2018 Investors

Dr. Ayman Ismail is the Assistant Professor and Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at the American University in Cairo School of Business.

His research focuses on entrepreneurship venture capital and private equity in emerging markets economic development in the Middle East industrial strategy international technology diffusion and knowledge transfer to developing countries technology policy and innovation energy and food security and political economy of development. Dr. Ismail is a former Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University.

He received his PhD in International Economic Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also holds a bachelor degree in engineering and an MBA from the American University in Cairo, and a master in city planning and geographic information systems from MIT.

He is also a co-founder and Managing Partner in Enovio, a management & strategy consulting firm operating in the US and the Middle East. Prior to that, he was a consultant in McKinsey & Company Business Technology Office, based in New York for several years.

Dr. Ismail has advised senior management in leading Fortune 100 companies, fast-growing startups, government agencies, and non-profits on key organization, operations and technology issues. He has also consulted and conducted research for international organizations such as the World Bank and UNCTAD, as well as multiple US government agencies.

Dr. Ismail has a broad multidisciplinary experience in economic development, business strategy, city planning and technology based on professional practice and academic research.

Dr. Ismail is a co-founder and member the Board of Directors of Nahdet El-Mahrousa, a leading NGO incubating social entrepreneurs and social ventures targeting economic and social development issues in Egypt. He is also an Endeavor VentureCorps Mentor, advising entrepreneurs.

More than 35 years of experience in the business and financial markets. She graduated with an Economics & Political Science bachelor’s degree from Cairo University in 1980, and a diploma in business administration from both Harvard Business School and London Business School. 

El Tahri started her career at the Chase National Bank of Egypt (Commercial International Bank - CIB) and held several positions until the post of Assistant General Manager of the credit and marketing department for the Petroleum, Tourism and Electronic. In 1994, with the re-activation of the Egyptian stock exchange, she founded several companies: one of the first Brokerage firms “Delta Securities Egypt” (later known as Delta Rasmala Securities, due to different partnerships)., EAB Delta Asset Management (later known as ABN AMRO Delta Asset Management and Delta Rasmala Asset Management), Delta Capital Investments, Delta Holding for Investments, Delta Financial Solutions and Nuun Fund Services.

In 2007, El Tahri sold most of her stakes in a number of her companies to focus on supporting the SME sector to develop and embrace small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs. With the rise in young entrepreneurial talent after the 2011 revolution, she established “Delta Shield for Investment” which focuses on advice for family businesses. While “Delta Inspire” the specialized incubation/acceleration arm, managing “138 Pyramids” the funding arm to partner & seed the process.

El Tahri is the first elected woman on the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Stock Exchange for two consecutive terms from 1997 to 2003. She also served on the boards of several companies, both public and private, including but not limited to the Board of Directors of Banque Misr, Telecom Egypt, General Authority for Investments “GAFI”, Egyptian Arab Land Bank, Egypt Information Dissemination Company “EGID”, Suez Canal Development Project “SCZone” on the Board of Directors and Head of the Investment Committee, Misr Capital Investments, Egyptian Railway Projects & Transport Co.  ”ERJET”, Cairo Oil & Soap, Egypt Mortgage Finance Support & Guarantee Fund, Cairo for Investment & Development “CID Group”, Egyptian American Enterprise Fund, the Board of Trustees of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center “TIEC”; Cartier Women Initiative; Regina for Pasta & Food Products; Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority “EFSA”, Director of Representative Office and Member of the Middle East Advisory Board of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) (previously ABN AMRO). 

She is currently on the boards of: “Orange Egypt”; Arab Moltaqa for Investments; Hassan Allam Holding; Export Development Bank of Egypt “representing Banque Misr Shares”; the AUC Dean’s Strategic Advisory Board in addition to its Editorial Board, on top of other non-profit organizations e.g. INJAZ Egypt and foreign entities e.g. OECD MENA Women’s Business Forum (Co-Chair), 8 Miles and YPO-WPO.

El Tahri was nominated and won numerous local and international awards such as: one of the best businesswomen in the Arab World by the Financial Times for two consecutive years (2007-2008), and locally, one of the ten awards issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment on International Women's Day in March for having positively contributed to the investment environment of Egypt. She was awarded Best Businesswoman in Egypt “Corporate Women in Egypt” by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo in December 2013. In 2014, she was also nominated by Forbes Middle East magazine as one of the 200 most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East, and was nominated in January 2016 by Amwal Al Ghad magazine as one of the “The Most Influential 50 Women in the Economic”.

Corine is responsible for IM Capital operations, including deal sourcing, investment project evaluation and valuation, business models validation, value creation and mentoring in investments, and supervision of exits from investments. She is also junior coach of the Seeders Business Angels group.

Prior to joining IM Capital, and for more than 9 years, Ms. Kiame was a Director at SHUAA Capital psc Dubai, UAE, where her responsibilities included Product Development, Strategy and Project Management, and Operations. In 2006 and 2007, Mrs. Kiame worked as an assistant fund manager on several regional funds representing USD 1 Billion in assets under management, covering fifteen Arab markets. Corine holds a Masters in Finance from Paris IX Dauphine in Paris, an Executive Education Certification from Harvard Business School with emphasis on Private Equity and Venture Capital, and is currently a member of the “Grant Evaluation Committee” of the iSME Program, a Kafalat-World Bank program, and a member of the Lebanese League for Women in Business.

Kareem Elsirafy is the Founder and Managing Partner of Modus Capital, a New York - Los Angeles - Cairo - based hybrid venture capital firm changing the narrative on how to engage entrepreneurs in the start-up ecosystem, whilst driving positive returns for investors and social impact initiatives. A seasoned entrepreneur and investor with extensive strategic and operating experience in early-stage tech, Kareem dedicated almost two decades of his career toward technological solutions for business and social challenges. He is a United States Marine Corps veteran, Columbia University alumnus and firm believer in the power of technology to drive positive social change.

Andrew has helped investors, companies and entrepreneurs succeed in emerging markets for over ten years. His main focus is providing senior executives and startups with tailored consulting on market expansion, risk management and due diligence. Andrew is also a shareholder in two Africa-focussed investment firms and a mentor to tech startups in the region.

Keith Wallace is a Scotsman with a passion for entrepreneurs and deal-making.  Having founded the Dutch Investors Club (DeInvesteerdersClub) he put his vision of joint investments within the Netherlands and further afield into effect. With deals in Africa and Asia, as well as Europe, this small group of active investors has striven from the beginning to make impact as well as financial returns. Working with the Hivos Foundation, he was part of the team that founded Hivos Impact Investments, where he sits in the investment team and manages the portfolio companies of the Hivos Food and Lifestyle Fund (Southern Africa) and the Hivos Mideast Creatives Fund (MENA). Keith is also Global Ringmaster of Get In The Ring, an international entrepreneurial competition that takes place in over 100 countries and allows him to wear top hat and tails, even in the tropics.

Tarek is a Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures. He 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.

Apart from his role at Algebra Ventures, Tarek is 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, Siwareand 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 holds a B.Sc. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

"Hesham Wahby is a Co-Founder and CEO of Innoventures. He is responsible for the company's strategy and relationships, access to ventures, and coaching entrepreneurs. Innoventures is a platform for supporting early-stage startups. The company's activities primarily include seed-stage startup acceleration, venture funding, business mentoring and training and creating and running innovation spaces. Through Innoventures, Hesham has also co-founded Ideaspace, a new innovation/hacker/maker/coworking space for innovators and entrepreneurs. Hesham is also Principal, Middle East & Africa for Mercator XXI, a professional services firm helping clients engage the global economy. In addition, Hesham is also a Co-Founder of the Radio El-Afkar (idearadio) podcast, and one of the main hosts for this online show. He has a background of 17 years in the startup and technology industries, with experience in strategy, business development, product design, software development and circuit design. Hesham’s previous employments included Human Network Labs, Scenario Design and Mentor Graphics. He has also been involved in economic development initiatives through affiliation with the IEEE, Egyptian Engineering Day and Global Entrepreneurship Week. Hesham holds an MBA in Entrepreneurial and Strategic Management from the Wharton School, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University."

Shehab Eldin is the founder of RESOLVE consulting and ALSHEHAB Co. He is also confounder

of AGRICYCLE for agricultural waste energy, AL-SONBOLAH for textile industries and

AlexAngels and a senior consulting partner at IMPACT consulting.

Shehab ElDin brings in 17 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Consultant, Executive

Coach, Facilitator and Speaker with the corporate sector, Startups and academia as well as

development sector and governmental organizations focusing on Leadership, Strategic

planning, Conflict Resolution, Mediation, Negotiation, Dialogue, Irrational Behavior,

Personal Branding, Public Speaking and Social Entrepreneurship among other areas. His

scope of work includes advising, executive coaching as well as designing, delivering and

facilitating customized training and simulation workshops in Egypt and internationally.

Shehab ElDin is currently a Lecturer at the American University in Cairo, School of

Business/Executive Education. He Spoke and lectured at various reputable international

platforms and universities including George Mason University, The American University in

Washington, Vienna University Business School, Northern Virginia Mediation Services in

USA, Doha institute for graduate studies, the Institute for Peace Studies in Alexandria and

various international conferences and events. Between 2002-2010 he lectured at the

Institute for Peace Studies in Alexandria, the Canadian International College and at the

Modern Sciences and Arts University (MSA), teaching Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, and

International Relations, after his teaching fellowship experience at the University of Notre

Dame in the USA.

His social activities include being a co-founder and a former board member of Nahdet El-

Mahrousa, The leading NGO incubating social entrepreneurs and social ventures targeting

economic and social development issues in Egypt. He is also the Founding Curator of the

Global Shapers Community- Cairo Hub, launched by the World Economic Forum in 2011,

gathering key young leaders on one platform to work together.

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.

Dalia Ibrahim is what we can confidently name as a true AUC alumni; being a holder of

a B.A. in Business administration (with Honors), then a Master’s Degree of Public

Administration (1999) and later an Executive MBA (2014) all from the American

University in Cairo.

Upon her graduation she started working in Nahdet Misr for Publishing. With perseverance and

diligence she moved on in her career path to be chosen among her uncles and siblings to hold the

position of the Vice President in 2004, setting up two sister companies; one dedicated to periodicals,

such as Disney and National Geographic magazines- and another for software and animation; managed

each of them for several years and then later handed them to a family member. She also assisted in the

establishment of Nahdet Misr for Trade to be managed from the start by another family member.

On the grounds of her business achievements, Dalia was nominated to be the CEO of Nahdet Misr for

Publishing in July 2011. Deservedly, Dalia’s efforts earned several awards in the field of publishing,

whether it be educational or cultural.

Driven by a sense of commitment to the society, Dalia volunteers to serve as a mentor or a judge to

start-up projects of young entrepreneurs which triggered her to later initiate the establishment of

EdVenture, the first corporate venture capital specialized in education in the MENA region.

Ambition, advancement, perfection and communication are key drivers for the publisher; Dalia Ibrahim,

who seeks, through Nahdet Misr, to assert a system of values including a sincere sense of belonging to

the Arab culture and society as well as efficient connectivity to the ever changing contemporary world

and worthy groundwork of the future.

Mr. El Akhdar founded LimeVest Partners in 2017. He is the Managing Partner, member of the investment committee.

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 MNHD, Total Egypt, PGESCo, and Pickalbatros. 

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 is the co-chairman of the Capital Markets Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s Frontier Market Council and the Egyptian Private Equity Association.

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.