MEDITERRANEAN INVESTORS BOOTCAMP

Mediterranean Investors Network Bootcamp is an Investors-only track taking place from 7-10 October during Techne Summit Alexandria 2023 and organized by Alexandria Business Angels Network, offering a tailor-made experience for investors at different stages of their journey. Whether catering to high-net-worth individuals aspiring to join angel networks or advanced investors seeking connections with peers for the purposes of trust-building and exploring investment opportunities, this track is finely curated. It will gather together speakers and Investors from all across Europe, the UK, and the Middle East. It will serve as a forum for professionals and members of the investment ecosystem to interact and exchange expertise.

2023 Investors

Khaled Ismail
  • Khaled Ismail
  • Chairman
  • Chairman
  • HIMangel
  • HIMangel
  • Egypt
  • Khaled Ismail, Ph.D. Founder and Managing Partner of HIMangel, an angel investment fund focused on early-stage startups in Egypt (2017 -present). HIMangel invested in 11 startups starting in June 2017 and supported more than 30 other startups. Founder and Chairman of Kiangel, a not-for-profit angel investment fund investing in early-stage startups in Egypt (2011 - 2017). Kiangel invested in 11 startups between 2012 and 2017 and supported more than 50 other startups. Chairman of Endeavor Egypt (2011-2014) Managing Director of Intel Mobile Communications (2011 -2014) Founder of SySDSoft (2003-2011), an Egyptian engineering company that ranked among the top in the world in the design and development of the protocol stack of 4G cellular technology, which has been acquired by Intel in March 2011. Senior Advisor of the Egyptian Minister of CIT (2004 and 2007) VP of Engineering at Ellipsis Digital Systems (2000-2002) Research Staff Member at IBM’ s T J Watson Research Center (1989-1997) Ph.D. from MIT in 1989 IEEE Fellow since 1997. Published over 160 papers in international journals and holds 22 US patents. Recipient of the Eta Kappa Nu “ Best Young Electrical Engineer in the US” award in 1994, and the Shuman Award for the “ Young Arab Engineer” in 1995.

Ayman Ismail
  • Ayman Ismail
  • Director and Profess..
  • Director and Professor
  • AUC Venture Lab
  • AUC Venture Lab
  • Egypt
  • Ayman Ismail the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor at AUC School of Business and the founding director of AUC Venture Lab. 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 and the World Bank, 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.

Tarek Assaad
  • Tarek Assaad
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Algebra Ventures
  • Algebra Ventures
  • Egypt
  • 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.

Loay El-Shawarby
  • Loay El-Shawarby
  • Principal
  • Principal
  • El-Shawarby, Attorne..
  • El-Shawarby, Attorneys-at-Law
  • Egypt

Ahmed Alfi
  • Ahmed Alfi
  • Chairman
  • Chairman
  • Sawari Ventures LLC
  • Sawari Ventures LLC
  • Egypt
  • Named as one of the most creative people in the world by Fast Company, Ahmed El Alfi has been an early stage/growth investor for over 30 years, translating to an extensive experience in funding and nurturing early stage companies. El Alfi founded Hybrid Capital Partners in 1990, a private investment partnership. Hybrid Capital has funded, helped grow and exited several successful companies. From 2010 to 2013 he founded Sawari Ventures, Flat6Labs, Nafham, and TATP. Flat6Labs is the MENA region's leading startup accelerator. Nafham is the top Arabic online video educational platform covering the Egyptian, Saudi and Syrian public school curriculums, Nafham has given over 100 million free video lessons to students. TATP took over management of half of the American University in Cairo's Tahrir Square campus to form The GrEEK Campus; a 25,000 square meter office park where over 130 companies work and collaborate. In addition to Sawari Ventures' portfolio of investments, his current portfolio includes NeuroTrainer, Pacific Toxicology, as well as Zignal Labs. Prior to becoming an early stage investor in 1990, El Alfi was Senior Vice President of Jefferies & Company, where he worked for 10 years. He has served on the Boards of Directors or Advisors of several corporate boards as well as multiple academic institutions.

Sharif el Akhdar
  • Sharif el Akhdar
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Limevest Partners
  • Limevest Partners
  • Egypt
  • Mr. El Akhdar founded LimeVest Partners, a Egypt-focused healthcare private equity manager, in 2017. He is the Managing Partner and a member of the investment committee. He is responsible for fundraising, deal sourcing, origination 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 (Ticker: HDBK.CA) (2020-Current), Alexandria New Medical Center (Ticker: AMES.CA) (2022-Current), Global Auto SAE (2022-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.

Marcel Dridje
  • Marcel Dridje
  • President EMERITUS
  • President EMERITUS
  • Sophia Business Ange..
  • Sophia Business Angels
  • Qatar
  • Marcel Bruno Dridje, a British Citizen and INSEAD graduate, is today active as an international advisor to Startup Ecosystems in the EMEA region. Marcel wears different hats that allows him today to have a 360 view on what it takes to build a healthy and strong incubation / acceleration / investments programs.
    Marcel holds different positions as an active investor by being in the leadership of these initiatives: Sophia Business Angels, President Emeritus / European Business Angels Network, Board Member / Mediterranean Business Angels Network, Co-founder / Maghreb Diaspora Business Angel, Co-founder / EuropIA Capital, Board Member.
    A seasoned European Sales Executive, Marcel has substantial field experience helping IT and Telecom startups 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 startups (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 with a Nasdaq IPO. 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.
    Bi-Lingual in French and English with a working knowledge of Arabic, Spanish, Italian and German.
    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 programs.

Tarek El Kady
  • Tarek El Kady
  • Founder and chairman
  • Founder and chairman
  • Investors of the Med..
  • Investors of the Mediterranean
  • Egypt
  • 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

Walid Bakr
  • Walid Bakr
  • Founding Partner
  • Founding Partner
  • Ripples Impact
  • Ripples Impact
  • Egypt
  • Walid is a Private Equity veteran with over 20 years of experience in investment, finance, management, and operational roles across the Middle East, Europe, and the USA. His investment expertise and responsibilities span deal origination, execution, value creation, and exits. His operational and entrepreneurial background enrich his strategic insights and management support he can extend to companies he supports, invests in, and leads. Walid structured and developed successful investment strategies and platforms that were instrumental in raising several funds, including the very successful USD 400 mln North Africa Fund II with participation of global high-profile investors.

    Walid is Managing Partner of Ripples Impact – a newly established boutique investment and financial advisory firm with a focus on growth strategies, restructuring and reorganization. From 2009, and until his departure in Q2 2017, Walid has been a Managing Director with the Abraaj Group ($14 Bln AUM). He led Abraaj’s Egyptian operations and was a senior member of the MENA investment team. During his tenure he led one of the most successful investment portfolios in Egypt with over USD 1+ Bln of NAV, and two of his investments ranked among the top EGX performers. Most notably, he was responsible for the investment in, structuring & subsequent successful listing of Cleopatra Hospital Co. (Egypt’s largest Hospital Group, CLHO.EGX).

    Prior to joining Abraaj, Walid was a director with Riyada Ventures (A boutique regional investment bank), and previously Managing Director of Technology Development Fund (TDF, Egypt’s 1st VC fund). He started his career with AT&T in Kuwait and moved on to manage and establish several technology companies in France and the US.

    Walid served, and continues to serve, as a director on the boards of local and regional companies across Egypt, UAE and Jordan. He’s an Independent Director and head of the Audit Committee of Alexandria New Medical Center (Egypt’s 2nd largest independent hospital – AMES.EGX). He previously served on the boards of Egypt’s largest hospital group (CHG; CLHO.EGX) as well as Egypt’s largest education group CIRA (CIRA.EGX) ahead of its listing.

    Walid is actively engaged with education and entrepreneurship initiatives in Egypt. He served on the Board of Trustees of Education for Employment (EFE) Egypt, Bidaya Fund’s (Government SME Fund) advisory board, AUC’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation counsel and is an active Endeavor mentor. He’s an active angel investor and startup mentor and serves on the boards of several technology and education companies.

    Walid has been selected as an Eisenhower Fellow in 2017 and a Kauffman Fellow in 2013. He holds a BSc in Engineering with top honors from Alexandria University.

Tarek Nasr
  • Tarek Nasr
  • CEO
  • CEO
  • ThePlanet / Mintrics
  • ThePlanet / Mintrics
  • Egypt

Sherif Zahran
  • Sherif Zahran
  • Industrial Director
  • Industrial Director
  • Groupe SEB Egypt Zah..
  • Groupe SEB Egypt Zahran
  • Egypt

Amr Nada
  • Amr Nada
  • Managing Partner & B..
  • Managing Partner & Board Member
  • Leap Media
  • Leap Media
  • Egypt

Ahmed Bastawy
  • Ahmed Bastawy
  • Innovation Consultan..
  • Innovation Consultant and Managing Director
  • ICEALEX
  • ICEALEX
  • Egypt

Waleed Khalil
  • Waleed Khalil
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Endure Capital
  • Endure Capital
  • Egypt

Amal Enan
  • Amal Enan
  • Partner
  • Partner
  • 500 Global
  • 500 Global
  • Egypt
  • Amal Enan is a Partner at 500 Global, a USD 2.8 bn venture capital firm investing globally in the uplifting economies. Amal advises the American University in Cairo’s Endowment as the Chief Investment Officer of the and former Senior Advisor on COP27 to the World Resources Institute.
    At 500 Global, Amal leads the firm’s early-stage investments in Egypt in high growth sectors including healthtech, fintech and Saas in addition to managing the wider Egypt programs and building the team. Amal was the former Executive Director of the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund “EAEF”. Amal joined EAEF as the first employee and since then, the organization grew to over USD 300 mn under management, seeded four first time fund managers and invested in several Egyptian companies that address high development needs in Egypt. Prior to EAEF, Amal was part of a team of economists at the Macro-Fiscal Policy Unit in the Ministry of Finance where she formulated reform policies, drafted sections of the State Budget and negotiated with international organizations on matters that touch the lives of millions of Egyptians. Before the Ministry of Finance, Amal built her investment experience at the International Finance Corporation where she was an Associate Investment Officer at the Infrastructure Department working on debt and equity projects in MENA. Amal started her career in the research department of EFG-Hermes as a junior economist and became a CFA Charter holder in the years to follow.
    Amal received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s in economics from Cairo University. Amal is a MELI fellow at the Aspen Institute and Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.
    Amal founded of The Lotus Collective, an organization supporting access to finance for women and climate solution for sustainable & inclusive growth.

Yasmine Nagaty
  • Yasmine Nagaty
  • Acceleration Manager
  • Acceleration Manager
  • AUC Venture Lab
  • AUC Venture Lab
  • Egypt
  • Yasmine Nagaty brings 10 years of program management and leadership experience in youth development and employability programs as well as entrepreneurship. She currently is the Acceleration Manager for AUC Venture Lab, Egypt's first university-based startup accelerator and an award-winning accelerator in Africa and the MENA region. As part of her role,

Mohamed Aladdin
  • Mohamed Aladdin
  • Principal
  • Principal
  • Global Ventures
  • Global Ventures
  • Egypt
  • Mohamed Aladdin is a Principal at Global Ventures, leading Investments and portfolio management for the Middle East and Africa. Aladdin comes from a European venture capital background with investment experience across the EU, the US, and Southeast Asia. Before Investments, Aladdin was an operator working for multiple early and late-stage technology companies in the FinTech and HealthTech domains."

Waleed Khalil
  • Waleed Khalil
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Den Venture Capital
  • Den Venture Capital
  • Egypt
  • Waleed is the Managing Partner @ Den Venture Capital.
    Focusing on Seed stage investment, Den is onboarding sector agnostic, and tech enabled startup into the Den accelerator program where the startups benefits from customized mentorship programs, largest cash ticket in the region, access to brilliant mentors, and access to the network of Endure Capital international co-investors. Waleed is aiming to bring more exceptional startups to the MEA startup scene.
    Prior to Den, Waleed has been s been partner @ Endure Capital since 2016. Throughout this journey, Endure invested and supported, several success exceptional startups like Careem, Boom Supersonic, Maxab, Breadfast, Aspect Biosystems, Numan, and many other investments, Waleed is aiming to focus more on the early stage investments.
    Prior to the era of working as a full time VC, Waleed has been a serial entrepreneur and consumer electronics manufacturer expert who has been building several businesses throughout this career.

Nina Dremelj
  • Nina Dremelj
  • President
  • President
  • Business Angels of S..
  • Business Angels of Slovenia
  • Slovenia
  • Nina Dremelj is the president of Business Angels of Slovenia. Her greatest passion is to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into real, successful businesses. In last 5 Y she invested in more than 16 deals with average investment multiple 6.03 and helped close more than 40 deals valued 40+M. She is currently dedicated to Alita Capital as well, where they are the real investors - they invest relatively small amounts and a lot of their time and knowledge in extremely early founders or. founding teams with a lasting will to bring innovative projects to life. In the past, she co-owned and successfully managed the Swiss seed fund AlpVent AG. In 2021, under the auspices of business angels, she helped set up the first daFUND venture capital fund, supported by business angels (side car fund) and also invested in it.

Mazen Nadim
  • Mazen Nadim
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Foundation Ventures
  • Foundation Ventures
  • Egypt
  • Seasoned finance professional with over 10 years of international experience in corporate finance, private equity, strategy, business development and venture capital.
    Strong entrepreneurial drive having founded a Food & Beverage start up, a boutique Private Equity Firm and an early stage tech-focused venture capital fund

Mohamed Okasha
  • Mohamed Okasha
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Disruptech Egypt
  • Disruptech Egypt
  • Egypt
  • Mohamed Okasha is one of the pioneers of financial technology and digital transformation in Egypt. Okasha has more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications and IT sectors. Information technology.

    Okasha started his professional career at Raya Company in 1995, then joined He held the position of General Manager of Raya Information Technology Company. In 2006, Okasha assumed the position of Chief Marketing Officer at Fu Davon until 2009. During his work at Raya and Vodafone, Okasha launched many Successful initiatives in the communications and information technology sectors.
    Okasha obtained a Bachelor’s degree in science, specializing in electronic engineering. A computer from the American University in Cairo, as well as a master’s degree in in Business Administration from the French University of Alaska. He has participated in many training courses throughout his professional career.

Waleed Alballaa
  • Waleed Alballaa
  • General Partner
  • General Partner
  • Sukna Ventures
  • Sukna Ventures
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Waleed A. Alballaa is a General Partner at Sukna Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Waleed has a proven track record in the tech industry and is a founding member in a number of associations in his field including the Saudi VC/PE association (SAVCPEA), the Saudi Business Analysis Association Group Association (BAAG), and Riyadh Angel Investors (RAI).

    Ever since he got into the VC space in 2015, Waleed has built up deep expertise in sourcing and structuring technology deals based on his long track record of working closely with founders and helping them grow and expand their businesses. Sukna Ventures is his third VC vehicle and before that he had laid the foundations of Elm’s CVC arm and had also cofounded Riyadh-based VC fund STV.

    Waleed comes from a strong operator background. A software engineer by profession, his experience includes working across different verticals in the technology ecosystem in the US where he spent eight years developing and testing products for leading industry players including Microsoft, Cadence Design, and Skyworks Solutions. His business experience includes successful launches of a number of eGov mega-programs in Saudi including Saher and Hafiz.

    Waleed holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia and a master’s in Computer Science from Oregon Health and Science University in the US.

Marie Therese Fam
  • Marie Therese Fam
  • Individual Investor
  • Individual Investor
  • MTSR Consultancy
  • MTSR Consultancy
  • Egypt
  • Investment Consultant and IC member supporting startups and Fund Managers across Africa and GCC regions with Fundraising. Previously held the position of Managing Partner of FLat6Labs Egypt and Partner at Silicon Badia, working on over 75 unique investments across Egypt.

Ali Abussaud
  • Ali Abussaud
  • Founding Managing Pa..
  • Founding Managing Partner
  • HALA Ventures
  • HALA Ventures
  • Saudi Arabia
  • After 20 years in managing the family investments, and 10 years in the Corporate & Institutional banking sector, between ABC Bank, SAMBA, NCB, & Saudi Hollandi Bank, where Ali Abussaud managed a portfolio of USD 1.5+ Billion, Ali founded Financial Horizon Group in 2014 which is an investment firm that operates several entities within investment, financial & management consulting, recruitment and executive search services.

    During the same period in 2014, Ali co-founded a Corporate Investment Fund which invested in various Asset-Classes including Venture Capital.

    In 2018, Ali co-founded HALA Ventures, one of the pioneering venture capital firms in Saudi and MENA region.

Lachlan Hughes
  • Lachlan Hughes
  • Head of Venture Capi..
  • Head of Venture Capital
  • Aditum Ventures
  • Aditum Ventures
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Lachlan is the Portfolio Manager covering Venture Capital at Aditum Investment Management, based in Dubai. In this role, Lachlan is responsible for investing out of the firm’s venture capital fund with a focus on Seed to Series B investments globally, with a skew towards early-stage opportunities in the MENA region where they lead or co-invest and a skew to later-stage opportunities. The fund is not constrained to any sector but B2B software and fintech are to key themes driving the current investment strategy.

Dania Sherif
  • Dania Sherif
  • Business Management..
  • Business Management Consultant
  • United Arab Emirates

Keo Sar
  • Keo Sar
  • Executive Director
  • Executive Director
  • August Hill
  • August Hill
  • United States
  • For over 10+ years Keo has played key roles in helping startups in various stages of their life-cycle figure out how to grow and scale as effectively as possible. His belief is that businesses built for scale can unlock value for all stakeholders and have a net positive for humanity. His mission is to work with leaders and their teams to find the strategic edge and help them execute on it.

    Prior to joining August Hill, Keo was the CRO at Shyft and co-founded a startup in the blockchain space. Throughout his career he has held senior leadership roles in several companies, building and leading cross-functional teams in Business Development, Sales, Operations and Customer Service. The companies have ranged from Series A (Octane & Lenda) to a company that IPO’d with an $8B exit (Lending Club). Before catching the startup bug Keo gained valuable experience at a couple Fortune 100 companies.

    Keo is passionate about talent development, being involved in building technologies that enhance the human experience and finding the most effective ways to scale companies. He is also a regular at industry conferences and has done several keynotes and panel discussions. He is currently based in Belgrade, Serbia with his dog and works with Western Balkans innovation ecosystems to share his knowledge and experience, conducting workshops and mentoring founders, as well as being an angel investor. Outside of work Keo spends most of his time with his dog BB, traveling, writing and immersing himself in his curiosities.

Youssef Hanna
  • Youssef Hanna
  • Investment Associate
  • Investment Associate
  • Climate Resilience F..
  • Climate Resilience Fund
  • Egypt
  • Youssef is an associate investor at the Climate Resilience Fund, an early-stage VC backing innovative early-stage companies in agri-food and climate in Egypt and Africa. Prior to this, Youssef was on Global Ventures' post-graduate program, where he focused on agritech and climatetech in Africa and the Middle East.

    Beyond VC, Youssef has professional experience with insect farming for sustainable protein and with international industrial technology companies.

    Youssef is an African Private Equity Fellow and Netwon Venture Scholar. He completed a MSc in Management at London Business School and a BSc in Social Sciences from Groningen University, where he focused on climate, climate finance, entrepreneurship and sustainable agrifood.

Amr Abouelazm
  • Amr Abouelazm
  • Co-Founder, Vice cha..
  • Co-Founder, Vice chairman and CEO
  • Erada Micro Finance
  • Erada Micro Finance
  • Egypt
  • The Co-Founder, CEO and Vice chairman of Erada Microfinance.
    He was previously the Executive Vice Chairman & CEO of Tamweely Micro Finance Company and formerly the CEO, Vice Chairman and Co-founder of Tanmeyah Micro Enterprise Services and the Deputy Director of the German Development Bank (KFW) in Egypt.
    He is also the Co-Founder, Chairman and a Shareholder in ElGameya for Finance & Information Technology Rosca Fintech as well as a Board Member of Nasser Social Bank and previously a Board Member of the International Council for small business (ICSB). President of Global Entrepreneurship Network in Egypt (GEN Egypt). He was the Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium Small & Micro Projects (EFFMSMP). He is currently the Co-Chairman of the Non-Banking Financial Institutions Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AMCHAM).
    The Head of Risk Committee for Egypt Venture Capital Company (EVCC) and member of the advisory committee for RMBV investment firm and previously a Board Member of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (MSMEDA).
    In addition to being one of the renowned executives in Egypt in financial services and SME e-commerce, he has played a principal role in the formulation of the First National Micro Finance Strategy for Egypt and first Micro Finance law. He is an eminent Lecturer in entrepreneurship development and financial services provision and an investor in a number of startups in the sectors of Fintech, Supply Chain and F&B. As well as a mentor to several young entrepreneurs and an advisor for Fintech startups and a member of the Egyptian Fintech Association.
    Mr. Abou El-Azm holds a B.A. in Economics in 1993 and a master’s degree specializing in the Commercialization and Development of Micro and small Enterprises in 2004, both received from the American University in Cairo.

Antoun Mouawad
  • Antoun Mouawad
  • VP Investment
  • VP Investment
  • IM Fndng
  • IM Fndng
  • Lebanon
  • Antoun currently holds the position of VP Investment at IM Fndng where he works on evaluating, supporting portfolio companies and closely collaborating on developing and articulating structured investment thesis.

    Prior to joining IM Fndng, Antoun was a corporate banker for more than 10 years dealing with a diversified portfolio of companies across several industries.

    He graduated from Notre Dame University and ESCP Business School.

Ezz Osama
  • Ezz Osama
  • Portfolio Manager
  • Portfolio Manager
  • EdVentures
  • EdVentures
  • Ezz is an experienced Portfolio Manager at EdVentures, with a background in investment analysis and event planning. He previously worked as a Senior Investment Analyst at Alexandria Angels Network, closing six deals worth $5 million and reviewing 500+ startup companies in the last 18 months. Ezz holds a certificate in electromechanical engineering from Alexandria University and is pursuing an MBA from the Arab Academy for Technology and Maritime. He's been involved in the startup scene since 2018, and focused on venture capital and private equity in 2020, demonstrating his ability to navigate complex financial landscapes.

Maya Oda Pacha
  • Maya Oda Pacha
  • Investment Associate
  • Investment Associate
  • Flat6Labs
  • Flat6Labs
  • Egypt
  • Maya has 4 years of experience across venture capital & private equity, and is currently an Investment Associate at Flat6Labs. Before that, she was a Senior Private Equity Analyst at Catalyst Partners, an SME-focused boutique investment bank, where she closed transactions worth around US$ 11M. Maya holds a BBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. In addition, she is fluent in Arabic, English, French and Spanish

Paula Tavangar
  • Paula Tavangar
  • Chief investment off..
  • Chief investment officer
  • Injaz Capital
  • Injaz Capital
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Paula Tavangar is a seasoned entrepreneur and respected leader in the Fintech, Blockchain, and Quantitative Finance sectors. With a wealth of experience and a proven track record, Paula has taken on the role of Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Injaz Capital - External Asset Management.

    Previously, Paula made significant contributions to SwissBorg Ventures, where she leveraged her deep knowledge of blockchain technologies and venture capital to lead investments and drive deal sourcing. Prior to this, she co-founded Genesis Capital LATAM in 2018, where she played a pivotal role in developing a crucial algorithmic trading strategy. Paula's commitment to innovation also led her to co-found Wethaq, an Islamic Fintech startup, in 2022, dedicated to issuing Sukuks (Islamic bonds) on the distributed ledger.

    Beyond her ventures, Paula actively engages with the World Business Angels Forum (WBAF) Global Startup Committee, where she represented the WBAF as a commissioner in the United Arab Emirates. Paula holds a B.A. in International Finance and an MSc diploma in Financial Engineering, specializing in Automated Trading Systems

Ayman El Tanbouly
  • Ayman El Tanbouly
  • Co-Founder & Managin..
  • Co-Founder & Managing Director
  • Exits MENA
  • Exits MENA
  • Egypt
  • Ayman is the Co-founder & Managing Director of Exits.me. He also heads transaction advisory services. Prior to founding Exits. Ayman had a 10 year investment banking career with regional and global reputable financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation "IFC" (The World Bank Group), the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development "EBRD" and Arab African International Bank, having advised governments and corporations on investment/debt deals totaling over USD 1.5Bn of size. Ayman's expertise covers a wide range of industries and verticals, such as fintech, telecom, broadband, renewable energy, oil & gas, green hydrogen, healthcare, microfinance, FMCG, fertilizers, & social infrastructure. His responsibilities cover constructing and diligently analyzing business plans, financial models & valuations for clients, supervising preparation of transaction marketing packages and initiating roadshows. He also leads all aspects of the deal lifecycle, along with designing and leading efforts on legal, tax, and financial due diligence processes. Ayman holds an MBA from the University of Warwick, a bachelor of Accounting from the American University in Cairo and a certificate in project finance from Harvard University.

Rafeh Saleh
  • Rafeh Saleh
  • Founding Partner
  • Founding Partner
  • Cubit Ventures
  • Cubit Ventures
  • Egypt
  • Rafeh launched Cubit Ventures and Founder Institute Egypt, is an advisor to Toronto based Loyal VC, sat on Falak Startups board and on Egypt Ventures governance committee, and led one of the largest consulting firms in Egypt. Rafeh is an experienced executive, entrepreneur, and management consultant where he advised numerous companies of all sizes on growth, turnaround, and business restructuring strategies.

Joanne Wong
  • Joanne Wong
  • Chair
  • Chair
  • IEEE Entrepreneurshi..
  • IEEE Entrepreneurship
  • Canada
  • Joanne is the Chair of IEEE Entrepreneurship - Connecting tech entrepreneurs to an engineering-driven global Innovation network.

    Joanne is General Partner of REDDS Capital, a Californian VC firm investing in global early-stage IT startups. She has worked with IBM, HP, SAP, and Cisco in multiple technical, market development, and strategic investments positions.

    Joanne was the Executive Director of a healthcare charity start-up, providing free green access to high performance computational resources for biomedical researchers. She has co-founded startups in 3D simulation for learning, and a startup of a multi-modal research data management platform for longitudinal clinical studies.

    She is a mentor/advisor for multiple startups. Joanne has served on several boards including the Government of Canada ICT sector council setting research and advising ICT policy for the country.

Ahmad Gomaa
  • Ahmad Gomaa
  • CEO
  • CEO
  • Najm Ventures
  • Najm Ventures
  • Egypt
  • Gomaa, a veteran VC since 1999, during that time made investments in very exciting investments like Siware Almentor Synapse among a portfolio of 18 investments at Egypt Ventures two IPOs Raya Fawry … most recent exits were Fatura and PayNas …Currently working on a new Fund

Aly Elazhary
  • Aly Elazhary
  • Manager - Entreprene..
  • Manager - Entrepreneur Experience
  • Endeavor
  • Endeavor
  • Egypt
  • Aly Elazhary brings 6+ years of experience in the startup ecosystem in Egypt, and is now focused on supporting ScaleUps through his role at Endeavor Egypt, a mission-driven organization focused on supporting high-growth companies in emerging and underserved markets. As an Entrepreneur Experience Manager at Endeavor Egypt, Aly works closely with companies who are in the process to join Endeavor’s network, or receive investments from Endeavor’s fund, and manages a portfolio of 15 companies across 5 different verticals/industries. Aly’s portfolio includes companies like MaxAB, MNT-Halan, Pylon and Dsquares.

Ilkay Demirdag
  • Ilkay Demirdag
  • Impact and Investmen..
  • Impact and Investment Strategist
  • Avanea Asset Managem..
  • Avanea Asset Management, Strategic Board Member
  • Turkey
  • Ilkay Demirdag is an accomplished Investment and Impact Strategist with 25 years of global experience in Corporate Finance, Fund Management, Investor Relations, Sustainability and Impact. Througout her career, Ilkay has successfully applied her expertise to lead and advise conglomerates, family offices, multinational corporations, private equity, and venture capital funds, driving maximum value and impact for all stakeholders.

    Ilkay's international perspective and deep understanding of sustainable finance and responsible investing principles make her a valuable asset for organizations seeking to make a meaningful difference in global markets. Her adeptness at navigating diverse regulatory environments and cultural nuances enables her to drive strategic initiatives that align financial performance with positive social and environmental outcomes.

    Ilkay is a recognized leader and a futuristic connecting and interlinking trends and concepts to create future-ready strategies and drive change in individuals, organizations, and society, through inspiration, awareness, impact, and transformation.

    Furthermore, she brings valuable board and governance experience, having held memberships and roles in corporations, NGOs, and start-ups, contributing to strategic decision-making, ESG integration, and stakeholder engagement. Ilkay also serves as an IFC Nominee Director/Advisory Committee Member.

    Ilkay is highly regarded as a thought leader and activist in sustainable economic development and impact investments. She frequently speaks and moderates global events covering a wide range of topics, including ESG & Sustainability, Investor Relations, Sustainable Economic Development, Impact & Responsible Investments, Purpose and Impact Driven Leadership, and Value Creation.

    More information: https://ilkaydemirdag.com/

Sadaharu Saiki
  • Sadaharu Saiki
  • Founder & GP
  • Founder & GP
  • Sunny Side Venture P..
  • Sunny Side Venture Partners
  • Japan
  • Sadaharu Saiki(a.k.a. Sada), based in Cairo, Egypt, is passionate about finding startups with good ambitions and supporting them in scaling their businesses and their impact into the world.

    He worked at Dentsu Inc., one of the largest advertising companies in the world, for 6 years in Tokyo, Japan and 3 years in Bangalore, India, engaging in helping Japanese multinational corporations with marketing and communication. He is also an alum of McKinsey & Company.

    Sadaharu holds a Bachelor in Integrated Human Studies from Kyoto University and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Ayman Shehata
  • Ayman Shehata
  • Socioeconomic Resear..
  • Socioeconomic Researcher
  • Impact Investing Ini..
  • Impact Investing Initiative
  • Egypt
  • Ayman comes with more than 20 years of working experience with Impact Driven Enterprises and Private Sector Organizations incorporating Purpose Driven Strategies. Ayman also led PwC Egypt's Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility department for almost a decade. He is co-founder of Namaa initiative for sustainable development and social entrepreneurship education, SHAREK hub for private sector engagement in development, and Managing Partner of Elre7la.com

Keith Wallace
  • Keith Wallace
  • Chairman
  • Chairman
  • HIVOS Impact Investm..
  • HIVOS Impact Investments
  • Netherlands

Tarek Fahim
  • Tarek Fahim
  • Partner
  • Partner
  • Endure Capital
  • Endure Capital
  • Egypt
  • Tarek is an entrepreneur and a software engineer by education. He is the managing partner of Endure Capital, a cross-border Venture Capital fund, and an early investor in Careem, Breadfast, Aspect Biosystems, Boom Supersonic, Mawdoo3, MaxAB, Thndr, and Tribal among many other leading startups in the US, Canada, UK, and MEA.

    Tarek is also a fellow of IVLP the US Department of State’s premier professional program for current and emerging international leaders.

    Tarek has also founded Alboraq, a Non-Profit Organization in Egypt focusing on Hands-On youth development.

    Tarek has Engineering, Business, and Management degrees from Ain Shams University, The American University in Cairo, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Haytham Wagih
  • Haytham Wagih
  • Managing Director
  • Managing Director
  • Avanz Capital Egypt
  • Avanz Capital Egypt
  • Egypt
  • - Over 23 years of experience in Private Equity, Direct Investment and Banking focusing on impact investing.
    - Former Managing Director at Arab African Investment Management, GroFin, Delta Inspire, and senior officer at Banque Misr, CIB, CI Capital, Misr Asset Management, and Pioneers Capital
    - Founding board member and Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, and a member of different business associations and chambers of commerce

Mohammed Al Rashidi
  • Mohammed Al Rashidi
  • Founder & Executive..
  • Founder & Executive Chairman
  • One Global
  • One Global
  • Kuwait
  • Mr. Mohammed Al Rashidi is the brain, the vision and the builder for multiple ventures in Telecom, mContent, mHealth, mTourism, mEducation, mGovernment, Fintech & Entrepreneurship.


    He is the founder of One Global Holding Company, the venture-building company that embodies the essence of digital transformation and restores trust between investors and ventures.


    One Global Holding builds its ventures through three subsidiaries: One Global

    Innovation, One Global Hub, and One Global Capital.


    These subsidiaries enable graduate companies to become success stories for future prospective ventures. Some of the graduated companies are Yappy, Casheer, Og Money, Squiarcle, One Engage, Flytern, Capital House, and much more to come.


    One Global Holding, with its subsidiaries, is launching a $10 Pre-Seed fund in Kuwait to back Deep Tech and HiTech startups that leverage the partner’s experience in various markets, Cultures Technologies, and leadership in Digital

    Transformation and venture-building roles across the MENA Region.


    Mohammed is driven by his philosophy, which is that performing a mission always requires brains and machines, automation of resources, and a map of thinking to processes to be successful.


    Mohammed has two main goals out of his philosophy:

    • Streamlining operation processes across the vertical and cross-industry markets.
    • Encouraging more innovation throughout the investment in earliest-stage Tech companies.

    He is an inventor with a patent in the Fintech industry registered in the US and other countries for performing a card presence Transaction on the cloud, among other patents in filing progress.


    He was also named in Forbes Middle East’s Kuwait Top Entrepreneurs List 2023 and won the FinTech Innovation Award at the 2019 East Middle Entrepreneur Awards at the Agility Award Ceremony, the Finx Digital Transformation Leader 2019 Award, and the Outstanding Leader Award at the Money 2.0 Conference.


    Mohammed also serves as a Board member in many companies that are in the Tech Industry and New Technologies businesses.

Hany Emad
  • Hany Emad
  • Director of SME Fina..
  • Director of SME Finance and Investment Central Sector
  • Micro, Small and Med..
  • Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency “MSMEDA”
  • Egypt
  • Hany Emad is the Director of SME Finance and Investment central sector at Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency "MSMEDA", with 25+ years’ professional experience in financing and investment with portfolio of more than 50,000 SMEs credit proposals, amounting to ”8 Billion EGP”. He negotiated and reviewed over 50 proposals with billions of dollars for fundraising from international and regional financial and developmental institutions; He was responsible for developing and launching of at least 15 new financial products.
    Hany has a vast experience in SMEs, Corporate, Syndicated financing, and Leasing. In addition, to well diversified investment experience, in Private equity, Corporate Valuation, Asset - Liability Management, and traded securities.
    Played a key role in introducing Venture Capital to MSMEDA’s financing channels to support startups, by establishing the first fund of funds in Egypt with portfolio of investee companies approaching USD 3 Billion.
    He also, sits on several financial institutions boards and investment committees including but not limited to MSMEDA’s Investment, high credit committee, and ALCO. Moreover, Hany represents MSMEDA in BODs of its invested in companies, across different sectors such as Insurance and Micro finance. In addition to being a member in credit, risk, and investment committees of some of these companies.
    Before MSMEDA, Hany worked at National Bank of Kuwait “NBK” for 7 years in investment Sector, where he was responsible for evaluating investment opportunities, analyze market conditions, and fundamental analysis of the traded companies. As well as representing the bank in AGM of the companies in which the bank is a shareholder.
    Hany holds a Bachelor Degree in Accounting, from Ain shams University. Also, CLBB “Certified Lender Business Banker, and Diploma in Investment and Finance. In addition to international exposure to learn more about credit and investment international and regional best practices.

Mohamed Elshabrawy
  • Mohamed Elshabrawy
  • Co-founder & CEO
  • Co-founder & CEO
  • SehaTech
  • SehaTech
  • Egypt
  • Mohamed Elshabrawy is the co-founder and CEO of SehaTech. He has +12 years experience in the healthcare industry during which he pursued his passion of improving and transforming medical services.

    During his career he held multiple managerial and leadership roles in the National Health Services (NHS) of England, the United Kingdom.

Mohamed Mounir Al-Ahwal
  • Mohamed Mounir Al-Ahwal
  • Founder & Managing D..
  • Founder & Managing Director
  • pmaestro
  • pmaestro
  • Egypt
  • Mohamed Mounir, is the founder and managing director of pmaestro, a consulting boutique that supports the growth of the digital economy players.
    Mohamed is an Entrepreneur and ICT Consultant with +16 years of experience in world class ICT providers.
    He engineered the success of many digital transformation projects in the MENA region and contributed in building successful tech enabled ventures, supported by a framework to build capacities and ensure sustainable growth.

Peter Isaac
  • Peter Isaac
  • Head of Fintech Inve..
  • Head of Fintech Investments
  • Banque Misr
  • Banque Misr
  • Egypt
  • Investment professional with over seventeen years of experience in private equity and investment banking. Currently heading the fintech and technology investment at Banque Misr. During his tenor at Banque Misr, Peter worked on number of high-profile transaction including acquiring 10% stake in Fawry, partial exit from E-Finance and incorporating a new electronic payment company in alliance with one of Egypt's leading telecom operators. Peter played vital role incorporating Nclude Fintech Innovation Fund with a vision to position Egypt as regional fintech Hub. Peter is working closely with startups addressing their financial needs via new banking products including but not limited to structuring venture debt products for those who are not yet clicensed or cannot obtain funding from banks

Mona El Sayed
  • Mona El Sayed
  • Managing Partner
  • Managing Partner
  • Camel Ventures for I..
  • Camel Ventures for Investments
  • Egypt
  • Mrs. El Sayed enjoys over 25 years of experience in the banking, nonbanking and investments financial services industry. She is currently, the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Camel Ventures for Investments – a fintech startups venture capital and financing investment company in Egypt.

    Building on her broad financial services, corporate strategy, growth, investments, M&A, corporate restructure and risk management expertise, Mrs. El Sayed currently serves on the boards of several private and public sector NBFIs and industrial companies operating in Egypt.

    Mrs. El Sayed served for 20 years with HSBC Bank, where she held several leadership roles in both Wholesale Banking and Strategy & Planning in both Egypt and the Bank’s Regional HQ (Dubai).


    During her tenure leading the MENA Strategy & Planning, she led the M&A disposals and acquisitions for the Bank in the Region, mandated with strategically right sizing the portfolio of the Bank’s presence in 12 MENA countries across all business lines (Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, Private Banking and Global Markets).

    During her last two years with HSBC, she was a core member of the Global Talent Pool of Leaders, Egypt Executive Committee, Risk Committee, Asset Liability Committee and the People Committee.

    Whilst heading seven Wholesale Banking business lines including; International Trade Finance and Transaction Banking, she led a USD 2 billion loan asset book covering the full range of SME finance to global multibillion US dollar syndicated transactions.

    In 1995, Mrs. El Sayed graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the American University in Cairo in Economics and earned her MBA from the same university in 2000.

Ahmed Hazem
  • Ahmed Hazem
  • Managing Director
  • Managing Director
  • Falak Startups
  • Falak Startups
  • Egypt

Ahella El Saban
  • Ahella El Saban
  • Co-Founder and Vice..
  • Co-Founder and Vice Chairman
  • Exits Mena
  • Exits Mena

Ahmed Korayem
  • Ahmed Korayem
  • Principal
  • Principal
  • Ready4Vc
  • Ready4Vc

Omar El Fakharany
  • Omar El Fakharany
  • Impact Investment Sp..
  • Impact Investment Specialist
  • UNDP
  • UNDP

Mohamed Aboul naga
  • Mohamed Aboul naga
  • Co-Founder and Globa..
  • Co-Founder and Global CEO
  • Exits Mena
  • Exits Mena

Ahmed Gaballah
  • Ahmed Gaballah
  • Founder and CEO
  • Founder and CEO
  • SOKNA
  • SOKNA

Hashim Al Nabulsi
  • Hashim Al Nabulsi
  • Angel Investor and F..
  • Angel Investor and Fintech Expert