded in 2018. Having styled thousands of women all over the world and spending over 10 years in Fashion Buying in both luxury and mass markets, Heidi witnessed the lack of styling services available to everyday women. She set on a mission to create, change, and offer real women access to something traditionally available only to celebrities or VIPs, Wear That was born. Before devoting her full time to Wear That, Heidi spent 10 years working as a womenswear Buying Manager- most recently for international luxury RTW brands- Heidi saw a gap in the market; to provide real girls with a service typically designed for VIP high end consumers only. Heidi has created collections and dressed women in her home country of Australia, but also London, Paris, China, India and Italy, just to name a few. She is now focused on driving a new way for consumers based in Dubai and revolutionizing the way people shop. Wear That uses data and technology along with real life personal stylists to provide our clients the ultimate personalized experience

Web3 builder with a background in entrepreneurship and real estate development. A strong advocate of decentralization and empowerment of talented individuals paving the path to the future through emerging technologies.

Shameer Thaha is a serial tech entrepreneur, angel investor and strategist, bringing a wealth of experience mentoring over 80 startups and building multiple ventures. He is the Chief Strategy Officer at Accubits Technologies, a multiple award-winning global leader in Digital Transformation focused on deep technologies with over 8 offices globally. He holds an MBA and a bachelors in Computer Engineering. Shameer was instrumental in leading key transformation projects with Dubai government and launching a pandemic management platform during the covid outbreak. He is also a published author, a speaker at global conferences and an advisor to the Global Skill Development Council. His areas of interest include Web 3, Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability and Climate Fintech. He is also an investment committee member at Helion Ventures.

Sharad is the Chief Metaverse Officer of Cyber Gear. He started the first digital agency in the Middle East, Cyber Gear at cyber-gear.com in 1996. In 2010, Cyber Gear started offering AI, Big data and other Fourth Industrial revolution technologies at cyber-gear.ai In 2019, Sharad launched ONLYwebinars.com, which hosts corporate and community webinars and podcasts (ONLYpodcasts.io) for a global audience. Cyber Gear entered the metaverse space in 2021 and is offering solutions in the areas of Web3 and NFTs at cyber-gear.io Sharad’s latest ventures are Meta Shapers community at meta-shapers.com, Meet the Metapreneur at meetthemetapreneur.com and Impact Leaders at impactleaders.io Sharad is also a Speaker at many international conferences on topics related to Metaverse and Web3.

Senior Manager at PwC’s Cities and Local Government Sector advisory practice. Formerly, Senior Sustainability Engineer for SEE Nexus, consultants for The Sustainable City, Dubai responsible for Water, Waste, Mobility. Previously, Assistant Manager, City Development & Operations at Emaar Economic City, master developers of King Abdullah Economic City responsible for strategic Water, Power, Transportation, Sustainability & Innovation projects and initiatives. Member of the ESG Foundation. Former Senior Advisor for Local Pathways Fellowship initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Holds a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering and Master’s of Engineering Design in Sustainable Infrastructure.

Amr Mostafa is the CEO of Milango, building smart city and Prop-tech solutions for several of the largest developers in the region with 100K+ residential units, 2 cities, 4 business parks, and 9 fitness locations under management. Prior to joining Milango, Amr previously served as a Senior Associate at Endeavor Egypt, aiding in the scaling up and investments made in the fastest growing startups in the region since 2015. Amr is a graduate of Dalhousie University where he studied Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

Aneesh serves as the Vice President of Strategy at SMSRC, Chief Strategy Officer and Director at Synaegis Healthtech, and Non – Executive Director at Medclin. He is a second generation professional from the family that created and developed the pioneering market and legacy of Rx data-based market research for the pharma sector in the world. Since joining SMSRC in 2019, Aneesh has spearheaded several strategic and intrapreneurship initiatives in SMSRC. Aneesh has worked on several data based live strategic consulting projects related to Go to Market strategies and M&A in the Indian Pharma Industry. He has used his skills as a data visualization expert to transform the output of SMSRC data analytics-based consulting presentations. Currently, along with his tech team, Aneesh is driving development of a first of its kind data big data engine and analytics tool for the Pharma Industry.

Chris Scanlan is Group Head of Investor Relations for Pyypl, the most exciting next-generation consumer Fintech company in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Chris also has led a corporate advisory business based in Dubai, working with international companies, Sovereign Wealth Fund’s, large family offices and other qualified investors to create valued partnerships and drive their business interests in the Middle East and North Africa. With over 15 years of international business experience, Chris held leadership roles for investment banks, multinational brokerages and a boutique investment house in London focused on equity capital markets. During this time, Chris ran equity securities finance trading and proprietary trading businesses in EMEA. Chris established strategic partnerships for a lifestyle technology platform called the ‘The Swing Index’ which provides coaching as a service.

Alexander played a critical role to scale SwissBorg from a five-person startup to a 250+ employee scale-up. His role encompasses effectively communicating complex ideas from the company’s thought leaders and visionaries in spoken or written formats. He helps to expand SwissBorg’s partner network, aligns people to find a win/win/win situation and combines synergies with other ecosystems to compound the outcome of a partnership. Alexander has been featured as a keynote/panellist/ educator at WEF Davos 2020/2022, Cointelegraph, Coindesk, Coin Bureau Live, Token2049, Le Figaro, Paris Blockchain Summit Week, Blockdown, AIM Summit, Cryptoslate and more. He is a certified TEDx Speaker and CryptonitesTV YouTube host and is known for his love for crypto investing, CeFi/DeFi, fundamental analysis and the evolution of Tokenomics.

Dubai-based journalist covering all sectors in the Middle East. Bylines include Reuters, Bloomberg Middle East, AGBI, Arabian Business, Arab News, Zawya, MEED, Entrepreneur, 7DAYS. Grant winner from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Associate Fellow at Murdoch University, 2020 Summer School Fellow at the Reuters Institute For Journalism, University of Oxford.

As a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (FCICM, UK), Faraz holds expertise in Credit Management, specifically in the areas of order-to-cash processes, KYC, and Receivables Management. Faraz played a key role in a project aimed at digitizing a previously manual process of B2B Credit Assessment, resulting in the development of a first-of-its-kind web-based platform for KYC and Credit Rating. Additionally, Faraz has conducted reviews of KYC procedures in various industries across the region and provided tailored workshops and training programs to both commercial and finance teams to educate them on best practices for KYC and Credit Rating. Today, Faraz is the Co-founder of TREVEX, a digital platform that aims to bring a paradigm shifting perspective in KYC by reintroducing business transparency into the modern commercial space.

general partner at VentureSouq

Co-founder of Zest Equity. We are building a turnkey investment and liquidity solutions platform for the venture ecosystem in MENA and wider emerging markets – enabling collective growth. Over 10 years of experience in strategy, organizational restructuring / change management, commercial and investment banking. Previously headed a DIFC based regulated investment bank – managing the local team, cross-border group functions, as well as regulatory matters, compliance, risk management and board / governance practices. Keen interest in innovation and digitization – Rawan is also an active investor in public and private markets.

Lothar is a „Gartner” certified Sales Trainer, ISO certified Agile Coach and New Work Expert with the passion to help Start-ups in their different phases of a successful market entry and to transform their company to the next level. Together with his partner he developed the “Customer-Business-Value Centric” sales methodology. Starting with the question what customers really want, this Methodology provides a guide how to become a real trusted business partner to your customers rather than being perceived as a seller. He has led large scale sales transformation programs in multinational companies like Nokia and Siemens as well as sales enabling and coaching programs for several start-ups supporting them in their different market entry phases. He is a strategic, value-oriented innovator and a strong believer in trusted partnership with open, efficient and constructive collaboration.

Ottmar is on a mission to help companies on their journey to bring great technology successfully into the market, using the systemic Customer-Business-Value centric Go2Market Framework he co- developed: All too often companies forget that providing value for customers is at the very heart of every successful business – what does not provide value gets ignored, not bought. And that means value at every stage of the Go2Market Process, be it product development, marketing, or sales. To achieve this end2end systemic perspective, he can leverage his significant depth across many different areas including technology, sales, marketing, consulting, and people leadership. He loves to work collaboratively with various stakeholders and senior decision-makers and their organizations and is known for following through on commitments and turning around sales performances.

Yasin Aboudaoud is a Hong Kong born entrepreneur who has been in the global trading business for over 12 years. While running Brinc in the Mena region he has been able to establish programs and support over 100 startups. This gave him the global vision of A-Z solutions in market development and product distribution. His expertise in the MENA region in the last 8 years, has allowed him to connect people with products of every kind across the different eco systems.

Serial entrepreneur Vilhelm Hedberg launched ekar in 2016, the Middle East’s first pay-as-you-go hourly car rental service. The idea was to create an easy-to-use self-drive mobility platform allowing residents and tourists to book cars conveniently parked throughout the city. The same year, ekar was selected by the RTA Dubai as the provider for 100 vehicles carshare project and secured other key clients, including Saudi Aramco, Emirates Airlines, and Etihad Airways. Since then, Vilhelm has successfully spearheaded ekar’s expansion and pivoted the business to a pure mobility tech company connecting fleet owners and OEMs to renters with a seamless digital rental and leasing platform. In 2021, ekar launched its Self-Drive Super app and ekar Subscription service, allowing users to book economy or luxury cars for a period of up to nine months with no down payment or long-term commitment. The service followed the launch of ‘ekar Fleet’, part of ekar Mobility OS, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for car rental and leasing companies to rent their fleet on the ekar platform remotely.

Omar Al-Shabaan is an Entrepreneur, Business Developer, and an angel investor with over 18 years of work experience in major multinational and local companies. he is the co founder and CEO of The Space . He was leading Partnerships at Misk Innovation, a subsidiary of Misk Foundation,as well as serving as a short term consultant with The World Bank group on Innovation and Entrepreneurship , and was an Advisor for the National Digitization Unit. Omar holds an MBA from IE Business school as well as an Executive master in Corporate Communication from the same school.

Investment professional with 15+ years of experience in venture capital, management consulting, and public markets. Currently a partner at Modus Capital, a Venture Platform operating in MENA comprising VC funds, Venture Builders, and a Corporate Innovation arm.

Laith is a dentist turned tech entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. In 1997 he co-founded Jeeran.com while going through university, which grew to over 7 million registered members and managed to attract funding from global Venture Capital firms including Intel Capital and 500 Startup. In 2015 Laith moved to Venture Capital by joining Arzan VC. Having led investments into many early-stage companies in MENA, North America, and UK, he covers most verticals with a special interest in SaaS, marketplaces, logistics, transportation, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) models. With 9 exits and 7+ years in Venture Capital, he has built a portfolio spanning two funds that includes: Careem, Swvl, Mejuri, Trukker, Onfleet, Tamatem Games, iKcon, Zid, and 37 others. A self-taught technologist, he still codes, and speaks fluent Arabic, English, Objective-C, Swift, PHP, C#, JavaScript, and a little bit of Python. Laith holds a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Jordan. Currently raising a third fund (AVC Fund III).

Suraya Turk is an Australian qualified lawyer, Managing Partner of Legal Circle, a forward-thinking UAE-based law firm providing startups, SMEs, multinationals and government entities with optimal legal and commercial solutions. Legal Circle has positioned itself as a leading legal firm in the startup and technology sphere, providing expert advice to diverse clients navigating the ever-changing regulatory landscape. Suraya is focused on cementing Legal Circle’s strong reputation as an agile, adaptive and innovative law firm that provides outstanding levels of service to clients. She is passionate about working with startup founders, investors and women in business to enable them to achieve and exceed their business goals.

Victor is the Founder and CEO of Dune Ventures, a hybrid model venture studio based in the UAE. The studio actively supports founders, corporates, and governments to build exceptional ventures that create exponential impact. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, Victor was the GM-UAE at Careem, where he supported the company in scaling its SuperApp proposition , pivoting its food business, and launching its subscription program. Prior to working at a scale-up, he spent 8 years investing, building, and scaling digital start-ups as a VC with Precinct Partners, Flat6Labs, and Intigral. Victor holds a BA economics from AUB, an MBA from INSEAD, and is a Thnk.org participant.

Mamoun is Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director for Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the MENA region and one of the fastest growing tech companies in Dubai. Wego is dual-headquartered in Singapore and Dubai and Mamoun runs the business from the Dubai office where he is responsible for managing operations across the region. He is a significant shareholder in the company. Mamoun helped launch Wego’s Middle East operations in 2013 and expanded the company’s footprint across MENA and into India. Prior to that, he established the Advertising & Media sales unit and was Acting GM for MENA before being promoted to Managing Director. It’s Mamoun’s ability to move effortlessly between the high-tech world of Silicon Valley and the high-touch world of the Middle Eastern travel and tourism industry that makes him a particularly effective senior executive. Mamoun is a member of EMIR Corporate Intelligence Network, MEA business group and German Emirati Joint Council for Industry & Commerce (AHK). He was named by Arabian Business as one of the “Young Achievers 2021”. Prior to joining Wego, Mamoun held senior roles in some of the region’s best known digital media start-ups including iKoo (first and largest online advertising network in the Middle East acquired by Yahoo!) and Diwanee (largest premium lifestyle content publisher acquired by Webedia). Mamoun has lived in Dubai since 2005 and was a sales exec for Audi before joining the tech industry.

Hassan is currently a Senior Vice President – Corporate Finance at Kroll, advising on fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offering, as well as financial and operational transformation and turnaround. He is also a Startup Mentor at Outlier Ventures, Hub71 and Startupbootcamp, and a board adviser to various organisations. He has exceptional experience in venture capital, private equity, and investment banking, which he gained through his roles with tier one organisations such as PWC, EY, Cornerstone Capital and Kroll. Hassan has over 15 years of experience in origination, due diligence, structuring, negotiation and delivering transactions. He has an exceptional track record of advising, scaling and exiting companies, realising exceptional returns, across a range of sectors such as FinTech, Blockchain, Crypto, Telecom, Gaming, Mobility and PropTech.

Hasan Haider is the Founder and Partner of +VC, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in tech and tech-enabled startups in the MENA and its diaspora. He has over 10 years of experience investing in MENA startups. Prior to +VC, Hasan was Managing Partner, MENA at 500 Startups and has invested in more than 180 startups in the region. Hasan was also co-founder and CEO of Tenmou, the first business angel’s organization in Bahrain before joining 500 Startups. His contribution in developing angel investment in emerging markets through Tenmou has been picked up as a Case Study by the World Bank and is taught to Entrepreneurship Policy makers at Babson College.

Co-founder at Zest Equity

Ahmed Genedy is the co-founder and Managing Director of iVoiceUp, a SaaS B2B ethics & compliance company with offices across the MENA and GCC regions. Previously, Genedy held the position of Project Manager at The Coca-Cola Company. Managing Partner at SolarizEgypt – specialized in the financing, designing, installing, and commissioning of PV solar power plants. Genedy is an active angel investor in multiple startups across the region. Genedy holds BSc in Energy Engineering from The American University in Cairo.

Joseph Wehbe is an expert in artificial intelligence ecosystem building. He Led the #1 winning team of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Challenge (knowledge-economy) in 2020. Joseph is a World Economic Forum AI and entrepreneurship expert. He’s also an RFI contributor to the White House Office of Science and Technology National AI Research Resource. On the entrepreneurial side, Joseph is the VP Community for the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels (Globally). An ambassador for Stanford Women in Data Science in Canada. He earned an artificial intelligence master’s degree, and AI training under a Canadian National AI strategy Government program where the AI research center of excellence that recognized his degree has Prof. Geoffrey Hinton (the Godfather of AI) as the Chief Scientific Advisor.

Jehan Ara and her work have been a catalyst for the Pakistani startup ecosystem, empowering over a 1000 founders during her time as the Founder of the Nest I/O. Having served on the Prime Minister’s IT & Digital Economy task force, and advisory boards of TikTok, Punjab and Sindh IT Advisory boards, and numerous other notable governmental and non-governmental bodies, the 2023 Tamgha-i-Imtiaz winner is also a staunch proponent of gender parity through her role on the World Bank Advisory Group for Gender Diversity. Jehan Ara has also recently been awarded for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to the Digital Industry at the Pakistan Digital Awards in 2021. She now serves as the Founder and CEO of Katalyst Labs, a Karachi-based startup accelerator.

Ayman Alashkar is a real estate economist and AI strategist, with +20years’ experience as a real estate asset manager, investor, developer and banker. Ayman began his career in London before moving to Dubai in 2003 where he played a role in the city’s growth from an ambitious regional hub to a global economic powerhouse. He is the Founder and CEO of overwrite, the best-in-class Generative AI real estate content creation app.

Sana Alam is an industry leader in finding tech talent, with a passion for building authentic relationships with companies, candidates and hiring managers. She is the founder of Crank Recruitment which works with tech startups and scale-ups globally. She’s on a mission to make the tech industry richer in diversity and access talent globally. Her team helps companies build better teams by connecting them with the most diverse, talented people in the whole spectrum of software engineering and product management.

Issa’s career has focused on finance and investments for the past 20 years with a focus on Venture Capital. He started his career in investment banking and transitioned into the MENA Venture Capital space in 2006 as a founding member of Accelerator technologies, one of the first venture funds in the Arab world. He has since occupied numerous roles that include M&A consultant at Yahoo!, Head of Investment at N2V – a regional Venture Builder, and Head of Investments and Venture Capital at twofour54. Prior to establishing Access Bridge Ventures, Issa headed IFC’s Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Europe’s venture investments both from a Direct and Indirect (accelerators and fund of fund) perspective. His track record includes, having invested in 65+ direct and indirect investment deals (from $100K to $25M per transaction), managed over $150m in MENA Venture funds, launched the UAE’s first Accelerator, fully exited 6+ MENA based deals, supported with 2 IPOs and much more. Issa now the founder and managing partner of Access Bridge Ventures, an early stage MEPAP focused Venture Fund with over 14 investments to date and growing

Sameer is a flag-bearing advocate of ‘Starting with Why’, keeping ‘why’ at the heart of everything he does as a startup strategist & design evangelist. A staunch believer in the power of food bringing people together, he co-founded Spades to provide a contactless, yet affordable web-based dine-in solution for customers. According to Sameer, Spades’ origin story is a classic example of “necessity births innovation” which was realized in the year 2021 as the world readily adopted cashless payment methods, with a clear need for a frictionless and seamless payment solution. He co-founded Spades to enable the UAE market to stay ahead of the curve while challenging the status quo of ‘cash being king’.

Saad Ansari is the CEO and founder of Xpence – the financial management platform with embedded business banking solutions empowering MENAP businesses. An experienced business leader with over seventeen years of experience as an entrepreneur, Saad has launched ventures across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Saad founded Xpence in 2018 after experiencing difficulties accessing banking services for his new business ventures in the MENAP region, being inspired to build a solution for businesses facing similar issues. He is a strong believer in the opportunities available in the region and the dynamism and hunger of its vibrant private sector, particularly in the technology and fintech space.

Céline is a FinTech content writer. Coming from a financial background, she provides insights on the financial markets and upcoming macroeconomic events. Her work as a Finance Research Analyst gives her a holistic view of financial markets, ensuring both a technical and fundamental approach is applied.

I am responsible for leading strategic partnerships for the Payments business unit at Finastra. At this stage of my career, I have been focusing on and around digital currencies, digital assets, decentralized finance, embedded finance and platforms. Over the last decade and half I have had the opportunity to experience and learn various aspects of financial technology business. ‘Business Strategy’, ‘Sales’, ‘Business Development’, ‘Solution Consulting’ and ‘Research and Development’, I have been involved in interactions with financial institutions globally. I acquired crucial global exposure and understanding of varied financial markets (with focus on but not limited to payments) by engaging with financial institutions across multiple countries across Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Americas and LATAM, Europe and United Kingdom.

Lorenzo Rosettani is an Italian visionary entrepreneur, CEO of HCOMM and ART IN SPACE, and a spin-off of HSIGN, an Italian interior design and architecture company for 40 years. HCOMM has patented WORLD OF SENSATIONS, an immersive multisensory technology resulting from 12 years of research and development on the interaction of people and their living spaces. ART IN SPACE is the world’s first five senses immersive gallery open in downtown Dubai, an immersive digital art revolution.

Asmaa Naga is a language expert with over 15 years of experience in the field. She was the British Council Academic Manager and has recently transferred her expertise from the corporate world into building a startup that aims to support businesses with all their language needs. She was a keynote and plenary speaker at several international conferences and aims to add value in the world of education and communication in its most advanced form.

I have over 15 yrs of Global Risk Management experience and I am a 2nd time founder. Originally from Silicon Valley but have worked in different parts of the world. My career has been mostly around managing risk but for the past 2 years I have had the opportunity to build new products, find market fit and protect the future for individuals. Currently at Stornest I lead the startup with a fun team and look at securing people’s legacy via the blockchain.

Ahmad is the founder of Sohoby, IT Consultant & Trainer for Web, Mobile, Al & Blockchain technologies. He founded his company 2 years ago and is successfully servicing Saudi businesses with his agency’s innovative IT capabilities.

Dr. Srijith Nair is a consummate cyber and information security leader with expertise across multiple domains. His career has spanned industry verticals (tech, telecom, security), geographies (Middle East, Europe, USA), and sizes (hyper-scale, startups, MNCs). He is the holder of several patents, a contributor to industry standards, a distinguished speaker at conferences, symposiums and roundtables, and the author of several journal articles and conference papers. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Security in the area of Computer Security.

Baha Hamadi is Founder & Managing Director of Keel Comms, VP Communications of Deep Knowledge Group, Board Member of the Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA MENA) and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Community of ESG Practitioners. He also serves as a mentor for Dubai Chamber’s Centre for Responsible Business.

Melda Akin is the CEO and the founder of D14.AI, an award-winning bootstrapped AI company born in MENA focused on using AI in scheduling software applications. She was selected as ‘New Entrepreneur of the year 2020’ by Gulf Capital. Selected to Top 10 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands 2021 list by Forbes Middle East. Melda Akin is a mentor in United Nations & Nama Women Empowerment organization. Recently selected to Top 20 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands 2022 list by Forbes Middle East. And won the ‘Women Entrepreneur of the year award, 2022’ in November.

Anna Tutova is a public speaker, Fortune.com journalist and expert in public relations and business development, featured on CNBC Arabia TV, Forbes Middle East, Nasdaq, Finance Yahoo, Gulf News, Cointelegraph. Anna is CEO of Coinstelegram, crypto-media group and PR-consulting agency. Furthermore Anna is a Partner at Fintech company https://kyc-pay.com/ , marketplace for direct matching business with financial and legal providers. Furthermore, Anna is a co-producer of a documentary film “Encrypted” on the new era of digital economy, featuring El Salvador’s Vice President and government officials, UAE government officials, CZ, Founder Binance, the biggest crypto currency exchange in the world(Binance took 200M$ stake in Forbes), Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon Founder, Charles Hoskinson, Founder Cardano, Justin Sun, Founder Tron, Sebastien Borget, co-Founder Sandbox, Chairman DMCC, Head of Dubai blockchain center etc.). and other key industry leaders.

Meet Ahmed Sameh, Senior Growth Manager at Tap Payments. He’s the go-to guy for the company’s digital marketing strategy. With over 12 years of experience, he knows how to drive online engagement, conversions, and traffic. Ahmed is a seasoned professional who has held senior positions at Rain, ROIHunter, and Merkel Dentsu Cony before joining Tap Payments. Outside of his day job, he’s also a free diving instructor and a rock climbing enthusiast!

Shereen is a Middle Eastern business media producer and presenter. She helps finance and tech companies humanize their brands through creative multi-media storytelling. Together, they create soulful content worth sharing. On the side, Shereen is also an advocate for arab women in finance, entrepreneurship, and athletics. Shereen is a former banker, turned management consultant, turned accelerator manager, turned media entrepreneur. Collectively, she’s spent over 13 years in various parts of the financial industry, working with corporations, governments, and entrepreneurs alike. Shereen graduated from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Science in Operations Research and from Columbia University with a Master of Science in Technology Management. She currently resides in Dubai where she produces multi-media content out of Spark! Studios. If you want to start telling your story better, please get in touch with Shereen. PS, her back squat PR is 125kg.

Safwan, a wellness entrepreneur, left his 17 years of corporate experience behind to create solutions that promote healthy lifestyles. As the founder of Conscious Baboon, an online platform that balances the main pillars of wellness, mindset, nutrition, movement, and recovery, he helps users achieve better balance and well-being. He also hosts the Superhuman Switch podcast, where he shares insights and strategies of successful individuals with startup founders and corporate executives striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Entrepreneur and PR natural from a young age, Khyara is the Founder & CEO of the UAE’s first impact driven comms consultancy. Originally set-up in 2018 to cater to grassroot organisations and non-profits, Khyara combines passion with the UN SDG goals and B Corp standards in the way she works with clients and her team. Having worked with globally recognised brands in multiple markets Khyara’s experience cultivates a decade of integrated comms experience transforming the way clients look at PR; from traditional forms to innovative omni-channel campaigns that drive genuine conversions and results, her digital prowess has played a pivotal part in driving her agency in the next generation of comms consultancies that allow clients to really understand and appreciate the value or PR. In less than two years of operation the aptly named Conscious Consultancy has worked with both leading and new brands in the region

Passionate Innovator, Marketing Strategist and Business Consultant With over 14 years experience in world class Event Management, Brand Creation, Business start-up, Marketing Strategy, Creative Strategy and Creative Team Management. In her career she has managed FIFA club world cup events, left the industry to start her own business in the form of a restaurant and from there moved on to creating brands from the ground up for a large, well established Emirati company. For the next 6 years she developed 8 Brands spanning across F&B, Perfume, and Cosmetics. Now she, alongside her partners has launched WILD FABRIK (https://wildfabrik.co) the UAE’s home for sustainable fashion, lifestyle, beauty and kids. With a vision to change habits and make the world a better place. Beyond creating brands her experience stretches to the full extent of Business start-ups, from setting up operations, policies and flows to managing the P&L and overseeing a team of 60+. Gergana is very much a big picture dreamer that wants to change the world. She loves and lives to break the known ways of doing things and brings passion in all her endeavors. She strives for perfection in whatever she touches, with the full knowledge that some of the best innovations come from imperfection itself.

Sabin Muzaffar is the Founder & Executive Editor of Anankemag.com and Women in Literature Foundation, new media and development platform creating inclusive conversations in the digital realm. Possessing 25 years of experience in print and digital media, her past roles, apart from international journalistic career, include being a UN Women’s Empower Women Global Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment and a mentor as well as Cherie Blair Foundation Mentor. She has mentored and trained 100+ girls globally focusing digital media, online advocacy and communication. Under her guidance, Ananke has been nominated twice by the World Summit on Information Society Prizes (2019 & 2020) & is currently a Commitment Maker for the Actions Coalition, Generation Equality. Sabin was also among the 20 journalists selected from the EMEA region for London School of Economics, JournalismAI + Google News Initiative Program, AI Academy for Small Newsrooms. She is also an International Center for Journalist (ICFJ) Fellow. Sabin has had the privilege of speaking at global events and leading universities including Cambridge and London School of Economics.

Cheryl King has 15 years’ experience delivering award- winning campaigns in the UK and UAE. Cheryl was previously Managing Director of broadcast PR specialist consultancy, markettiers MENA, an agency she started the MENA office of back in October 2014. The successful operation now runs with a 12 strong team, successfully combining the power of traditional broadcast and audio broadcast to deliver outstanding results and strategies for brands including Mubadala, Mastercard, DMCC, Dubai Airports, Serco Middle East and Kaspersky. Notable successes include winning Small Agency of the Year both the coveted MEPRA Awards in 2020 and for PRCA MENA in 2021. A career highlight so far was leading the team on the international broadcast efforts for the Papal visit to the UAE back in February 2019 and the Mars Hope Mission for the UAE in February 2021.

Renaud de Gonfreville is a French entrepreneur with a background in Engineering, Finance and Strategy, with and a MBA from INSEAD. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of ZIWO, a Dubai-based company that specializes in providing cloud-based contact center solutions to businesses. His innovative thinking and entrepreneurial mindset, combined with his deep understanding of the latest trends in the market, have been key to his success in leading ZIWO to become a leading player in providing Customer Experience solutions that cater to the specific needs of businesses in the emerging markets. Before starting ZIWO, Renaud served as General Manager in several Fortune 500 companies, gaining a vast knowledge in the business field. A father of 4, he is also a founding member of ELEVEN, a business network promoting People Engagement.

Dawn Barnable is the Co-Founder and Co-Host of The Mettleset, the region’s first and only sports platform to put women in sport first. A communications professional, Dawn has worked with some of the biggest sports brands in the world including Formula One, WWE and Nike, and under her own communications firm, The B Collective, she has helped shape and launch communications for some of the region’s biggest sports brands including Deep Dive Dubai. Through both her work and her experience as an ultra-cyclist, Dawn saw an opportunity for a platform that shines a light on underrepresented athletes and sports, and together with Co-Founder Afshan Ahmed, launched The Mettleset in October 2022. Launching with a podcast, The Mettleset has reached #1 in its category across 14 countries and has listeners in 75 countries.

Bassem helps marketing heads grow their revenues with tested marketing strategies. He is a co-founder and CMO at Igloo, an award-winning marketing agency with offices in Dubai and Miami. He is also a co-founder and CMO at the renowned bloomingbox.com and arabiamd.com. He works closely with companies to help them develop and execute marketing strategies that guarantee strong bottom-line results. His areas of expertise are in SEO, SEA, SMM, Content Ideation, CRO, and Marketing Automation. He also spends a lot of time talking and coaching business owners and marketeers. He is an active speaker at conferences and workshops based on marketing best practices.

YaLLa Esports was born in the backroom of DJ and entrepreneur Klaus Kajetski in 2016. With 20 years of esports and gaming experience, Finnish-born Founder and CEO Klaus created YaLLa Esports to build the regional esports ecosystem. Today, YaLLa Esports has grown into a globally recognized brand, nurturing the finest Arabic talent and operating a full-service gaming and esports agency.

An award-winning thought leader, digital marketing & branding veteran, investor, and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience working with global brands and agencies, Atul Hegde is a name that connotes excellence. He is the Founder of YAAP, a leading new-age tech and data-led content company with offices across UAE, India & Singapore. YAAP has worked with the likes of Bayut, Fitbit, DTCM, and Disney Games among many others. He has been instrumental in the development of YAAP’s 3D philosophy and full-spectrum data-led communication, from design to discovery to distribution. Atul’s vision is embodied by Rainmaker Ventures, a $50-million VC firm that he co-founded, which seeks to wholly mentor budding startups. Atul is also leading the way, in helping brands build their presence in the metaverse.

Kai Simmonds is a Corporate Wellbeing Consultant and Soul Purpose Coach. She helps high achievers to overcome burnout, anxiety and stress and live a more balanced life aligned to their purpose. Over the past 3 years she has supported over 200 clients overcome anxiety, stress and burnout through 1:1 Coaching, Workshops and Webinars.

Stefania Brunori is a Marketing Specialist , Wellbeing Entrepreneur and Business Coach with over 20 years international experience in managerial positions. Having worked in Europe and the Middle East, her core areas of expertise are Personal Branding, Brand Strategy, Digital/Social Media and Integrated Marketing Practice, developing and implementing solid strategies and marketing campaigns to facilitate companies and individuals expand beyond their limits. Originally from Europe, she has been working in the UAE for 13 years, both for multinational companies such as Teka and Nokia and Middle East leaders & SME corporations with regional reach. Her entrepreneurial career started in 2015, when she conceptualized and launched the Middle East’s most complete website for Yoga & Meditation. Since then, she’s been working with Start-Ups, SMEs and Social Impact Entrepreneurs to enable their growth with the best practices of success. She provides Personal Branding & Business Coaching sessions and workshops too, where she brings together her expertise in Brand Strategy, Coaching and Growth Mindset techniques. She is also a Females Entrepreneur Mentor at the United Nations.

Rafik El Hariri is a Lebanese designer, illustrator, and mental health advocate. Himself and his work have been featured on many platforms such as; Adobe, Arab News, Arabian Business, Vogue, VICE, GQ, The National, Marie Claire, and more He has collaborated with notable clients around the globe, such as; UN, Doctors Without Borders, WACOM, Marie Claire, VICE, PLASTIK, and more. Rafik has published three written-illustrated books which tackle human empathy, universal kindness, self love, and mental health awareness. Rafik has been recognized by Forbes Middle East as part of their “”30 Under 30″”, which highlights the most influential people in the region in their respective fields.

Mazen Omair is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Eduployment, a purpose-driven technology business with the mission of re-imagining the ecosystem of blue-collar recruitment. Mazen is also the President, CEO and Co-Founder of Momair Trading LCC, a UAE-based F&B company with franchise rights for nine Subway stores in the UAE, and co-creator of Sugarfied & Co. A successful business executive and entrepreneur with 30+ years experience spanning the information technology, retail, food and beverage, franchising, and distribution sectors, Mazen brings well-rounded depth of experience to his roles.

Over the past two decades, Basem’s drive for exhilarating challenges inspired him to take on regional roles across the GCC and North America as he worked for large corporations and multinationals. During his illustrious career, his primary focus and passion was on education (followed by healthcare and realestate) whereby he experienced the intricacies of leadership, capital raising, PE / VC investments and advisory, operations, growth and executing strategy within these sectors. Within the educational sector, Basem advised on deals worth of 300 M AED for private families, PE firms and other institutions. He was also active in the operational side advising on school improvements and development. Today he is actively involved in the EdTech space launching the First EdTech focused Venture Studio in the region to help develop the undervalued ecosystem and support some brilliant founders on their challenging journey.

Tatiana moved to the UAE in 2005. Having studied Architecture and Urban Planning in Italy, she felt she was at the right place at the right time in order to support sustainable development and help raise awareness among the local community: curb pollution, conserve natural resources and reduce the impact on the environment. Her passion for Sustainability led her to found Goumbook in 2009, creating the first ‘green’ information resource of the MENA Region. Her commitment to the Environment blossomed into a sense of duty towards our Youth and future generations. In April 2019 Tatiana started Forward Talks, a podcast highlighting leaders and professionals who, through their work, entrepreneurship and commitment promote positive impact and sustainability in the UAE and beyond. During her 17 years in the UAE, Tatiana has garnered a strong reputation and she is actively involved in the green arena: in 2021 and 2022 she was nominated by LinkedIn as a UAE Top Voice in Sustainability. Considered one of UAE’s pre-eminent Sustainability experts, she contributes regularly to media and at conferences in her role as a green business leader in the country.

Serial Entrepreneur, growth advisor and investor with more than 20 years experience in Education and Education Technology. Currently, Fadi is the Chair of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG), is an advisor/investor in several EdTech startups, Senior Ed Tech advisor at Global Ventures VC and VP Education at Wiley.

Hafsa Qadeer is the Founder and CEO of UAE’s 1st licensed social enterprise startup ImInclusive. ImInclusive connects people of determination to inclusive jobs and hosts a large pool of inclusive employers. ImInclusive has trained over 15,500 people on disability inclusion. Hafsa Qadeer has been living in the UAE for over 10 years, in 2022 she has been awarded among Visa She’s Next Top women entrepreneurs in the region, as well as C3 Companies Creating Change winner for IDEA Accelerator and TiE Women MENA UAE winner.

Dr. Razouki has 20 years of experience in venture capital and private equity investment with a focus on healthcare and technology, shifting from an excellence in clinical practice and research to the management and financing of healthcare and education systems. A graduate of Columbia Business School, Dr. Razouki received an MBA with a focus on Healthcare Management and Finance. Dr. Razouki is a member of the Hermes Honors Society of Columbia Business School, an honor bestowed on the top 1000 global alumni of the university. An Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon by training, Dr. Razouki has completed clinical rotations at New York-Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia University Medical Center, Harlem Hospital, Cleveland University Hospital of Case Western Reserve University and Mass General Hospital of Harvard University. Dr. Razouki graduated with Cum Laude Honors from Creighton University with a Bachelor’s in Biology (Ethology) and TPP (Theology, Philosophy and Political Science.

Malek serves as Asset Manager for SEE CAPITAL a private equity platform looking after a holistic view of health in social, environmental, and economic point of view. Malek was the CEO of Byrne medical a leasing company in 2018. Malek El Husseini served as Healthcare Operating partner, Alternative investments at Qatar first Bank from 2016 till 2017. Malek was the General Manager, Diagnostic Cardiology for GE Healthcare, Middle East, Africa, Turkey & CA, Russia & CIS from 2012 till 2016. Before that Malek was the Middle East business Development Manager for GE Healthcare responsible for GE Healthcare investment in the region from 2008 till 2012. In 2006 Malek joined GE Healthcare As first Sales Manager for Performance Solutions in the Middle East, the consulting arm of GE healthcare.

The journey started with Having difficulty in speaking “stuttering” In particular to a confident speaker , it started with not being able to express oneself to a leader in mental health and wellness with passion and compassion to help others grow in an inner healthy environment! Zina Geoffrey a Saudi female entrepreneur; who has impactfully transformed more than 1500 people world-wide in five years! An entrepreneur who devoted time and efforts in helping others pursue their dreams and have healthy successful relationships. I educate, empower, and help people transform their mindset toward growth. Whatever they experience during my workshops, events, talks and sessions are newly discovered and massively effective that lead to deep self-awareness and realization.

Recognized as the Entrepreneur of the year 2021 in the Digital Technology by APAC entrepreneur, Lubna is an award winner action goal-oriented conductor with a proven track record of 15 years of experience in the technology, marketing and advertising field. Globally and locally, she has created marketing initiatives and managed a set of client’s products/brands development to drive their business growth as Emaar, Etisalat, Pepsico, P&G, and many more. Lubna is well-versed in the processes of building world-class technology and marketing communications and has developed a reputation as an innovator with a client centric focus.

Mona Faris is an experienced senior brand strategist who worked for 8+ years in multinational companies such as Johnson & Johnson and L’Oreal Middle East specializing in the Africa, Middle East, & Turkey regions. Throughout her multinational career Mona has led numerous beauty brands throughout various life cycles to ensure a clear road-to-market, digital & pipeline strategy for long-term success.

Vanhishikha Bhargava is a B2B SaaS Content Marketer with 8+ years of experience in the startup ecosystem. She is the Founder of Contensify, a content and inbound marketing agency that works with B2B SaaS to build robust organic growth engines.

Paul Dawalibi is a technology entrepreneur, investor, futurist and gamer, with over 20 years of venture capital and startup experience. He is currently the CEO of Holodeck Media – the leading global media company focused exclusively on metaverse, gaming and crypto. This combination of skills and experience allow him to understand and communicate the business opportunity around gaming and metaverse in a unique way. As “The Profit””, Paul hosts the largest gaming industry show in the world – the Business of Esports, as well as Game Changers – a groundbreaking new gaming and metaverse business show on CNBC Arabia reaching 50M homes in the Middle East. “”The Profit”” is a frequently requested speaker at metaverse and gaming conferences all around the world. He also consults family offices, governments, venture funds, and global companies on the gaming and metaverse opportunity. Paul is also the creator of the world’s 1st esports NFT and founder of the 2020 fastest growing company in Canada. His core belief is that gaming is the future of fun™.

Born and raised in California, Miro moved abroad 14 years ago to pursue a career in insurance. After years of insurance and technology consulting Miro decided to make a change to develop technology solutions to revolutionize the individual medical insurance industry.

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 20 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.

As Head of Robotic Process Automation at Axicorp, Elian Daoud has been an innovative leader in adopting and driving RPA throughout the enterprise. Over 15 years of experience in the FX Industry has helped Elian expand RPA to all departments by identifying Automation opportunities and overseeing the design and delivery of various quality solutions. Prior to working at Axicorp, Elian worked closely with management as Head of Account Services at Royal Financials Australia, helping to build their new branch by establishing the departments’ SOPs and the Business Intelligence infrastructure, which automated most back-office reports. Elian holds a Bachelor of Science from the American University of Science and Technology, specializing in Banking & Finance. He is also a certified RPA Developer from UiPath and a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from IMC Institute.

John Park is a partner at SparkLabs X. As a managing director of SparkLabs he led venture investing and built two companies as a a venture builder. Prior to joining SparkLabs, John was the CEO of Lifestyle Division at Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG), a UAE based multi billion dollar conglomerate with diverse business portfolio’s from entertainment, beauty, retail to real estate development. Before AAHG, John was at Memebox leading their business development effort. He started his career at SK holdings C&C’s corporate strategic planning team where he focused on assessing technology and market adoption strategy. He is also an active startup advocate and angel investor with special interest in web3.

Juliette is the Founder and Director of Pineapple Audio Production – which specialises in the production of quality podcasts. The Pineapple team have produced over 60 global podcast series, and over 1500 podcast episodes for clients, brands and individuals including: Grazia, Metro, LBC, Amgen, Clearchannel, GWR, Heart, Marie Claire, Aramco, The Telegraph and CNBC. They recently produced the chart-topping ‘Love Island: The Morning After’ podcast for ITV. Previous to podcasting, Juliette worked in commercial radio for a decade and as an Audio Producer for the UK’s biggest commercial radio station, Heart, for six years. She created audio for clients including Sky, Disney, Sony and Netflix heard by 10 million people a week. She holds a BA in English Literature and regularly judges industry awards including the Audio Production Awards. She is an Exec Advisor to the Student Radio Association and holds the Radio Academy 30-under-30 and SRA Life Membership Awards.

Talal Alafghani is the Co-Founder of Nifty Souq, the first and largest NFT marketplace in MENA. Responsible for driving overall product strategy, Talal has seen Nifty Souq grow into a regional powerhouse, bringing blockchain technology to the Middle East’s creative sector.

Bashayer Al Issa is a Self Improvement and Growth coach focused on Arab millennial females and their pursuit of their best self. She is the founder and owner of the coaching practice The Motivating Coach. Bashayer holds a B.S.c in Computer Information Systems and a M.S.c in Entrepreneurial Leadership From Bentley University and Babson College. She created a program focused on the entrepreneurial spirit and taught it to over 200 Emirati students. An advocate for female empowerment, Bashayer proudly supports having more women in the workforce, more women owning businesses and more women in leadership roles.

Nameer Khan is a leading fintech leader in the MENA region. He was awarded as MENA’s Future Fintech Leader by Central Bank of UAE & Abu Dhabi Global Market. Nameer is a serial fintech founder & investor and serves as an executive advisor to leading fintechs, financial institutions and regulatory authorities in the MENA region. As the founding member and chairman of the MENA Fintech Association (MFTA), he has today created pivotal body comprising of leading Fintech stakeholders from across the region and together partnered with the regional regulators and central banks to establish a robust fintech framework. With his focus on sustainability for 2022 onwards. Nameer is a part of exciting fintech ventures focused on enabling sustainable impact, and through MFTA he’s also helping fintechs adopt sustainable practices, with the ambition of making MENA a leading sustainable fintech region.

Kareem has led different functions within the industry for both conventional and Islamic banks, as well as consulted all over the GCC, MENA, and Europe.

Nour Emam is the founder & CEO of Motherbeing, a women’s healthtech company that is reimagining patient-centered care through a hybrid model of holistic and inclusive care. Nour is also a sexual health educator and birth worker, who works at the intersection of women’s health, education and technology to provide tangible and transparent reproductive and sexual health solutions, services and products that are widely-accessible, culture-centric, and evidence-based for Arab women living across the MENA region and beyond. Motherbeing has over 2.5 million followers across social media, has been featured in the New York Times and was #1 on Apple Podcasts in the MENA region for its two season show ‘The Mother Being Podcast’.

Imad Hammad founded CarSwitch.com in early 2016. A seasoned executive with over 10 years of management consulting and line role experience across +10 developed and emerging markets. Imad currently oversees operations, business development, and overall execution of CarSwitch.com strategic agenda. Imad also held a line role as the Regional Director of Sales & Pricing at OSN where he led product and promotion decisions across 8+ markets and sales operations from footprint optimization to target setting and incentive design. A pragmatic leader with a collaborative approach to problem solving and rigorous analytics, Imad has worked with host of senior leaders and lead diverse teams across 3 continents to deliver tangible results.

Andrea Giannini was born in Bari, Italy, the 25th of April 1994. He received the Bachelor degree in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering in August 2015 from Politecnico di Bari after working at CERN for the TOTEM experiment. He then received the Master degree in Electronic Engineering in December 2017 from Politecnico di Torino. He was a PhD candidate at ETH Zurich, working on ultra-low power architectures for deep learning on chip solutions up to August 2018. After that he worked as lead digital hardware design engineer in Fathom Computing, a startup located in Palo Alto, California, developing Domain Specific Architectures for machine learning applications, integrating optics with digital designs. Since August 2020 he works as Chief Technology Officer of Exovolar Industries Corp., driving the decisions of the next generation of air mobility systems.

Founded in 2013, ARkub is one of the first companies specializing in augmented and virtual reality – conceptualization and development – in the UAE. ARkub has integrated these technologies into multiple companies strategies schemes and facilitated the clients transition into the virtual worlds. Hind is also behind VR Sports — the first all-sports virtual reality arcade in the region —  launched in 2018 in collaboration with Dubai Sports Council and EMAAR Entertainment. As a natural progression from VR, Hind’s expertise expands to Metaverse and NFTs content creation and development, as well as educational. Hind has served Canadian Government Corporations as a Board Member, such as Via Rail Canada and Quebec Consumers Protection Office, and actively supports youth development programs in the UAE as a speaker and a mentor.

Karthee is a Founder and Managing Partner at MFV Partners, an US-based, early-stage deep-tech venture fund targeting technology startups that are disrupting traditional industries like Automotive, Manufacturing and others. Karthee invests in frontier-tech startups in robotics, 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Energy, Climate Tech, Quantum Computing, Autonomous Platforms, and Internet of Things. He represents MFV Partners’ investments in PsiQuantum (Quantum Computing Hardware), Agility Robotics (Humanoid Robotics for Manufacturing), Sun Mobility (EV Tech platform), Rescale (High Performance Computing) among others. Before MFV, Karthee spent 11 years as a Corporate Vice President and Managing Director at Qualcomm Ventures where he invested across the US, Israel, and India. He started Qualcomm Ventures’ investment activities in both Israel and India. Some of his notable investments include Waze (acquired by Google), MapMyIndia (NSE: MAPMYINDIA) and Validity Sensors (acquired by Synaptics) among others. He continues as an independent director at MapMyIndia. Karthee has a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. Karthee holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Karthee is also a Kauffman Fellow.

A real believer in startups, Aya Sadder has helped bring companies to life across a range of industries, countries, and ecosystems. Founder of Bolt Consultancy, Aya launched the company in late November 2020 to help build hubs of entrepreneurship across the MENA region. Prior to BOLT, Aya was the Incubator manager of Intelak, the first Aviation, Travel & Tourism Incubator in the MENA region sponsored by the Emirates Group, Microsoft, Accenture and Dubai Tourism. For her work there, she was recognized with the Ecosystem Influencer award in 2017 from Entrepreneur Middle East as well as Intrapreneur of the Year from Arabian Business. Aya also worked for over six years under the umbrella of Techstars and Google as a globally certified facilitator for Startup Weekend.

A serial Entrepreneur with multiple exits Ibrahim “Abe” Seksek is the current CEO and Head of Talent of MENA and Africa of Startupbootcamp, a Rainmaking company. Before joining Startupbootcamp he Co-Founded a couple of companies such as ZenHR Solutions, which addresses the entire HR cycle, and Crystel, Jordan’s first business process outsourcing (BPO) provider. Ibrahim also worked as Head of Global Operations Support for Naspers, the parent company of dubizzle and OLX, which oversaw the operations in 70 countries.

Hisham is a seasoned corporate lawyer with almost fifteen years of experience in the Middle East., Hisham represents a wide range of international and MENA-based clients, including some of the leading venture capital and private equity firms in the Middle East. To date, he has successfully closed over 200 M&A and corporate transactions representing numerous funds and corporations throughout the MENA region, the U.S., the U.K., and Europe. Several of these deals include multi-million-dollar Series A and B transactions. He also assisted in forming over 30 venture capital and private equity funds over the course of his career.

Lana is the Managing Director of Hikma Ventures (the corporate VC arm of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC) which she helped establish in 2015. Lana started her career at Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC in 2012 as the Assistant to the CEO and Director of Corporate Strategy & Development where she worked on strategic projects across the company’s various functions including strategy, M&A, operations and finance. Prior to joining Hikma, Lana worked as a Financial Analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions department at Dresdner Kleinwort Investment Bank in London where she worked on transactions for clients across multiple industries. Lana co-founded the Innovation & Leadership Advisory Board (ILAB) at Hikma which consists of young Hikma employees whom share a dedication to advancing Hikma and ensuring it is at the frontier of innovation. Lana holds an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and a Bachelors of Commerce degree from McGill University. She is a board member of Siniora Food Industries PLC, the Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) and an investment committee member of AB Ventures (the corporate VC arm of Arab Bank PLC).