14 November 2018

FOUNDERS FORUM

15 November 2018

INVESTORS FORUM

DAVID ROWAN

Founding Editor-in-chief

WIRED UK

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Futurist and journalist, David Rowan has taken 120 flights in the past year to investigate the companies and entrepreneurs changing our world, recently spending time with the founders of WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Google, Spotify, Xiaomi, Nest, Twitter and countless other disruptive startups from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen, and MENA. David is Editor-at-large and founding Editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine (UK edition).

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MUHAMMED YESILHARK 

CIO

Q2Q Capital

An investor and philantropist, Muhammed is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Q2Q Investment Partners, a pioneering Dubai based and regulated digital asset focused asset management firm. Founding member of the Global Blockchain Business Council, Muhammed has over 15 years of fund management experience, most recently as Head of Equities at Carmignac and as Partner at SAC Global Investors.

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ROB CONEYBEER

Founder

Shasta Ventures

Rob is a founder of Shasta Ventures and a 22-year veteran of the Silicon Valley venture capital industry. His investments include Nest which was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion. Early in his career, Rob served as an engineer in the Astro Space division of Martin Marietta. Rob earned an MSME degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a BSME degree from the University of Virginia. He also holds an MBA from the Wharton School.

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CARLOS DOMINGO

Co-founder & CEO

SPiCE VC

Dr. Carlos is the founder and managing partner of SPiCE VC, a tokenized fund on the blockchain that invests in ICOs and the founder and CEO of Securitize, the largest security token issuance company in the world. Prior to that, he was Chief Innovation and Transformation officer at du in Dubai.  Carlos holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Polytechnic University in Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, and postgraduate studies from Stanford University.

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JITENDER KUMAR SHARMA

Co-founder

ZipGo

Jitender, is the co-founder of ZipGo, India's largest bus aggregator. ZipGo was launched in 2015 and has raised more than $50M from domestic and international investors. Prior to ZipGo, Jitender was the Co-founder & CEO of TaxiPixi, an app based cab aggregator. Jitender obtained his MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and his undergraduate degree in Chemical & Bio Engineering from NIT, India.

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AREIJIE AL SHAKAR

Senior Vice President

Bahrain Development Bank & Fund Manager, Al Waha Venture Capital Fund of Funds

Areije Al Shakar is a Senior Vice President heading the Development Services Division and most recently leading the team of the Al Waha Venture Capital Fund of Funds as Fund Manager. She helped establish BDB’s Rowad Program. She holds a Master’s of Science in Public Policy and Management, from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and is a Certified Business Coach and Mentor, from the Chartered Management Institute, UK.

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MOSTAFA KANDIL

Co-founder

Swvl

Mostafa is the Founder of Swvl, the Middle East's leading tech-enabled public transit growing to be one of the hottest startups in the Middle East in less than a year. Previously, Mostafa launched Careem in 8 cities across the Middle East in only 6 months. Part of Rocket Internet’s elite pack of Global Venture Development Managers, Mostafa co-managed carmudi.com.ph to be the #1 online vehicle marketplace in the Philippines. He was recently featured on Forbes cover as part of Arab's 30 under 30.

BEN SAVAGE

Partner

Clocktower Technology Ventures

Ben manages Clocktower Technology Ventures. He was previously Director, Investment Associate Program for Bridgewater Associates, and he began his career as a VC and private equity investor with Wasserstein Perella. He also co-founded Artivest fka Resonance Funds, as well as Waterfall Mobile. Ben holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in philosophy from Yale University.

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RONALDO MOUCHAWAR

CEO

souq.com

Ronaldo has 15 years of experience in technology and business management. He served as a technical and systems consultant with EDS in the US. In 2000, he spearheaded a consulting company that managed numerous web and e-commerce projects in the Arab world. In 2005, he launched souq.com, the first auction site for the Arab world. Today Ronaldo is the co-founder and CEO of souq.com; an online marketplace which has grown exponentially and was recently acquired by Amazon. Ronaldo holds a Master's degree in Digital Communications and a Bachelor degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.

AMR SHADY

Co-founder & CEO

Aingel

Amr is Co-founder and CEO of Aingel Corp., working with top Silicon Valley and international VCs to scale their deal flow sourcing and selection process. Amr has over 18 years of experience in building and scaling companies. A board member of Endeavor and TechWadi, he earned his MSc in Business Analytics from NYU. He graduated from Dalhousie University with a BSc in Electrical Engineering.

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ALEXEY ZHESTKOV

Chief Operating Officer

Busfor

Alexey is the Chief Operating Officer at Busfor, the leading bus OTA and tickets distribution platform in Eastern Europe. In his current role Alexey leads global operations management, corporate development and fundraising initiatives. Prior to joining Busfor, Alexey was an active VC investor and a technology enthusiast. He is also a trained corporate finance professional and educated mathematician.

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NADINE HACHACH HARAM

Co-founder

Proximie

Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram, BEM, the recipient of the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for 2018, is a surgeon, lecturer and clinical entrepreneur. Nadine drew on her passion for innovation, education and global surgery to co-found Proximie, an augmented reality platform aiming to improve access to expert care and to scale clinical expertise. Proximie has enjoyed significant success with early adoption by major medical institutions and device companies and has been covered by news agencies around the world. 

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DONNA BENTON

Founder and Chairman

The ENTERTAINER

Donna started the ENTERTAINER in 2001 with the dual aim to make Dubai’s dining and leisure venues more affordable for its residents and drive footfall to the growing number of world-class outlets. The ‘always buy one get one free’ model was designed to be mutually beneficial to both customers and merchants. Now a global brand, the ENTERTAINER has successfully transitioned from a print publication to a data-driven tech company powering offers from over 10,000 merchant partners in 15 countries.

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TALAL BAYAA

CEO

Bayzat

Talal is the CEO and co-founder of Bayzat, a UAE- based technology start-up that empowers businesses with smart insurance & HR solutions. After sensing an opportunity in the financial products market, Talal started Bayzat with his school friend and now co-founder Brian Habibi. The duo led Bayzat to where it is today, and is now known widely as the company that provides insurance and smart HR solutions that simplify and empower lives with using world-class technology.

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MUDASSIR SHEIKHA

Co-founder & CEO

Careem

Mudassir’s career in tech started with Silicon Valley before moving back to Pakistan where he co-founded DeviceAnywhere that was acquired by Keynote in 2008. He then joined management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Dubai. In 2012, he left to form a new company with ex-McKinsey colleague Magnus Olsson that would improve lives. This became Careem, the region’s only tech unicorn. Mudassir holds an MS from Stanford University in Computer Science and a BA in economics and computer science from USC.

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MICHAEL LAHYANI

Founder & CEO

Property Finder

Michael is the founder and CEO of Property Finder Group. In 2005 he moved to Dubai from his native Switzerland after completing a Bachelor and MBA in Finance from HEC Lausanne. He identified a gap in the property advertising space and launched the first real estate classified in the Middle East, in print and online. Prior to founding the company, Michael began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Geneva. As well as running Property Finder Group, Michael also invests in startup technology companies in direct or through Merro, an investment vehicle he co-founded with two partners (www.merro.co).

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MAZIN AL SHANBARI

Director

Saudi Public Investment Fund

Mazin comes from a Banking background, where he spent 7 years between NCB in Jeddah and Banco Santander in Boston Massachusetts. Mazin holds a bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern University, and an MBA from Babson College with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Finance. He returned to Saudi in October of 2013 after his two year stint with Banco Santander aiming to start a career in venture capital, but with the industry being so nascent, there was not many opportunities. That's when he was introduced to and joined Takamol Holding, which was investigating the VC industry and its impact on job creation

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ELIE HABIB

Co-founder

Anghami 

Elie is the co-founder of Anghami, the leading music streaming service in the Middle East. Since its launch in late 2012, Anghami has reached over 75 million users, streaming a billion track each month. At Anghami, Elie runs the operations and product development, spending most of his time working between clouds, streams and pixels. Elie was selected as Lebanon Top Innovator in 2018 by Forbes, Endeavor High-Impact Entrepreneur in 2013 and Lebanon Top Entrepreneur in 2012 and 2013.

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ANKUR SHAH

Chief Finance & Strategy Officer

Careem

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Ankur is Chief Finance and Strategy Officer at Careem, and is one of Careem's founding investors. Previously, he led investment in India for Acumen, an emerging markets venture fund, was a consultant at McKinsey & Company and helped found mondus.com, a marketplace for SMEs in the late 90s. Ankur holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, and a Master of Public Administration in International Development from Harvard's Kennedy School.

JIM MORRONE

Partner

Latham & Watkins

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Jim Morrone is a partner in the Silicon Valley office of Latham & Watkins. Mr. Morrone primarily represents technology and life sciences emerging growth companies (public and private) and their funding sources, including venture capital and private equity firms and investment banks. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Mr. Morrone was a Principal and Senior Counsel at Weston Presidio, a venture capital and private equity firm focused primarily on retail, consumer, and industrial investments.

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RUTH FLETCHER

VP of People

Careem

Ruth Fletcher is the VP of People at Careem. Previously she was the head of HR for Love Crafts, which was recognised by the Financial Times as one of the fastest growing European companies. Prior to this she worked as the head of HR and admin at the global consulting firm Korn Ferry Hay Group, the director of HR at Dubai online retail portal Namshi.com and business and HR director at  Indigo Human Resources. Ruth attained a BA, and then an MA, in History at Oxford University. 

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HARRY STEBBINGS

Founder

The Twenty Minute VC

Harry is the Founder of The Twenty Minute VC, the world's largest media asset in venture capital podcast with over 100m downloads in 190 countries and guests from over 200VCs including the likes of Sequoia, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, Benchmark and Index. Harry is also the Founding Partner of Stride.VC, alongside former Accel GP, Fred Destin. Stride is one of London's leading early-stage funds supporting founders who have the ability to transform industries. Prior to Stride, Harry was an Entepreneur-In-Residence at Atomico, one of Europe's largest funds, founded by Skype founder, Niklas Zennstrom.

FRED DESTIN

Founder

Stride VC

Fred is the founder of Stride.VC, a seed-stage fund focused based in London UK, which he started with Harry Stebbings, a.k.a. the Twenty Minute VC. Prior to Stride, Fred was a General Partner at Accel and Accomplice (f.k.a. Atlas Venture). Of 17 investments he led, 10 have exited and 4 are active value drivers, including 3 companies in excess of $1BN in value (Zoopla, Deliveroo and Pillpack). His portfolio has a total enterprise value of more than $9BN and he has returned over $500M to investors.

JAMES MICHAEL LAFFERTY

CEO

Fine Hygienic Holding

James is the CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding. Lafferty started his career with humble roots, as a youth track and field coach hired by Procter and Gamble for their “Brand Management” program in his native Cincinnati, Ohio. His 30- year career took him around the world leading fast-moving consumer goods companies, including CEO roles within P&G, Coca-Cola and British American Tobacco. Lafferty is among the leading global experts on business-building, marketing and branding particularly in emerging markets.

SONIA WEYMULLER

Partner

VentureSouq

Sonia is a partner of VentureSouq, an investing platform that’s funded tech ventures both regionally and globally. Previously, she headed Advertising for Turner Broadcasting’s portfolio of children’s platforms across MENA. Sonia also worked with Viacom’s Emerging Markets’ Strategy Group and Microsoft’s Strategy and M&A team in London. She is a Charter Member for TiE’s Dubai chapter, serves as UAE Director for the Yale Alumni Schools Committee and is a Committee member and mentor at e7 Daughters of the Emirates.

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JACOB MULLINS

Partner

Shasta Ventures

Jacob is a Partner at Shasta Ventures, he focuses on investments in the Emerging Platforms sector which includes Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Computer Vision and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality. He believes there is a convergence happening bringing together the physical and digital worlds. There is an unprecedented increase in the utility and functionality of the camera with applications built “on top of” the camera and powered by AI and advanced computer vision to understand what is going on in our physical world. He is also interested in new categories, like Esports, Digital Assets and Blockchain which are being driven by “digital natives,” an emerging consumer type whose every aspect of how they work and live is digitally driven.

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MOHAMMAD BALLOUT

Co-founder & CEO

Kitopi

Mohamad is a co-founder and CEO of Kitopi, the world's first managed kitchen as a service platform. Having launched 9 months ago, Kitopi is revolutionizing the on-demand food economy. Currently, the brand’s operations have grown across Dubai and is set to have 100 kitchens over the next 3 years across 5 global cities. Before Founding Kitopi, he co-founded BMB, which is now the largest confectionary business in the Middle East. Mohamad has a double major in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Warwick and a Masters in Management from Imperial College.

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CHRISTOPHER T. ROGERS, J.D.

Partner

Lumia Capital

Christopher is a Partner at Lumia Capital, a San Francisco based Venture Capital firm investing in US category leaders pursuing international markets and local leaders dominating the fastest growing global markets.  Prior to Lumia, Chris was the co-founder of Nextel Communications which he grew to $13B in sales and 19k employees before being acquired by Sprint for $35 billion.

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DR. JEZRI MOHIDEEN

Global Chief Digital Officer

Nomura WS

Jez is leading the commercially driven digitization strategy for Nomura. He is currently involved in a number of initiatives like efficient use of AI/ML in the business, overall data strategy, opportunities in digital assets, engaging and running the Fintech effort. Prior to that he was a partner at Brevan Howard Asset management and spent over 3yrs building the newly formed AI and data science group. Jezri spent over 15yrs in a number of senior roles in some of the premier investment banks (UK & Japan). Jezri spent his early years in academia and gained a PhD in Process Systems Engineering from Imperial College, specializing in the area of dynamic optimisation. 

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ABDULLA ALBANNA

Senior Investment Professional

Mubadala Ventures

Abdulla is a senior investment professional at Mubadala Ventures, Mubadala’s venture capital arm in San Francsico, CA where he is responsible for identifying key trends in technology, developing sector-focused investment theses, sourcing unique and contrarian opportunities, and building strong portfolio companies.Prior to the launch of Mubadala Ventures, Abdulla was the TMT portfolio manager at the public investments team at Mubadala Capital, running a long-short investment strategy across North America and Europe. Prior to that, he was a member of the Acquisitions unit, advising on M&A transactions globally across multiple industries for Mubadala. Abdulla has a Bachelors degree from Kingston University in London, and is a CFA Charterholder.

AMIR BARSOUM

Founder & CEO

Vezeeta.com

Amir is the Founder & CEO of Vezeeta.com, the leading digital healthcare platform in MENA that connects patients with healthcare providers and health services. Prior to Vezeeta, Amir was a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company advising Healthcare and FMCGs across public and private sectors in Europe and MENA. He also led the Strategy Team of AstraZeneca in MENA. Amir holds an MBA from the American University of Cairo, Bachelor of Pharmacy from Ain Shams University and an Executive Education Certificate from Harvard Business School. He is also an Endeavor Entrepreneur and on the Board of Directors of Endeavor Egypt.

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