Ayman Ismail is an international expert in entrepreneurship and economic development. He is currently the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor at AUC School of Business and the founding director of AUC Venture Lab and AUC Angels. He is a co-founder, angel investor or board member in several fast-growing startups in fintech, microfinance and logistics. Previously, he was a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, a consultant in McKinsey & Company’s New York office, a co-founder and managing partner at Enovio Consulting, and a Young Global Leader (YGL) at the World Economic Forum (WEF). He received his PhD in International Economic Development from MIT.

Dr. Nicolas Rouhana (PhD) is currently the Chairman and CEO of IM Fndng, grouping IM Capital & IM Ventures aggregating $60M respectfully funded under USAID MENA Investment Initiative & Lebanon Investment Initiative, providing Matching Capital, Equity Guarantee and Technical Assistance to businesses and investors in Lebanon. The funds co-created the first Seed accelerator SpEED@BDD in Lebanon that graduated more than 35 startups, created and managed 5 business angel groups (Seeders & LWAF) with more than 135 angel investors, trained more than 65 mentors, invested in more than 45 startups, leveraged more than $40M from private capital, and created and maintained more than 800 jobs.



Between 2002 & 2015, Nicolas was the Executive Director of Berytech, a leading Technology Business Innovation & Incubation Center in Lebanon. He is currently President of the Internet Society-Lebanon Chapter and the current Chairman of Speed@BDD accelerator, he is also board member of Berytech and several Lebanese technology companies.



Nicolas has a Telecommunications Engineering degree from Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, a PhD in Networking Systems from Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, and an EDP graduate from INSEAD, France.

Lauren Maillian is the Founder and CEO of LMB Group, strategic marketing, and brand advisory company; was a Founding Partner at Gen Y Capital Partners, an early-stage venture firm focused on investments in mobile and consumer-facing technology-enabled companies, and is the author of the instant bestselling business memoir, The Path Redefined: Getting To the Top On Your Own Terms. Lauren’s passion for innovation-through-entrepreneurship and her unique ability to story-tell brought her talents as an expert onto television as the Master Marketer and co-star of the startup focused docu-series, Quit Your Day Job, on Oxygen (NBCU).

At age 19, Lauren cofounded a boutique winery that quickly became an internationally recognized award-winning wine brand, making her the youngest self-made winery owner in the country. She served as the Chief Operating Officer of the company from inception through the brand’s acquisition in 2011.

As a change agent, connector, influencer, and media spokesperson, Lauren has demonstrated her ability to create messaging that resonates with brands, millennials, and women. Lauren has worked with brands such as J.P. Morgan Chase, DeVry, Cover Girl, Bumble and Bumble, and Secret Deodorant to humanize their brands and better tell their stories to more authentically connect with the consumer. 

Her multi-dimensional expertise has catapulted Lauren into a new type of marketer who has global influence as both a brand strategist and ambassador. 

Lauren’s experience is both vast and distinctive given the roles and responsibilities she’s had ranging from entrepreneur, investor, advisor, talent, client-focused strategist, and brand marketing thought leader.

Lauren’s global market leadership leverages media, culture, strategy and technology to grow brands. Lauren is an innovative marketer, who is passionate about deeply understanding people and products to create an emotional connection through storytelling.

She is driven by the belief that there is always an impactful solution to every problem. She develops marketing initiatives with a concentration on the creation and implementation of dynamic yet strategic plans that are rooted in authenticity to build brand identity, influence and notoriety.

She is a detail-oriented strategist with a deep understanding of business operations, management, and formation across various industries. Having traveled the world to more than 40 countries, Lauren has a global perspective and a fresh forward-looking approach to content creation that is sensitive to the cultural nuances faced in global media and the highly-engaged digital consumer landscape.

Maillian has sustained and deepened her influence internationally through speaking engagements to address topics that include marketing, branding, business development, venture capital, women’s leadership, innovation, and technology. 

She has spoken at prestigious institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University, Cornell University; Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Shell, Dell, Ernst, and Young (EY), Prudential, Ogilvy, Weber Shandwick, L’Oréal and Bloomberg; and at industry-leading conferences and events such as Social Media Week, ColorComm and AdWeek.

She has invested in several startups and serves on the advisory board of Digital Undivided, a social enterprise that increases the active participation of minority women in the digital space; CoSign, a technology company that allows you to monetize your social media and shareable content; LIQS, a brand of pre-mixed single-serve cocktail shots; Levo League, a career content community for Gen-Y women; and Pipeline Angels.

Lauren’s work has been featured in national media outlets including Forbes, American Express OPEN Forum, Interactive ONE, Sirius XM Radio, 1010 WIN’s, HuffPost LIVE, AOL Build, Inc. Magazine, Mashable, UPTOWN Magazine, Jet Magazine, CNBC’s Nightly Business Report, MSNBC, FOX 5, CBS New York, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Black Enterprise. In 2011 she was recognized at The White House by the Kauffman Foundation as an Empact100 Award honoree which lists the top 100 entrepreneurs under 30 and in 2013, Essence Magazine named Lauren a “Shot Caller” to watch in business. 

In 2014, the New York Urban League’s Young Professionals awarded Lauren the honor of Philanthropist of the Year for her charitable involvement and dedication to giving back, in 2015 Kia Motors and UPTOWN Magazine awarded Lauren for being Inspirationally Crafted for her leadership and fearless entrepreneurial journey and in 2015, Smart CEO Magazine named Lauren as a Smart CEO Brava Award Winner. 

In 2016, Walker’s Legacy named Lauren to their WL50Power List that honors women making strides in the business and philanthropic community.

Lauren is involved in various philanthropic organizations that affect youth, poverty, education, and the arts. She serves on the Advisory Board of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Multicultural Audience Development Initiative (MADI) Committee, as Vice-Chair of The Apollo Theater Foundation Young Patrons Steering Committee, New York Urban League’s Development Committee, is a founding member of the Young Entrepreneur Council, and a Lifetime Member of the Children’s Aid Society. Lauren has a Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, in International Trade and Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She currently resides in New York City with her two children, Jayden and Chloe.

Honorary President of the DeInvesteerdersClub, Treasurer of BAN Nederland and Senior Investment Manager at Hivos Impact Investments. Global Ringmaster, Get In The Ring

Keith is a Scotsman who made the move to The Netherlands where he works with inspiring people to create gains for people and planet through profit. From this lowland base he travels widely, to service partners and clients in Europe, Asia and Africa. He’s been known to wear a top hat and tails, but is far more to be seen in his ubiquitous blue blazer.

Tarek Assaad is Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, Egypt’s leading VC fund. Tarek is also Managing Partner at Ideavelopers where he has been managing $50m of VC investments since 2009, including some of Egypt’s most prominent technology startups. Tarek is a director of Smart Card Applications, SiWare and IdealRatings. In this role, he was also responsible for the investment in Fawry, the leading bill payment and presentment company in Egypt, which realized a $100m exit in 2015.

Tarek started his career as an engineer at Lucent Technologies then as a software developer for SAQQARA Systems, an internet startup in Silicon Valley. He later became General Manager of CID Consulting where he led the company’s high growth, helping it to become one of the leading local consulting firms in Egypt.

Tarek holds a B.Sc. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Graduated mechanical engineering at AAST Egypt then further aerospace studies along with management courses in City University London.

Worked as a teaching assistant in engineering subjects then later as an engineer in Schlumberger.

Started two companies, one in renewable energy and other in F&B.

Have been investing for 8 years in various sectors like F&B, manufacturing, Automotive Services, Consumer services, real estate, online platform.

My passion goes for impact investing and innovation, through enabling extraordinary education to my community and utilizing all the resources.

Mr. El Akhdar founded LimeVest Partners, a USD 100 million Egypt-focused private equity manager, in 2017. He is the Managing Partner and a member of the investment committee. He is responsible for deal sourcing, investment evaluation, origination, operational oversight of portfolio companies, and exit strategies with a focus on the overall firm management and strategy.

Mr. El Akhdar was previously a Partner with BPE Partners (formerly Beltone Private Equity) since 2008 where he led the firm’s team building efforts and was responsible for fundraising, deal sourcing and origination, operational oversight of portfolio companies, and exit strategies. He led BPE Partners’ investments in Madinet Nasr Housing and Development, Total Egypt, PGESCo, and Pickalbatros.

Mr. El Akhdar is a board member of the Housing and Development Bank (2020-Current), Taamir Investment Holding Company (2021-Current), Egyptian Resorts Company (2022-Current), NSA Diagnostics (2020-Current), Dar Al Teb for Medical Services (2018-Currrent), Eye Speciality Centre (2019-Current), ArtPharma for Pharmaceutical Products (2021-Current). He also held board memberships of BPE Partners (2008-2016), Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (Ticker: MNHD.CA) (2008-2016), Total Egypt (2013-2016), Pickalbatros Holding and Arabiya for Investments (2009-2012), Metalart (2008-2016), and Arabiya for Investments (Ticker: AIND.CA) (2015-2016)

Prior to joining BPE Partners, Mr. El Akhdar was at American Capital Strategies, one of the largest US publicly-traded alternative asset managers. He started his career as a management consultant with Abt Associates.

Mr. El Akhdar received his MSc in Finance from the George Washington University School of Business and his BA in Accounting and Economics from the American University in Cairo.

Since his graduation from Engineering 25 years ago, Dr. Khedr has been playing many roles in the entrepreneurial ecosystem; he built and sold startups, mentored hundreds of them, angel invested in some, worked for a venture capital and provided training to angel investors, incubators and accelerators.

He works as Managing Partner at his firm خضر وبزنس and he produces written, video and podcast content under that name. In 2020, he published a bestselling book about entrepreneurship called رائد الأعمال Inside Out.

Dr. Khedr's experience comes from the various ventures he has been working on, the DBA study as well as the ongoing consultation meetings he provides.

MARCEL BRUNO DRIDJE is a British Citizen currently leading these Initiatives:

Sophia Business Angels President / EBAN Board Member/co-founder of MEDANGELS and MDBAN / Mentor at the ISA BICC Cork Ireland/ Executive Coach / Business Angels trainer / International Business Dev and GTM Strategist.

A seasoned European Sales Executive, Marcel has substantial field experience helping IT and Telecom start-ups in the US and EMEA. Marcel has a broad range of experience in all aspects of sales, marketing, communication and management with direct experience with Fortune 500 enterprises (IBM, Nortel, Lucent, Cisco, EMC, ALU) and start-ups (Quantum, Andrew Networks, Pluris, Corvis, Ascend and Airespace). During the course of his career he has held VP roles most notably as VP EMEA Corvis (first all optical router) where he grew the team and business to an outstanding success. Of French-Algerian and British origin, Marcel launched his career after completing a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science from Portsmouth Polytechnic UK. He walked away from his first position with IBM UK as an Applications Engineer greatly relieved to embark on a career in sales...his forte and passion.

Bi-Lingual in French and English with a working knowledge of Spanish, Italian, German and Arabic.

Three major highlights from his career include helping Airespace to be the #2 WLAN in EMEA market share and positioned Cisco to be #1 WLAN vendor worldwide. He has helped start promoting Cisco VCE alliance (VMware, EMC, Cisco) and the BMC OEM relationship to Kick Start their first SP IaaS Cloud offering on a worldwide basis .He also pioneered the French ISP Internet business while leading Ascend’s insertion into FT/Orange first ISP business to include ISDNET, OLEANE and Internetway back in 1995-1999.

Marcel most recently left CISCO Systems in 2013 after 30 years in IT and Telecom Sales to start his new venture as a Business Angel to help start-ups with seed money, VC connections and International Business development & GTM Strategy. Ivas Systems ,FAVEEO ,Digitalarti ,OnePulse,Mpearl,Netwookie and Cyberflowanalytics ( Just acquired by Webroot Inc) are some of his star ventures. Currently focusing on the new AI investments projects.

A self-proclaimed Serial Entrepreneur & Intrapreneur, Marcel loves new Challenges in sharing his 30 years IT & Telecom experience with IT VC firms and new High-tech Start Ups Ready to expand their Sales & Mktg success across EMEA, USA and APAC.

Currently he is giving Master Classes for both Junior and Senior BA associations across EMEA, including the ‘Investment Readiness’ workshops for start-ups going through their Incubators & Accelerators scale up programs.

Tarek El-Kady is a leading entrepreneur and angel investor in his native Alexandria, Egypt. Born and raised in Alexandria, Tarek is the Executive Chairman of KD Group, a group of marketing and advertising agencies serving various clients in the Middle East and North Africa. Tarek is the founder and CEO of Techne Inc. and also the founder and chairman of Alexandria Business Angel Network (Alex Angels) & founder and chairman of The Mediterranean Business Angel Investment Network.

Tarek is passionate about helping young people start their businesses. As Founding Curator of the Global Shapers Community Alexandria hub, he spends part of his time giving to the next generation of business owners in the region. Tarek was awarded by the American University in Cairo’s Venture Lab in recognition to his efforts as one of the prominent contributors to the entrepreneurial ecosystem for their outstanding support.

He has been recently appointed as Senator at the Grand Assembly of the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) Senator Elkady will represent Egypt in the Global Startup Committee of the Grand Assembly in 2020

David S. Rose is an Inc. 500 CEO, serial entrepreneur, super angel investor, best selling author, and keynote speaker who has founded or funded over 100 pioneering companies.

He has been described by Forbes as "New York's Archangel", by BusinessWeek as a "world conquering entrepreneur", by Crain's New York Business as "the father of angel investing in New York", and by Red Herring magazine as "patriarch of Silicon Alley". He is the New York Times best-selling author of both Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money & Having Fun Investing in Startups and The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business.

Systems Analyst turned Tech Strategy Advisor, Public Speaker and Angel Investor, Harry ‘Tomi Davies (TD) is Collaborator-in-Chief at TechnoVision, co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN).  

For nearly two decades after graduating from the University of Miami TD led the implementation of innovative technology-led transformation initiatives in the Oil & Gas, Retail, Information Technology and Telecommunications industries for influential global brands Elf Aquitaine, Marks & Spencer, Ernst & Young and Sapient across Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia. 

In 2000 his focus shifted to Africa where he helped create the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), led the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative in Nigeria and delivered a World Bank pilot of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) that uncovered over 20,000 ghost workers in the Nigerian Government payroll system. Leading these kinds of innovative initiatives in Africa using his goal-oriented approach to project delivery which consistently delivered effective results inspired his 2014 book “The African Project Manager”.

TD is Chairman of TextNigeria (Telecoms) and Non-Executive Director at MBO Capital (Private Equity) and Big Cabal Media (Media & Entertainment). He is a member of the Lagos State Science, Research & Innovation Council (LASRIC) and sits on the board of Laptops4Learning (L4L) Nigeria, the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) and the Global Business Angels Network (GBAN). 

As a thought leader with increasing knowledge gained from nurturing entrepreneurs in a growing portfolio of tech-enabled early-stage business ventures originating from Africa, TD’s personal mission is “to help drive Africa’s development by supporting young entrepreneurs using innovation and technology to create social impact and economic value.”

TD can be reached at www.tomidavies.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as TomiDee

Peter Cowley, a Cambridge university technology graduate, founded and ran over a dozen businesses in technology and property over the last 40 years.  He has built up a portfolio of 75 angel investments with nine good exits (including one that is 107X his investment and returned all the cash he has invested) and thirteen failures.  He is a board member of the Global Business Angel Network (GBAN), President Emeritus of the European Business Angel Network (EBAN), former chair of the Cambridge Business Angels and was UK Angel of the Year 2014.  He has mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs and is on the board of nine startups.  

In 2011, he founded and ran Martlet: a Corporate VC, investing (currently £10M) from the balance sheet of Marshall, a £2.5bn revenue Cambridge engineering company.  He is a fellow in Entrepreneurship at the Cambridge Judge Business School and is on the investment committee of the UK Angel Co-fund.  He has also had 16 years’ experience as chair, treasurer and trustee of the boards of seven charities. 

With his son, Alan, Peter is sharing his and others’ experience and anecdotes in order to educate angels and entrepreneurs via  The Invested Investor which publishes two books and 75+ podcasts.  Peter is a public speaker on entrepreneurship and angel investing throughout the world.

Nagaty is an emerging markets' venture builder, investor and tech-entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in tech-entrepreneurship, He is currently the founder and ceo of " pie" the leading " M and A" for startups firm in Egypt the co-founder of KLIVVR ( Egypt'a first digital agent banking platform) co-founder/advisor of Halan , Halan is Africa's largest super app and egypt's first unicorn ( raised 200M usd) and Egypt's most funded app in 2020 according to Forbes middle east, and most funded 2020/2021. Prior to co-founding Halan, Nagaty served as Regional Director at Careem, the Middle East's number one ride hailing application recently acquired by Uber for more than $3 billion. He also sits on the board of several Tech companies inlcuding Koinz, Robusta, Checkme, Drowzy. Earlier, Nagaty, started his career at Fawry in account management and business development since 2012 till headed the BD ( fawry was the first tech-company to ipo in egypt reached 2B usd val in public markets) as well as starting Egypt'a first food and beverage fund in 2014 he is also an investor in several multi- stage startups including Sokna, breadfast, waffarha, gameya, sokoon he is also an advisor and investor in disruptech ( Egypt's largest fintech fund) and founding partner in cash cows ( a startup incubator and fund)

Nagaty has completed the CXO Academy program at INSEAD, France, and a B.Sc., in Electronics Engineering from the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

Fadi Ghandour is the Executive Chairman of Wamda Group, a platform that invests, nurtures and builds entrepreneurship eco-systems across the Middle East and North Africa. Fadi is also the Founder of Aramex, one of the leading global logistics companies. Fadi spent the first 30 years of his work life as CEO of Aramex, building the company, making it the leading emerging market logistics company, employing over 15,000 people working in over 250 offices in 90 countries. He took the company public twice, first on Nasdaq making it the first company from the Arab world to do so, then on Dubai Financial market. He continues to be active on the Aramex board. Fadi is a serial entrepreneur. In his career, he was involved with founding, investing and launching tens of companies and non-profits, ranging from digital tech, hospitality, fitness & wellness to security. Passionate about impact and social entrepreneurship, Fadi founded and chairs Ruwwad for Development, a private‐sector led community empowerment platform that helps marginalized communities, across several countries in the MENA region, overcome marginalization through activism, civic engagement, education and financial inclusion. He has also co-founded and continues to support Al-Riyadi, one of the leading not-for-profit sports clubs in Jordan. Fadi also served and continues to serve on several global and regional boards of companies, education institutions and non-profits.

Marcia Dawood is an investor in over 100 early stage private companies. She is a Venture Partner with Mindshift Capital and a part of the investment committee for Next Wave Impact Fund. Previously, she was the COO of Portfolia (one of her portfolio companies) as well as a managing partner at BlueTree Capital Group where she was responsible for investment strategy, diligence research and member education. She was also a member of Golden Seeds in NYC and Dallas. She currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Board of the Angel Capital Association (ACA) with a co-chair position on the membership and marketing committee. She will become Chair of the Board in July 2021. Marcia also is a founding member and current chair of the Growing Women’s Capital group building syndication and collaboration among US investment groups focused on women-led companies. She received an MBA from the Global Executive program at UNC’s Kenan Flagler’s School of Business, OneMBA. During her graduate studies, her group acquired the franchise rights to a new sports team. She served on the Board of Directors and managed financial and legal matters for the organization. This gave her experience as an entrepreneur from the start through the exit of a business. Prior to becoming an active investor she was with Kaplan Higher Education for over 16 years.

H.E. Dr. Nabeel Koshak is the CEO and a Board Member of Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC). Nabeel is the Founder and Angel Investor at Athaal (Angel Investors Group). He is the Chairman of GEN (Global Entrepreneurship Network) Saudi. Nabeel is a member of the Investment Committees of KAUST’s Innovation Fund. Formerly, he is the Founding Dean of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College (MBSC) of Business and Entrepreneurship at King Abdullah Economic City. Nabeel is the Co-Founder and the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wadi Makkah Company (Startup Accelerator, and Venture Capital Fund). Nabeel is a mentor at Endeavor Saudi Arabia. He is a Board Member and the Chairman of the Investment Committee at King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Innovation (Mawhiba). Koshak is a Member of the Executive Committee of King Faisal International Prize. Formerly, he was a Board Member of Oqal (Angel Investors Group) Jeddah branch and a mentor at Flat6Labs Jeddah (Startup Accelerator).

Nabeel is the former Co-Founder and Director of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) GIS Technology Innovation Center. He is the former Co-Founder and General Supervisor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute. Nabeel is the former Co-Founder and Chairman of Board of Directors of Transportation and Crowd Management Innovation Center.

As an entrepreneur, Koshak was the Founder and CEO of five tech startups.

Nabeel received an Executive Education in "Venture Capital and Private Equity" from Harvard University in 2019, an Executive Education from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in "Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program" and "Management, Innovation, Technology" in 2017, a PhD in Design Computing from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002, and a Master of Architecture (Computing in Design and Planning) from the University of Colorado in 1997. 

Fadi Antaki- Founder & CEO at TFK

Fadi Antaki the Founder & CEO at TFK, is a veteran tech venture builder and investor. He has invested in the region’s leading and fastest growing tech startups.

Antaki’s entrepreneurial experience enabled him to mentor and guide many entrepreneurs to overcome their challenges in management, generating traction and fundraising. Being an entrepreneur at heart; he founded TFK.me in 2020, the leading digital partner for Fashion brands in Egypt which is a curated Fashion marketplace having a portfolio of more than 200 partner brands and 135K+ customers.

His purpose is helping Fashion entrepreneurs grow and sustain their brands by offering them all the tools and services needed for their digital transformation to sell online so they focus on enhancing the quality of their products and collections.

As the General Partner of A15, and during the period from 2015-2019, he led the teams of 19 portfolio companies across 17 regional offices with more than 1,000 employees. Antaki turned the corporate structure of an Orascom company OTVentures into a lean VC as A15 by decentralizing all functions and creating synergies across all companies. Overall A15 succeeded in conducting 7 exits crowned by MENA’s first dragon exit which is TPay exit to Helios Investment partners in 2018, the Otlob exit to Rocket Internet in 2014 and A15’s largest dragon exit which is Connect Ads exit to Aleph holding in 2021.

Fadi Currently sits on the boards of companies in Egypt, Mauritius, Dubai, Singapore and USA. He supports those companies with extensive market and domain knowledge, networks, and strategic operational support impacting their business growth.

Antaki was graduated from the American University in Cairo with a Business Administration Major

Rafeh launched Cubit Ventures and Founder Institute Egypt, sits on Falak Startups board, is an advisor to Egypt Ventures and Loyal VC, and led one of the largest consulting firms in Egypt.

He is an experienced triple-digit track record executive, entrepreneur, and management consultant where he advised numerous companies of all sizes on growth, turnaround, and business restructuring strategies.

Omar Almajdouie is the founding partner of Raed Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with exceptional founders building transformative companies in the MENA region. Raed’s AUM exceeds SAR 500m and backed by top investors in the region including PIF’s Jada, SVC, Mubadala, Almajdouie Holding and many more. As an investor and entrepreneur, Omar founded Raed Ventures in 2016 as part of Almajdouie Holding diversification strategy, which has funded more than 32 innovative startups to-date.

He is the former CEO of Almajdouie Manufacturing Co. and he’s currently the Vice Chairman of the Saudi Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, as well as a chairman and board member of several leading tech startups and companies. Omar has more than 20 years of enriched experience in various managerial and executive positions. 

Ameer is a Partner with Khwarizmi Ventures, a $70m early stage VC fund investing across the MENA region. The fund has invested in more than 25 portfolio companies across many sectors including FinTech, Logistics, E-commerce, SaaS, Marketplaces, and more.

Ameer is also the Co-founder and Chairman of BasharSoft, the company behind WUZZUF and FORASNA.com - Egypt's leading online employment platforms for white-collar professionals and blue-collar workers respectively. Collectively, both platforms impacted the lives of 6million+ job seekers in Egypt, and helped 50,000+ companies hire more than 750,000 people over the past years.

With significant growth and impact on the local online employment market, he grew the company to become one of Egypt’s fastest growing local tech companies. He raised a total of $10m in VC funding along the way and built a team of 300+ employees. Most investors in BasharSoft were first time investors in Egypt and the region, including 500 Startups, EBRD, VNV Global, and more.

In 2019, he was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur and named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He also sits on the board of Egytrans, a publicly listed logistics company.

In March 2021, he was selected as Board Member at ITIDA, the executive arm of the Ministry of ICT in Egypt, to help in setting strategies from for Egypt on digitisation, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Ameer holds a MSc degree in Computer Engineering and BSc in Electronic and Communications both from Cairo University. He also completed executive programs on Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and business leadership executive programs at Stanford, MIT, INSEAD, and HBS.

Heba Ali is an Egyptian/American investor, development economist, and operator.

With over 15 years of global experience, Ali’s expertise spans across investing in high-growth and impact-driven startups, fostering emerging market linkages, and researching tech entrepreneurship ecosystems since 2007 – with a particular focus on Egypt and MEA.

Ali has a Master of Science in International Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she specialized in business model innovation at the base of the pyramid, tech and socio-economic impact, and economic development policy. She focused her research on critically analyzing tech entrepreneurship ecosystems from an economic perspective. Ali obtained her Bachelor of Science in Management Technology from the German University in Cairo, where she double-majored in Strategic Management and International Business.

Courtney is the COO of 500 Global. Courtney is tasked with helping 500 scales globally and explore new opportunities across both new and existing markets. She is responsible for driving day-to-day operations across the team to pursue 500’s mission.

Courtney is no stranger to the 500 family. She was co-founder and CEO of PublikDemand, part of Batch 4. She went on to become CEO of Agent Pronto, one of the largest real estate agent referral services in North America, recently acquired by Fidelity National Title Group.

Amal Dokhan is a seasoned professional with experience in startup investments, corporate innovation, and consulting in the MENA region. Amal is the partner at Sanabil 500 MENA fund where the focus is to invest in early stage comapnies and support them throughout the journey of thier startup life. Previous to joining 500 Startups Ms. Dokhan was the CEO of Global entrepreneurship Network Saudi and the Managing Director of Babson Global for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Previously She was the manger of learning and Design at the Entrepreneurship Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology where she Led TAQADAM accelerator and Corporate Innovation Programs. Prior to that she worked at KAUST seedfund developing marketing and events, while also providing a range of services to startups. 

Ms. Dokhan sits on the board of several organizations and startup comapnies. Amal is also active in angel investing as she initiatied the Angel investors forum in Saudi under te ministry of commerce and Monshaat were many angel investors got hands on experince on the practice, she also invests personaly as she has 13 comapnies in her personal portfolio. Amal attended many executive programs at MIT, UCBerkely, Design school and Insead.

Ali is the head of young enterprise finance department for the German government in Egypt with GIZ through it's project Promotion of Access to Financial Services for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt (PAFSME) to Improve access to finance for young enterprises (startups), the project supports the development of risk capital investors such

as angel investors and venture capital firms, which offer young entrepreneurs an alternative way of mixed financial and mentoring support.

Mohamed Aladdin is a Principal at Global Ventures. He's looking after Global Ventures investments and portfolio in North Africa and the Levant and runs the on-ground operations out of the Cairo office. Aladdin comes from a European Venture Capital background with investment experience across the EU, US, and Southeast Asia. Before joining Global Ventures, Aladdin was Investment Associate at Allianz X in Munich, sourcing and executing late-stage and growth deals across five main eco-systems related to the insurance industry. Aladdin has also worked for Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners in Hamburg as part of the European venture capital team investing in B2B SaaS solutions across the EU and the US. Prior to Venture Capital, Aladdin worked on the operating side with multiple early and late-stage Berlin-based startups in the HealthTech and FinTech space. Aladdin holds a Master of Business Administration and Engineering from Berlin University of Applied Sciences and a B.Sc. in Engineering Mechatronics from the German University in Cairo.

Dalia Ibrahim is the CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House, an affiliate of Nahdet Misr Group, the pioneering education and publishing group that over the course of the past 80+ years has evolved into a regional icon of knowledge; becoming a globally-recognized provider of integrated and innovative educational and digital learning solutions. Dalia is also the founder of EdVentures; MENA’s first corporate venture capital specializing in Edtech, and the founder of Ta’heal for VET Skills Excellence, which provides solutions to unemployment based on demand-driven solutions.

Francesca joined Seedstars after having taken part in the launch of an HRTech in France and co-founded a social entrepreneurship course with the UN-mandated University for Peace. At Seedstars she worked as a VC analyst MENA before managing the group's activities in the region. She eventually took on a global position as partnership manager where she works on strategic partnerships across the globe and the spinning off of new products.

Mariam Kamel is an investment professional with 15+ years experience working across a wide range of the capital markets spectrum, from publicly listed companies, to legacy family businesses, to her current and more active role, advising and investing in early-stage tech startups. Ms. Kamel began her career in Investment Banking advising mid- and large-cap companies in connection with corporate restructuring, equity- and debt-financing, mergers and acquisitions, and equity capital markets transactions, in the form of capital increases through private placements and Initial Public Offerings. She then provided Investor Relations advisory services for a number of publicly-listed companies and family conglomerates, with a particular focus on supporting companies in developing their Investor Relations divisions, preparing for IPO roadshows, working closely with clients’ chief financial officers and finance teams in institutionalizing many of the reporting mechanisms, investment decisions, and business development divisions.

Ms. Kamel also co-founded FLOW, a family health and wellness center, whose operations spanned across multiple locations.

Ms. Kamel leads and manages AUC Angels, the first university-based angel investor network in the MENA region, supporting Egypt’s innovative early stage startups with high growth potential secure seed funding. Ms. Kamel is an active angel investor, with investments across Egypt and sub-saharan Africa.

Syrine joined the Hambro Perks Oryx Fund in June 2021. She focuses on screening, selecting, and assessing emerging technology start-ups based in the MENA region. She is also executing new investments and portfolio management.

Syrine previously worked at EQ2 Ventures as an Investment Associate and as a Private Equity Analyst at Rothschild. Syrine holds a bachelor’s in economics & management and a master’s in finance from Université Paris Dauphine.

Syrine is fluent in three languages: English, Arabic, and French.

Nataly is an investment manager at Seedstars, leading the efforts in MENA and Pakistan. Previously, Nataly worked with several leading VCs in MENA, overseeing e-commerce, fintech, and logistics startups across multiple stages and regions. She also worked on value creation operations for portfolio companies and LPS, while also contributing to impact investment practices and measurements for seed-stage and unicorn startups.

Said is currently a Partner at Global Ventures. Prior to 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 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.

Hana graduated with double majors of Business Administration concentration Finance from AUC and Medicine from Ain Shams University achieving highest honors in both disciplines. Following her passion for both Medicine & Finance, she joined Elaj Group in 2020, given its specialization in investments in the healthcare sector allowing Hana to utilize her educational background of both disciplines. During her tenor at Elaj, Hana founded the data analysis department thus significantly improving the patient experience. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in the establishment of Tawasol Holdings for Financial Investments in 2021 to be the investment arm of Elaj Group and to act as a holding for Elaj Group’s current and future investments. Currently, Hana acts as the Investment Director of Tawasol Holdings who leads and directs the investment team focusing on identifying, analysing, and executing the investment opportunities. Hana led the very first investment of Tawasol in the startup scene through investing in Valify Solutions where It is foreseen as one of the most potential startups with a great impact and game changer in the regtech industry.

Khaled Lababidi is an Operating Partner at Arbor Ventures, a FinTech focused Venture Capital firm operating across MENA, South East Asia and North America.

Prior to Arbor, Khaled has held various senior positions at banks such as BNP Paribas, FAB and HSBC. 

Khaled received his B.Sc in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from Oxford University.

GP in Climate Resilience Fund (CRF) based in Egypt & Denmark. CRF Invests in MENA tech-enabled & nature- enabled solutions that mitigate against climate shocks to our food systems. A Veteran of the MENA food sector investment ecosystem, with over 25 years of agro experience and a serial investor in exciting, passionate and game changing ventures ranging from alternative foods - deep tech. Also helping to bridge the Agri knowledge gap as well as linking EU companies to MENA opportunities (and v.versa) through tailored agri-consulting services.

Bassem joined A15 in 2022. Prior to A15, Bassem was an investment professional at Helios Investment Partners, the largest Africa-focused private investment firm that manages funds totaling $3.6 billion. Before joining Helios, Bassem was part of the Telecoms, Media and Technology Investment Banking team at J.P. Morgan in London. Bassem started his career with KPMG as part of the Advisory function.

Bassem holds a Masters in Finance from the London School of Economics and a Bachelors in Business Management from the Aston Business School.

Open People Network (OPN)! OPN is a group of angel investors helping accelerate the growth of early-stage startups through The Supporters Fund and PitchitSeries. Jeffery is a lifelong entrepreneur with a proven track record of building companies and reinventing existing businesses. Working with a list of great startups to enterprise clients over the years. Jeffery is a mentor, coach and loves to climb mountains!

Background:

• Multiple degrees: Post grad (1yr), Seneca College (3yr), York University (3yr) CompSci(2yrs)

• Software Engineer/Ecom Mngr: Loblaws (1999-2007)

• CEO/CTO: Hardboot Inc, Dev resourcing (Offices: PK, PH,CAN,EGY)

• 7 Angel groups & screening: York, Spark & GTAN, Equation, Keiretsu

• Real-Estate: Single/Duplex conversions

• 70+ companies Invested

Areas of Investment: Deep Tech, Real-estate, Bitcoin, Retail, & Fintech.

Karim is a strategy and sustainability advisor, and angel investor working at the intersection of sustainability and innovation. He recently joined the sustainability team at Roland Berger’s Dubai office after working for more than 7 years with Strategy& (part of PwC) in Canada, the US and the Middle East.

As an investor and mentor, Karim currently supports social entrepreneurs and startups in several sustainability areas including circularity and recycling, environmental education, conservation, and ESG/sustainability solutions and software.

Karim previously co-founded and managed an award-winning business in sustainable and educational travel based in Canada. During that time, he ran expeditions at 30 destinations on 5 continents, met incredible people, discovered the most beautiful natural wonders of our planet, and provided life-changing experiences to thousands of travelers.

His curiosity and passion for innovation also led him to complete a PhD in strategy and innovation management at Polytechnique Montreal and to take part in one of the largest Management research projects in Canadian history with research missions around the globe including Switzerland, China, Taiwan, India, France and California. He also developed and coordinated an entrepreneurship course at McGill University in Canada.

Karim is also an outdoor and wilderness aficionado and loves taking his kids on adventure trips whenever possible.

Mazen Nadim - Co-founder & Managing Partner, 8 years of experience in investment banking, Mazen was previously an investment banker at EFG Hermes as well as an entrepreneur with two partial exits. He has led FV investments in Aydi, Flextock, as well as Rabbit.

محمد عكاشة

ً یُــعد محــمد عــكاشــة آحــد رواد الــتكنولــوجــیا الــمالــیة والــتحول

الـرقـمي فـي مـصر. ویـتمتع عـكاشـة بـخبرة تـزیـد عـن ٢٥ عـامـا

في قطاعي الاتصالات وتكنولوجیا المعلومات.

بـدأ عـكاشـة مسـیرتـھ الـمھنیة فـي شـركـة رایـة عـام ١٩٩٥ ،ثـم تـدرج لـیشغل مـنصب مـدیـر عـام

شـركـة رایـة لـتكنولـوجـیا الـمعلومـات. فـي عـام ٢٠٠٦ ،تـقلد عـكاشـة مـنصب رئـیس قـطاع

الـتسویـق بشـركـة فـودافـون حـتى عـام ٢٠٠٩ .خـلال عـملھ بشـركـتي رایـة وفـودافـون قـام عـكاشـة

بإطلاق العدید من المبادرات الناجحة في قطاعي الاتصالات وتكنولوجیا المعلومات.

فــي عــام ٢٠٠٩ ،قــام عــكاشــة بــتأســیس شــركــة فــوري لــتكنولــوجــیا الــبنوك والــمدفــوعــات

الإلـكترونـیة ”فـوري“ وشـغل مـنصب الـعضو الـمنتدب حـتى عـام ٢٠٢٠ .فـي عـام ٢٠١٩ ،قـام

ً ثـانـي أكـبر شـركـة فـي

عـكاشـة بـطرح أسـھم شـركـة فـوري لـلاكـتتاب الـعام وتـعد فـوري حـالـیا

الـبورصـة الـمصریـة. فـي عـام ٢٠٢٠ ،قـرر عـكاشـة تـأسـیس صـندوق دیسـربـتك مـصر،

ً مـنصب الشـریـك الـمؤسـس والـتنفیذي لـلصندوق، ویـعد صـندوق دیسـربـتك

حـیث یـشغل حـالـیا

مصر آحد انشط صنادیق رأسمال المخاطر المتخصصة في مجال التكنولوجیا المالیة.

ً عـضو مجـلس إدارة

شـغل عـكاشـة عـضویـة مجـلس إدارة عـدد مـن الشـركـات الـكبري، وھـو حـالـیا

الشركة المصریة للنقل والخدمات التجاریة ”ایجیترانس“ وعدد من الشركات.

حـصل عـكاشـة عـلى درجـة الـبكالـوریـوس فـي الـعلوم تـخصص ھـندسـة الـكمبیوتـر مـن الـجامـعة

الامـریـكیة بـالـقاھـرة، وكـذا درجـة الـماجیسـتیر فـي إدارة الأعـمال مـن جـامـعة اسـلسكا الـفرنسـیة.

وقد شارك في العدید من الدورات التدریبیة طوال مسیرتھ المھنیة

Ghannam is a certified business and strategy consultant and has 15 years of experience in Private Equity, Venture Capital and Direct Investments. He spent the majority of his career in the Private Equity field where he managed a US$ 51mn private equity portfolio at Egypt's largest private sector bank Commercial International Bank (CIB) including direct investments and funds.

Later, Ghannam played a pivotal role in the creation of CIB's Corporate Venture Capital firm “CVentures" dedicated to investing in early stage startups in addition to leading the formulation and implementation of CIB’s expansion strategy in Africa which was translated into the establishment of CIB's representative office in Ethiopia; the bank’s first cross border presence in Africa.

Before joining Flat6Labs, Ghannam was appointed as a Director at CVentures, where he was a senior member of the investment team leading the firm’s portfolio management activities including all aspects of the investment process including deal origination, assessment, execution and business development.

In April 2022, Ghannam joined Flat6Labs as a Principal, the most active startups investor in the MENA region, managing Egypt portfolio and fund operations. Ghannam manages the US$ 10mn fund investing in innovative technology entrepreneurs in Egypt. The portfolio consists of 90+ companies including Healthtech, Edtech, Fintech, E-Commerce and Logistics startups.

Aside from his main roles, Ghannam provided mentorship to 70+ startups at Flat6Labs, AUC Venture Lab VC4A, and RiseUp in the areas of business strategy, financial advisory, investment readiness, fundraising plan and valuation.

Current position: Professor of Innovation and Technology, CITY College, University of York Europe Campus, Chairman of the South East European Research Center (SEERC) and Business Angel Investor

Professor Ketikidis has over 30 years of experience in management, education, innovation, research, and competitive research funding and very solid networks as a result of this experience. His expertise lie in (responsible) innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, triple helix, (impact) investment, regional development, supply chain management and health informatics. Prof. Panos also served as President and Board member in several profit and non-profit associations supporting and mobilizing the knowledge triangle (research, business and education) to facilitate innovation.

He is Co-founder of HeBAN - Hellenic Business Angels Network (2015-present); Executive Committee Board Member of EBAN - The European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players, (2018-present); and Member of the Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee – Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce (2015-pesent).

Finally, Prof. Ketikidis is the Chief Editor of the International Journal of Innovation & Regional Development (IJIRD), and Founder of the International Conference for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development (ICEIRD).

Tamer El-Raghy is the Founding MD of the Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF); a $58 million impact Agri VC fund and the world’s first equity fund designed to build the climate resilience of African smallholder farmers utilizing blended finance. Tamer has more than 20 years of private equity, venture capital, M&A, entrepreneurial, and innovation experience in Africa, the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. He held 9 patents, earned an MBA from the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business, a PhD in Materials Engineering from Drexel University, and a BSc in Metallurgical Engineering from Cairo University.

Ilkay Demirdag is an award-winning Investment and Impact Strategist with 24 years of experience working in multinational companies, conglomerates, banks and private equity funds in Turkey, the UK and Bahrain. She leads important initiatives to maximize value creation for all stakeholders, transform responsible and impact investments into the mainstream, and ensure sustainable economic development.

Her expertise comprises the spectrum of Equity Transactions (Private equity fund establishment and management, Fund raising, M&A, IPOs, Impact Investments), Debt Transactions (Project finance, Debt funding and Bond issuances), Strategic Planning (Deal origination, Business development, Asset / portfolio optimization, Project management), Investor Relations and Sustainability (Strategic Planning, & Execution, Setting ESG Targets & Performance Management, ESG reporting, Index & Rating preparations, Advocation and Leading Impact). She primarily covered and analyzed regulated markets (energy, telecom, infrastructure) in developed and emerging markets.

She holds BSc and MSc in Architecture from Istanbul Technical University and MSc in Economics from University College London. Ilkay is a Mindfulness Trainer and a Professional Coach. Ilkay Demirdag actively takes part in NGOs. She is currently a Supervisory Board Member at TUYID, Impact Council Member at Impact 2030 Turkey, Board Member at ITU Alumni Association and Founder and Board Member at Impact Circles Foundation.

More information: https://ilkaydemirdag.com/

Mrs. Nagla Mohamed Bahr

Managing Director

Ms. Bahr is the Managing Director of the Credit Guarantee in Egypt (CGC Egypt) since

2015. Ms. Bahr is the chairwoman of (EMGN) the European Mediterranean Guarantee

Network.

Ms. Bahr has more than 30 years of experience in economic development, impact

assessment, macroeconomics, pricing economics, behavioral economics, financial

economics, financial advisory & consultancy, Rating, Research & feasibility studies and

strategic planning with a focus on emerging markets development. She has a special

expertise in MSMSs access to finance and development with a special focus and

proficiency in structuring, establishing, and managing guarantee schemes through

systematic structure and application of innovative products and models. She led and

supported different projects and researches of MSMEs sector development, strategy,

thematic and sector work in the context of sustainable development, and application of

business oriented approaches.

Ms. Bahr has B.Sc. in Economics and a Master degree in Professional Economic

Development.

Ms. Bahr set on several private and public sector Boards, as well as different Evaluation

& selection International committees for SMEs and Start-ups. Ms. Bahr was awarded as

one of the top 50 most influential women in Egypt for 2019.

Ezz is an experienced investment analyst with event planning experience. He is currently employed as a Senior Investment Analyst at Alexandria Angels Network. He has participated in the closing of eight deals totaling $5 million and screened more than 500 startups over the last year and a half. He has a certificate in electromechanical engineering from Alexandria University and is currently pursuing an MBA at the Arab Academy for Technology and Maritime. He has been working in the startup scene since 2018 and decided to focus on venture capital and private equity industries starting in 2020.

23 years of launching and globally scaling ground breaking technologies. Completed an Exec. MBA from London Business School in 2021 focused on Entrepreneurship and VC. As a strategic buyer with a multi-national firm mentored and then acquired several startups allowing seed stage investors to achieve 50X exits. Worked and lived in 12 countries including China, the UK and Mexico. Recently joined Alexandria Ventures as a Managing Partner with the objective of identifying and supporting Egyptian startups to become customer centric, data-driven and deliver 50X returns for investors.