the leading tech festival
for emerging markets

Partner and Chief Investment Officer Walid has more than 15 years of experience in Venture Capital, strategy, corporate finance and engineering within the digital, telecom, software and new media industries. Prior to joining MEVP in 2010, Walid was a lead associate at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and before that he worked as a strategy manager at the UAE’s Prime Ministry Executive Office focusing on public policy initiatives. During his stay in Dubai, he worked on setting-up entrepreneurship related programs and developing incubation in the Arab World through several Dubai based initiatives such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation. Prior to that, Walid worked at Booz & Company as a consultant covering telecom & media. Prior to Booz & Company, Walid worked as an industrial engineer in France. In 2009, he completed Morgan Stanley’s summer associate program within their investment banking M&A division in London. Walid holds an industrial and urban planning engineering degree from Institut National des Science Appliquées de Lyon (INSA de Lyon) and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ned has a unique, cross-border experience of successfully setting up and managing new, innovation-driven functions or divisions for private and public sector organizations like AWS, Intel, CA Technologies, the UAE Prime Minister’s Office and Expo 2020. He’s also worked for five startups with successful exits, three in the US and two in the Middle East: Zawya.com and 1776 Dubai – a startup within a startup which he launched as the first international incubator in the region. He’s always been a strong believer in entrepreneurship AND education as engines for socio-economic development, and drove programs such as Intel Teach across MENA, hosted an ‘Internet Education’ radio show in Dubai, and facilitated a major initiative between Stanford and the UAE government on integrating innovation and entrepreneurship into higher education. Ned also gives back to the community by mentoring high-impact startups and has served as Executive Board Member, United Nations ICT Arab Task Force; Board Member, Young Arab Leaders; Founding President, Stanford UAE Alumni Club; and Steering Committee Member, in5 Tech Innovation Centre. He holds an M.S. from Stanford University, a B.S. from Northeastern University, and an Executive Education Certificate in Management from INSEAD. A frequently requested industry speaker and media authority, he is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.

Khaled Lababidi is the Managing Director for Startupbootcamp’s Dubai FinTech, an accelerator for startups looking to solve innovation challenges facing Financial Institutions. Khaled is also a Venture Partner for Arbor Ventures, a VC based in Singapore investing in early stage companies spanning across South-East Asia, the Middle East and Silicon Valley.Prior to moving into the startup & VC world, Khaled had a 15 year career as a corporate and investment banker with BNP Paribas, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and HSBC throughout the Middle East, the US and Canada raising debt & equity for his clients in excess of $10 billion.

Gordon is a highly successful and internationally experienced digital technology Director. Having begun his career in technology services and systems implementation, he progressed to lead a transformation practice for one of the UK’s best-known companies. After seven years, he decided to enter into the world of startups, as founder and employee discovering the value of lean-agile methods and data-driven decision making, and gaining a fresh insight to the opportunities offered by OSS and the adoption of emerging design and development engineering practices for product development. In 2014, Gordon joined EY in the EMEIA Advisory Centre, ‘EAC’ based in London as a Director, where he led a digital transformation project through all phases through to successful project completion. The award-winning project delivered with a blended EY, design agency and agile engineering team, which ensured that the necessary governance, capability build and operations were in place for continued technology development and performance improvement was in place post-handover. Currently, Gordon is working with startups as a Director of Coaching for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund, developing their strategies business models and value propositions to grow their businesses Gordon graduated in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from The Robert Gordon University Aberdeen and holds a Post Grad Certificate in Management studies

My name is Nelio and this is the story of how I’ve earned my “”Black Belt”” in Growth Marketing. I left a corporate career (Davidoff, Chanel, L’Oreal) to join a random startup as their “”Marketing Guy””. That random startup, Careem, was recently bought by Uber for 3.1B$. I then left Dubai to join a community of “”Digital Nomads”” in Chang Mai. There, I met incredible humans building M$ businesses without investors, offices nor physical teams. This is when 2 friends from Dubai called me to grow their laundry start-up, “”Washmen””. In 14 months, without a team, we grew Washmen by 5X+, and closed a multi M$ Series B; Facebook even built a case study on us. Now, I help entrepreneurs earn their own “”Black Belt”” in Growth Marketing, building awesome businesses that push this World forward. “

Mohammad is the Strategy Director at Ajar, the leading property management and rent collection platform in the Middle East. Prior to that, Mohammad was the founder and CEO of the MITEF 2016 award winning app, Ghinwa, a mobile application for amateur singers to sing in Karaoke & promote their talent. Prior to Ghinwa, Mohammad worked at the National Fund for SMEs and Kuwait Investment Authority.

Bella has worked across all aspects of the startup ecosystem in MENA including enablement, investment and founding a company. She has mentored, advised or invested in over 50 companies before founding her own startup in 2017 which has now raised two rounds of capital and is expanding to multiple markets. She is particularly passionate about traditional industries being disrupted by technology in emerging markets.

Sahar Abdulrasoul is the Growth Manager at Ajar, the leading property management and rent collection platform in the Middle East. Prior to Ajar, Sahar worked in the technology and media space, co-founding and managing era media which was later acquired by Founders Media, where Sahar briefly served as the Head of GCC content. Sahar has also held several workshops to help entrepreneurs navigate their content and digital strategies.

Clementine is the Co-Founder and Director of CodeBrave, a non-profit teaching coding and robotics to vulnerable youth in Lebanon. CodeBrave aims to match the wasted human potential among former street youth and other marginalized groups with the global tech skills gap, reaching over 60 students in its first year. Prior to founding CodeBrave, Clementine was a data analyst, including at the UN, specialising on humanitarian and development interventions in Syria and Lebanon. She has a M.A. in Arabic & Islamic Studies from Oxford University. Clementine is the Co-Founder and Director of CodeBrave, a non-profit teaching coding and robotics to vulnerable youth in Lebanon. CodeBrave aims to match the wasted human potential among former street youth and other marginalized groups with the global tech skills gap, reaching over 60 students in its first year. Prior to founding CodeBrave, Clementine was a data analyst, including at the UN, specialising on humanitarian and development interventions in Syria and Lebanon. She has a M.A. in Arabic & Islamic Studies from Oxford University.

Reem Qawasmi is Ibtikar’s CFO-in-Residence, a role through which she works closely with Ibtikar’s portfolio on financial planning and budgeting, data-led strategy, and accounting and compliance issues. She is also a frequent organizer, mentor, and speaker in entrepreneurship events. Before joining Ibtikar, Reem worked at the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. There, she mentored student founders at Startup Aggie Land, the University’s business accelerator; and planned and implemented on-campus entrepreneurial activities under the Blackstone LaunchPad project. Previously, over a four-year period, Reem provided management consulting services for Palestinian startups and small businesses, including business optimization through process design, and enhancing coordination and streamlining management of financial operations. As Senior Auditor for Ernst & Young and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Reem led teams working on audit engagements for various institutions, including commercial banks, service companies, and non-profit organizations. Reem has an MBA from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University and an Accounting and Business degree from Birzeit University.

Stefania Brunori is a Brand Strategist and Marketing Specialist with over 15 years international experience in managerial positions. Having worked in Europe and the Middle East, her core areas of expertise are Brand Strategy, Digital Marketing, Social Media and Integrated Marketing Practice, developing and implementing solid strategies and marketing campaigns to facilitate companies expand beyond their limits. Originally from Europe, she has been working in the UAE for 10 years, both for multinational companies such as Teka and Nokia and Middle East SME corporations with regional reach. Some sectors in which she has provided her Integrated Marketing practices are: Fitness, Wellness, Interior Design, Architecture, Fashion, Finance and Social Impact. Her entrepreneurial career started in 2015, when she conceptualized and launched the online portal www.yoginfinity.com , the Middle East’s most complete website for Yoga & Meditation. She’s been coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs since then to support Start-Ups and SMEs growth with the best practices of success, and providing Digital Marketing and Personal Branding workshops too.

Loredana is a determined and dedicated professional that interlinks existent Business Strategies with technology. Bringing both Conventional and Innovative business models into the digital transformation world. Loredana has a background in Innovation Management, Training, Fintech and in working closely in the Startups and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Loredana is a Certified Blockchain Solution Architect as well as a Certified Blockchain Business Foundations professional. While holding a Master of Science in Blockchain Applications and Digital Currencies, she is also a researcher and educator in the sector that aims to deliver value in this fast-changing industry.

Rime is the CEO of Limelines. She has over 18 years experience in management, strategy and delivery of digital platforms around the globe. Following her Bachelor of Science in Economics from Notre Dame University in Lebanon, Rime moved to Chicago, USA and earned dual master’s degrees in Business Administration (MBA) and MSc. in Information Systems (MSIS) with honors from Roosevelt University. Rime’s global and high academic achievements helped her succeed in several positions that she held in Chicago from Financial Analyst at Tribune Media to eCommerce Strategy Consultant at Whittman-Hart Consulting to a Senior Business Analyst, Global Technology Liaison and Program Manager of several global applications at J.P. Morgan worldwide bank. She later relocated to the MENA region and joined Thomson Reuters as a Digital Program Manager overlooking the development of several online platforms and mobile apps. Before joining Thomson Reuters, Diab spent 12 years at J. P. Morgan in USA with increasing responsibilities, leading to her role as Vice President – Program Manager of Global Client Care applications. During her Program Management role, in addition to successfully delivering around multiple tech releases per year, she was tasked to be the link to global clients during international software rollouts and traveled to the EMEA and APAC regions to be the mentor and advisor during deployment. Before J. P. Morgan, Diab held several consultant positions in the area of online strategy consulting where she executed research on best practice strategies and advised clients on how to best develop their online presence including software selections processes and delivery options. During her tenure, Rime has repeatedly received an exceeds performance rating due to high quality tech delivery process development and execution, excellent client relationship and communication, and building high performance teams.

Faisal is the Innovation Hub Manager and head of AB Accelerator at the Arab Bank. Prior to joining Arab Bank, Faisal managed a portfolio of +30 startups at Oasis500, a pioneering seed-stage accelerator in the MENA region with a portfolio of 100+ companies. Faisal works with multi-stage startups in designing the early stages of product design, go-to-market strategy, and business development. Furthermore, assisting startups in raising venture funding. Faisal is deeply passionate about the Fintech industry, led FinTech focused corporate innovation programs in Jordan. Faisal holds a Bachelor’s degree from the American University of Washington DC with a double specialization in Business Management and Entrepreneurship

A Partner at Abraar Advisors, Chandni Jain works at enhancing entrepreneurial and management leadership performance through specific approaches, tools and techniques deeply grounded in Emotional Intelligence. She currently provides leadership coaching to entrepreneurs in the UAE and Singapore. An MBA, a Certified SEI (Emotional Intelligence) Practitioner & Assessor, and member of ICF (International Coach Federation), she brings together a unique combination of over 20 years’ corporate, social plus entrepreneurial sector experience across India, Singapore and the UAE. Her skill sets carry a strong multidiscipline, cross-sectoral and cross-geographical focus. Her career spans leadership positions in marketing communications at organisations such as Ogilvy and Bates of the WPP Group where she has advised Fortune 500 companies, SMEs and International NGOs on brand strategy and research requirements; the social enterprise, innovation and entrepreneurial sector as Acting CEO, Social Innovation Park (SIP) Singapore, and as GM, Child Rights and You (CRY), a premier child rights advocacy based NGO in India. Aside from coaching, she is a prolific writer under the name Chandni Kapur. She has been writing professionally since the age of 19 and to date, she has authored and published eight books which have been cited and referenced within India and internationally. Her books seek to create an empathetic space for her coaching endeavours.

Omar Abou Ezzeddine is Managing Partner at Mirum MENA, responsible for local and regional operations and business expansion. With a passion for innovative technologies and a belief in the power of strategic development in digital channels, Omar’s Experience includes government contracting, security applications, artificial intelligence, online platform development, and digital strategy formulation and execution.   Before joining Mirum, Omar worked at Northrop Grumman in Washington DC in charge of projects with the Department of Defense and Department of Education. Omar also worked with Duos Technologies, an artificial intelligence, security platform provider in Jacksonville, Florida and Abu Dhabi, UAE. Omar holds a Master’s of Science Degree from The George Washington University as well as Bachelors Degree in Business from The George Washington University.

Actual position is the CEO of i-See ltd that Development of new Web Applications for particle therapy and shielding from radiations, giving solutions with distributed computing and building cloud private applications to deliver predictive simulations. I am extending my first competences, after founding my first company I-See Ltd, to fit new and unique strategy, proposing different new challenging products applied in Healthcare, seen from for other perspectives. From Artificiale intelligent and IoT to Augmented Reality and VR. I worked on developing and customizing solutions at the international level, in the field in Radiation therapy. I worked also in eHealth, prevention and monitoring for a better health solutions. I designed solutions to be introduced and integrated for a new market, with cutting edge tecnologie in the field of AI, AR and IoT interfacing. All my projects have the peculiarity of being in a multi-disciplinary business context. I am also an active member in Reseau-Entreprendre Piemonte, offering mentoring for selected startups.

Lia Wadih, Product Lead and Business Development Manager at SE Factory (SEF), primarily focuses on driving SE Factory’s mission to help talented youth access training and good jobs while helping companies hire more efficiently. Lia leads on the outreach strategy of SE Factory mainly by building partnerships with companies in Lebanon, the GCC, Europe, and beyond while ensuring and maintaining successful hiring process. With overall accountability for SE Factory’s clients, Lia supports in driving profitability, quality and growth to SEF’s programs by identifying and nurturing a portfolio of key organizational relationships and leading on new product development to leverage existing resources and offerings according to the needs of clients. This includes launching the new SE Factory online tutoring services for professionals and recently rolling out SEF’s Managed Services option for international companies. Lia’s experience has been accrued in different multinational initiatives in the entrepreneurship sector such as Elevate Impact Accelerator (funded by UNICEF), Seedstars, and several startups, handling partnerships and strategic alliances, product development, content creation, logistics and events management, and process mapping and improvement. Lia holds a BEng in Industrial Engineering and a minor in Business from the Lebanese American University.

Sana Bagersh is CEO of an advertising agency called BrandMoxie that is based in Abu Dhabi, UAE that provide branding, communication, PR, advertising, digital marketing and events management services. She is also Innovation and Strategy Advisor for the Abu Dhabi Municipality, and provides high level consulting to government entities in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship/ intrapreneurship and digital marketing. Bagersh oversees the editorial team of Tempo a youth/community magazine that promotes innovation, social enterprise and community engagement. She is also founder of Tamakkan, an entrepreneurship and innovation social enterprise that offers guidance to SMEs. Bagersh is also Executive Producer of a short film platform called The Smovies that identifies emerging film talent, and a programme called the Innovation Impact Community that recognizes community leaders. She served as board member at AmCham Abu Dhabi for four years; as Chair of its Women in Business Committee for two years, and Chair of its Arts and Culture Committee for another two. Bagersh has served as a government consultant in the areas of communication strategy, innovation, intrapreneurship, stakeholder engagement and partnership building. These have included work for the Higher Colleges of Technology where she developed a framework to organize and streamline communication for internal and external communication across the 17 colleges. She has provided consultancy services for Emirates Foundation where she built the partnership and social entrepreneurship portal and programme. She has been serving as senior advisor to the Abu Dhabi Municipality in the areas of innovation, comms strategy and entrepreneurship; as well as the development of partnership and CSR initiatives. In addition to designing and organizing teambuilding and strategy workshops in areas such as entrepreneurship and innovation, Bagersh also runs focused training in new-gen government, digital trends, reputation building, stakeholder engagement and advocacy. Bagersh established Tamakkan 2009 as a knowledge sharing platform that leverages the readiness of experts/ consultants to give back to the community. The initiative offers free seminars to entrepreneurs on topics such as funding, marketing, social media, leadership, franchising, new technologies. Bagersh uses information as a powerful ‘trigger’ to mitigate SME failure by focusing on the fundamentals of business success. In response to the need of entrepreneurs to network more frequently, Tamakkan holds its seminars monthly. Bagersh Chaired AmCham Abu Dhabi’s Women in Business committee for two years (up to June 2015), during which time she developed and deployed Women Achieve, a platform that promotes seven women’s empowerment ideals. In June 2015, Bagersh took over chairmanship of AmCham’s Art and Culture Committee. In the past Bagersh had served as adjunct professor at Zayed University teaching marketing to fourth year students, and also served on various industry advisory committees in institutions such as the Higher Colleges of Technology Women’s College and Abu Dhabi Vocational Institute. Prior to this she lived in Seattle, Washington for seven years (1990-1997) where she worked in a marketing research company before setting up Alla Italia, a gourmet restaurant before deciding to move back to the UAE. Bagersh started her career as a journalist at Gulf News in Abu Dhabi, UAE (1985 – 1990), where she was one of a handful of Arab women involved in general reporting. Upon her return to the UAE she worked as as bureau chief (1997-1999) of Gulf News’ Abu Dhabi office, during which time she led the news team and launched the neighborhood reporting scheme which trained community reporters. During her time as journalist she met leaders such as HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, Richard Branson, George Bush Sr., Kurt Waldheim, Princess Diana and Prince Charles; attended press conferences for newsmakers such as Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat, Muamar al Gaddafi, Benazir Bhutto, Jacques Chirac and Richard Cohen; and interviewed personalities such as Nelson Mandela and Wilfred Thesiger.

I started, my last dream, Red Points Solutions SL in 2011 with 3000€, now we are 250 people working at the company. Red Points was one of the five winners (out of 400) in the first BStartup10 call of Bank Sabadell, and won the Best Company of 2014 awarded by the Catalonian Government; prize Emprendedor XXI and the best startup 2016 business school ESADE. We have closed 54 million euros in financing for the company. Personally,Entrepreneur Award 2017 for Catalonia Radio. After 15 years working as a lawyer in the entertainment sector, I saw many of my clients closing their business due to piracy and the emergence of illegal contents. In this chaotic situation, I decided to look for a solution to this issue. I could see it as a huge business opportunity and that is how Red Points was born and launched. Today I can say that we overcame the challenge. Co-Founder Squaredpoints.com. Currently the most important YouTube Network in the sports.

Kiran is the eLab London Location Manager for CIEE. She works with early stage entrepreneurs, supporting them to build human centered products and services as well as compelling pitch decks. Her participants have been accepted into prestigious programs such as London Business School’s incubator and UCL’s Educate Accelerator. Prior to this, Kiran worked on innovative projects for the likes of UNICEF. She managed an Argidius funded project, which saw a 1 Million EURO funding win. In addition she co-founded a global educational initiative called swivelBOX in 2016 and saw a profit in the first year.

Neena is the Public Relations & Communications Manager, at 500 Startups, the most active Venture Capital firm in the world, based in Silicon Valley. As a Communications professional with more than 20 years of diverse experience she manages the external communications for 500 Startups MENA and assists the portfolio companies under its management in matters related to PR. Prior to joining 500 Startups MENA, she was an Account Manager/Senior Consultant at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, the leading international Public Relations Agency in the world. Her client portfolio included leading international brands, quasi government, and private sector organisations. She has contributed towards effective communications with multiple internal and external stakeholders through effective Marcomms, strategic brand management, training and PR campaigns. She was engaged in community, government and media relations; corporate communications; events and communications planning; and issues and crisis management. She is a poised and competent team builder and leader who succeeds in a fast-paced corporate environment. Neena holds a Masters in Banking and Taxing from Bangalore University. She is also a qualified Post Graduate Diploma holder in Finance Management with a first rank, from St Joseph’s College of Business and Administration.

Sama Alshawi is the Events and Community Manager at 500 Startups, the most active Venture Capital firm in the world. Sama has an MSc in Events Management and a BSc in Banking and Finance and is also a Certified Digital Marketing Professional. With more than 10 years of experience in the Events Management, Sama manages the community and events for the Falcons Team.

Shaheen AlKhudhari is the Founder & CEO of Ajar Online. Shaheen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). Starting his career as an accountant, Shaheen now has over 10 years of experience working in a variety of fields including logistics, real estate, finance, and IT. In 2016, Shaheen founded Ajar Online to solve a personal frustration that he faced while paying rent through traditional means. Since then, he has grown Ajar Online to be the leading property management and rent collection solution in the Middle East.

(DAI). DAI is a member-led “micro-VC” incorporated as an investment company and made up of like-minded individuals. We are passionate about entrepreneurs and teams that can take their ideas from proof of concept to customer traction to scale with drive, energy, determination and ambition. We invest in the seed and Series A rounds of early-stage technology companies with high growth potential

Julien is the Investment Manager in charge of the deal flow for DTEC Ventures. He previously spent 7 years building and advising tech startups in the UAE after 3 years as an Investment Banker for Societe Generale CIB in Italy.

Dani Al founded Imovation in 2003, an independent ICT startup which currently helps Telecom and Retail conglomerates in the Middle East carry out their multi-million dollar mobile strategies. This experience led him to a decade long career in payment and transaction solutions, including creating Looping a mobile application platform catering to the SME market as well as being an investor, director, patent co-author and board member of Margento one of the pioneers in mobile proximity research and development. Currently Dani is CEO of Imovation, Looping and sits on Margento’s board. Specialties include: Product Development, User Experience Design, Creative Solutions, Business Strategic Consulting, Mobile Technology, Payments and NFC

Basil Moftah is a general partner with Global Ventures, a Dubai-based, growth-stage venture capital firm. Previously, Basil was the President of Intellectual Property & Science (IP&S) division at Thomson Reuters. Basil repositioned IP&S as a platform business by integrating its content and technology into a single micro-services architecture. He then prepared the business for sale to Onex PE in Canada. Prior to this position, Basil managed emerging markets for Reuters, a $600M business spanning Latam, Middle East & Africa, Russia, India and China. He successfully grew the business organically and with strategic acquisitions, including buying Zawya in the Middle East. Basil started his career at Reuters in the Venture Capital group and was part of the team that took it private. A highly successful fund, it invested in Netscape, Yahoo, Verisign, Webex, and many other successful companies. During his time in emerging markets and based in Dubai, Basil was a founding advisor for Reach Mentoring – a successful program focusing on high-potential woman executives in the Middle East. He was also a sponsor for a cross industry initiative on financial transparency with the Middle East Investor Relations Society. He was also the executive sponsor in 2014 and 2015 at Thomson Reuters for diversity in the workplace programs. Basil holds bachelors’ degree in Mechanical Engineering from American University in Cairo as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Laila is a Principal at 500 Falcons, 500 Startups’ MENA Fund based out of Dubai. Laila has previously worked as an Associate Director at Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), where she led several transactions in addition to advising portfolio companies on fundraising and on optimizing operational performance.

Georges has 12 years of experience in designing growth strategies, restructuring investment portfolios and optimizing operating models in the Middle East and North Africa. His experience spans various industries, including financial services, real estate, food, construction, retail, entertainment and hospitality, Georges is currently the Vice President for Strategy at Ecolog International. Prior to that, Georges held various senior positions with regional and international corporations, including Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company) and Al Ghurair Investment. Georges holds an MBA from INSEAD (France and Singapore), a Master’s Degree in Operations Research from Columbia University (New York) and a Master’s Degree in Engineering from Supelec (France).

Ambar Amleh is a Founding Partner at Palestine’s early-stage startup investment fund, Ibtikar, a fund that she championed and helped design, structure and fundraise. Ibtikar fills a critical funding gap faced by Palestinian entrepreneurs between seed and VC, and is currently the only active VC in Palestine. For the past eight years, Ambar has been directly involved in supporting Palestinian entrepreneurs. As the program manager for Palestine for a New Beginning (PNB), a Palestinian non-profit company focused on entrepreneurial development, Ambar grew PNB from an idea and a loose and small board leadership to an established Palestinian institution. Through PNB, Ambar organized the yearly Celebration of Innovation, a Palestine-wide competition of entrepreneurs, and the follow-up support to these entrepreneurs; as well as Global Entrepreneurship Week in Palestine. Ambar is a member of the 23 rd class of Kauffman Fellows, and was named as one of the 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab World by CEO Middle East Magazine and 20 Women VCs of MENA by MENAbytes. Ambar has an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Marketing degree from Arizona State University.

Saleh Abbas currently heads the Marketing and Outreach team at the Bahrain division of Flat6Labs, a regional and leading seed fund investor and accelerator programme in MENA with 6 strategic locations and 2 additional upcoming ones. Flat6Labs Bahrain is partnered with the country’s Labour Fund Tamkeen to operate a 3-year acceleration programme with a mandate to invest in 42 startups with solutions to current issues in the Bahraini market, as part of a larger national vision of diversifying and transforming the Bahraini economy. Saleh has travelled globally to startup related events to scout innovative businesses, create strategic partnerships and consolidate a VC network for follow on funding of the Bahrain programme portfolio. He has previously worked in logistics, marketing, and more, at well reputed firms and corporates such as JWT, Zain, and BMMI, Saleh also has a Commercial Pilot’s license.

Ryaan Sharif is BA (Econ) graduate, majoring in finance, from the University of Manchester. Upon graduating, Ryaan worked for Ernst & Young in Transaction Advisory Department whereby he worked on numerous engagements with multinational firms in developing business plans, due diligence, feasibilities and valuations. Ryaan then went on to become a Senior Manager at the Economic Development Board of Bahrain whereby he personally account managed and attracted US$300 million in foreign direct investment persuading the likes of BAE Systems, CIMC, Ariston Thermo, Mondelez (Expansion), Aleastur, SMS Meer to invest in the Kingdom of Bahrain. In early 2018, Ryaan was appointed as the Managing Director of Flat6Labs Bahrain, the MENA Region’s largest regional seed stage financier and accelerator program whereby they have already invested in 28 portfolio companies in Bahrain and over 260 portfolio companies in Flat6labs Group.

Ali is a Senior Investment Operations Manager at 500 Startups, following up on the investments committed within the Falcons team, and liaising between founders, legal and other parties to finalize and close the deals. Prior to 500, Ali spent 6 years as the Head of Finance at Tenmou, Bahrain’s first Angel Investment Company, specializing in investing in and mentoring pre-seed Startups.

A Venture Partner at 500 Startups, the most active venture capital firm in the world, based in Silicon Valley, with 2,000+ investments in 60+ countries and $350m in AUM. Ahmed manages the Saudi Arabian market for 500 Falcons, the MENA-focused fund for 500 Startups. Prior to joining the fund, Ahmed has completed an MBA from Cornell University where he managed Big Red Ventures, the first student-led venture capital fund in the United States aiming to grow the number of funded startups led by Cornell students and alumni. Ahmed also holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and has previously worked in the technology industry.