The Most Experiential
Tech Festival in the Middle East

Founding Partner of VentureSouq. Previously, she headed Advertising Sales for Turner Broadcasting’s portfolio of children’s platforms across MENA. Prior to Turner, Sonia worked with Viacom’s Emerging Markets’ Strategy Group and Microsoft’s Strategy and M&A team in London. Sonia holds a B.A. from Yale University and a MSc from the London School of Economics. She is a Charter Member & Board Director for TiE’s Dubai chapter, serves as the UAE Director for the Yale Alumni Schools Committee and is a Board Member and Mentor for e7 Daughters of the Emirates.

Has worked on multiple large scale projects in Bahrain such as the launch of Dragon City and played a key role in the launch of Flat6Labs Bahrain, MENA’s largest accelerator network, he is responsible for scouting startups, establishing investor networks and forming strategic partnerships both regionally and across the globe.

BA (Econ) graduate, majoring in finance, from the University of Manchester. Upon graduating, Ryaan worked for Ernst & Young in Transaction Advisory Department whereby he worked on numerous engagements with multinational firms in developing business plans, due diligence, feasibilities and valuations. Ryaan then went on to become a Senior Manager at the Economic Development Board of Bahrain whereby he personally account managed and attracted US$300 million in foreign direct investment persuading the likes of Mondelez, BAE Systems, CIMC, Ariston Thermo, Aleastur, SMS Meer to invest in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Earlier this year, Ryaan was appointed as the Managing Director of Flat6Labs Bahrain, the MENA Regions largest regional seed stage financier and accelerator program.

The Founder & Managing Partner of Iliad Partners, a venture capital firm that invests in MENA tech startups. He is an investor, ex-entrepreneur and operating executive with 20+ years of experience in tech in the US, Europe and MENA. Based in Dubai for the last 10 years, Christos was previously, the Head of Business Development of Yahoo Maktoob, leading partnerships post-acquisition by Yahoo, and before that a management consultant with Booz & Company’s TMT practice. As an entrepreneur, Christos was Co-Founder and seed investor of GlamBox.ME, UAE e-commerce startup (exit: 2017), Co-Owner & CEO of SloanGear, MIT company (exit: 2007), Commercial Director of Upstream, mobile advertising start-up (exit: 2005), and at govWorks.com, a NYC internet startup (exit: First Data Corporation: 2001). Christos sits on the Board of Advisors of MAGNiTT (“Crunchbase & AngelList of MENA”), Eventtus and The Box, and on the Steering Committee of in5 Innovation Center. He is a mentor with MITEF, Endeavor, Techstars, and MIT G-Lab ambassador. Christos holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.S. in International Relations from Georgetown University.

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.

Ahmed Hegazy is an Investment Associate at Cairo Angels; he’s responsible for Cairo Angels’ investment track, and seeks to analyze and develop early-stage startups to become large scaled companies.

Head of Strategy and Business Development for MBC Group, and jointly heads MBC Ventures, MBC’s venture capital investment arm. While at MBC, Stephanie has lead the Group’s M&A investments, partnerships and joint ventures. Before assuming her position at MBC in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Stephanie was an Associate with McKinsey and Company (Dubai) where she worked with clients in the Middle East regarding education reform, healthcare reform, valuation and business plan development. During the Internet boom of the nineties, Stephanie worked as a Project Manager at Priceline.com and was responsible for International Implementation. Additionally, she was a Manager of Finance who maintained Priceline’s financial IPO model and worked with Priceline’s debt offering. Stephanie was able to pursue her love for media while working at the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, California through projects in Studio Strategic Planning. From 1995 through 1998, Stephanie was a Financial M&A Analyst at Merrill Lynch in New York as well as Singapore designing pro forma mergers, leverage buyouts and divestiture and recapitalization models. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she earned her bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Minor in Economics and a Concentration in Multinational Management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania; her MBA from the Harvard Business School (HBS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and her MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG) at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a high school and college student, Stephanie studied abroad in Hong Kong and Moscow.

The CEO and co-founder of Seez, prior to that he spent over 15 years working in VC, PE, Investment Banking and consulting with the likes of Wamda, Mubalda, Abraaj, Deutsche Bank, and Booz & Co. He currently sit on the ICs of a number of VC groups and family offices

The current Cairo Angels General Manager. Zeina currently overlooks Cairo Angels’ strategic operations, and is focused on launching new projects to promote angel investments and the startup ecosystem in Egypt and MENA.

More than 15 years of experience in human capital management positions. Her career includes key human capital roles with Majid Al Futtaim and ranges between partnerships with business to driving corporate strategies. She serves currently as Head of Human Capital at Majid Al Futtaim Holding where she ensures realisation of Majid Al Futtaim’s people vision through the development and implementation of a future driven, fit for purpose human capital strategy. Hanadi’s ability to strengthen the link between people and strategy, as well as manage, motivate, and retain and develop talent is invaluable for the world of budding startups and SMEs on a growth trajectory. In her current role, she advises Majid Al Futtaim Holding ecosystem of startups in human capital related matters, and applies her expertise and knowledge to lead the people integration of startups and SMEs acquired by Majid Al Futtaim Holding, mentoring, coaching and supporting the leaders and teams to realise the significance of their talent capital and a solid Human Capital management practice to their business success. Her passion is to leverage her expertise to mentor startups beyond Majid Al Futtaim ecosystem. She works very closely with passionate entrepreneurs in the region who are switched on, engaged and have a keen understanding of the benefits of amazing talent. Her ideal partners want to improve lives, grow their business, and get excellent ROI, through best in class human capital strategies. Hanadi graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor of Science and completed her Masters’ Degree in Economic Development from the University of London and carries a certificate in Strategic Human Resources Management from Cornell University. Follow Hanadi on Twitter @Hana_ElSayyed and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanadielsayyed/

CEO of Sirdab Lab, a startup hub based in Kuwait, as well as Catalyze, a User Experience (UX) Design firm. He’s been training, mentoring, and advising startups since 2014.

A three time entrepreneur with a passion for startups. Tarek holds two degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Canada and the Netherlands while working on his first startup, IcySolutions. The latter a sports heath hardware company whos products were used by the likes of Manchester United, German National Team and several Olympic Teams. Later he joined Rocket Internet to launch their online food ordering startup Foodpanda, managing the Middle East growth, taking the platform from a few 100 orders to over 15,000 per day. Tarek is also a mentor to several startups focusing mainly on finding the value proposition (who the customer is, how much to charge, target market) and startup growth, he is now the founder of PointCheckout, a fintech based in UAE.

The Founding Partner and he leads BrightCircle’s Strategy and M&A practices. He has a decade of financial services and management consulting experience. Youness is a serial entrepreneur and he has extensive experience across different markets, working with large financial institutions in private banking, technology and other industries. He also advises some of the Europe and MENA’s most innovative startups. He holds deep expertise in corporate and business unit strategy, digital strategy as well as M&A. He also advises clients on the development of innovation and growth strategies, market entry strategies and turnaround strategies.

Advises companies, executives, and entrepreneurs on how to think and develop strategies for lasting transformation in life and business. He delivers corporate training, one-on-one and group coaching sessions, and public speaking engagements. Sam’s work is inspired by eastern philosophy including meditation, mindfulness, martial arts, and yoga. He appreciates spending his free time in nature and performing adventure games. He is committed to help companies and individuals pursue their goals and ultimately thrive.

A design thinker with a successful background in strategy, innovation, technology and intra-preneurship. As the Senior Innovation Manager for GEMS Education, he researches, creates and executes future-focused initiatives and partnerships towards addressing educational challenges and driving exponential growth and impact. An ardent supporter of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem, Karan has created the region’s first youth startup accelerator and leads an innovation challenge with Singularity University, which sees over 100,000 students applying their solutions to address the global grand challenges. Previously, Karan has worked with companies in UAE and UK in research and strategic growth.

The Founder of Shared-Csuite, helping SMEs and start-ups navigate the complexities of growing a business. Before devoting his work fulltime to this platform, Franck served 18 years at Carrefour, most recently as Vice President Marketing and E-commerce for Majid Al Futtaim Retail. In addition to growing the retailer’s physical presence, he led in the development and launch of Carrefour’s E-commerce platform in 2011 and loyalty program in 2013. Franck was also instrumental in transforming the customer care and services department, directing all omnichannel marketing activities. Prior to joining Majid Al Futtaim Retail in 2006, Franck served as Sourcing, Sales Development and Pricing Manager at Carrefour Turkey and Hyperstar Iran.

After completing his BA in Business & Psychology from the University of Northampton (UK) Sherif held several senior management positions at international and national companies in the UK such as Euromoney PLC. After gaining valuable management experience in the city of London, Sherif undertook postgraduate qualifications in law allowing him to be called to the Bar of England & Wales and qualifying as a Barrister. Sherif has undertaken extensive legal work including at International Labour Organization in the UN in Geneva, ICT Lawyers and Crowell & Morning offices prior to founding Levari LLP in 2012. Sherif’s expertise is in mergers and acquisition, corporate restructuring and investments. Sherif holds a BA (hons) in Business & Psychology from the University of Northampton (UK), a Graduate Diploma in Law from Oxford Brooks University (UK), the Bar Vocational Course from City Law School-University of London (UK). Memberships: – Member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple – Member of the Charted Institute of Arbitrators – Member of American Chamber of Commerce.

A certified Blockchain Solutions Architect, Business Strategist, Angel Investor and an Entrepreneur since a young age starting in 2009. Mohamed has worked within multiple industries in different capacities including Banking, Advertising, Management Consulting, Wealth Management and Public Relations. Mohamed is also involved with the Start-Up community through mentoring in accelerator labs. Mohamed holds a MSc. in Real Estate Development from the University of Manchester and a BBA from the American University in Cairo, with a major in finance and double minor in macroeconomics and political science international relations.

The Managing Partner of Power of Art and serves as the Innovation Architect to Sahem, where in both capacities he works with entrepreneurs, startups and corporate clients to launch innovative projects. His participation within the startup ecosystem involves working with public and private entities to activate startup initiatives.  He invests and advises startups in addition to working with various incubators and accelerators. For the past 5 years, he has worked with startups across various industries from SaaS & marketplaces to healthcare & education startups and is currently the Co-Host of Streams of Progress, interviewing the UAE’s innovative change makers and leaders.

CEO of Sirdab Lab, a startup hub based in Kuwait, as well as Catalyze, a User Experience (UX) Design firm. He’s been training, mentoring, and advising startups since 2014.

An experienced Entrepreneur, Patrner in Shared-Csuite, General Manager and advisor with a long track of astute achievements. Stephane is a straight-forward strategist and creative thinker, able to drive innovation processes for brand development. Stephane is a seasoned leader with enduring passion for Luxury Retail. He is continuously inspiring brand ambassadors and partners to deliver enhanced customer’s journey.

Lisa Nyman, Director Digital Partnership, Fintech & Ventures at Visa CEMEA Lisa leads the business development with key strategic partners, primarily the global tech giants, as well as regional players primarily within the eCommerce, digital wallets and ride haling space across the +90 CEMEA markets. Prior to joining Visa, Lisa was the Head of Strategy & Business Innovation for MENA at Ericsson, responsible for the strategy development and execution, partnerships and customer lead innovation. The extensive ICT experience is complemented with leadership roles in banking and strategy consulting. Lisa was part of the team behind the first fintech accelerator in MENA, DIFC Fintech Hive, and passionately mentors startups on a regular basis.

A three time entrepreneur with a passion for startups. Tarek holds two degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Canada and the Netherlands while working on his first startup, IcySolutions. The latter a sports heath hardware company whos products were used by the likes of Manchester United, German National Team and several Olympic Teams. Later he joined Rocket Internet to launch their online food ordering startup Foodpanda, managing the Middle East growth, taking the platform from a few 100 orders to over 15,000 per day. Tarek is also a mentor to several startups focusing mainly on finding the value proposition (who the customer is, how much to charge, target market) and startup growth, he is now the founder of PointCheckout, a fintech based in UAE.

A futurist, media professional & international speaker. He is currently the Founder/CEO of MAD Talks, an integrated digital media and audio/visual storytelling platform. He has worked in top leadership roles in Dow Jones Markets, The Times/Sunday Times & Bloomberg Media for over 20 years. Tariq’s media and broadcasting experience includes being an international keynote motivational speaker, panellist, chairing and moderating global conferences, radio & television. He specialises in talks about the future, the brain, innovation and creativity, moon-shot thinking, always with practical business solutions. He has a degree in Economics and is a Harvard Business School alum.

A well-experienced cross-sector business strategist with strong expertise in marketing, sales and business development. As a born connector with strong business acumen, she has proven success in creating synergy and delivering value through long-lasting partnerships and communications, stimulating revenue growth, expanding territories and generating new revenue streams and funding.


Advises business owners, founders, and investors who bring him in to grow a business by acquiring customers, improving business process to help them scale, get them ready to raise funds, and work closely with the founder as an advisor and mentor on issues related to: growth, hiring, personal struggles as the business is growing and scaling. He has worked with founders in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Riyadh, Bahrain, and Beirut …. Startups he has worked with include but not limited to Careem, Matic, Basirly.

More than 18 years of multi-disciplinary experience in technology, media, and financial services having worked with leading institutions in MENA, South-East Asia and the US. Abed is the founder and CEO at Vinelab, the influence marketing company that enables brands to tap into the social side of social media by harnessing the power of people-centric narratives and conversations. By leading a tech and digital-first institution, Abed has acquired exceptional understanding of the underlying changes that social media has brought to shift the balance of power between the mass, corporations and cultural elite. Prior to Vinelab, Abed lead Mubasher Financial Group’s transformation that pushed the FinTech firm to top equity trading volumes and market share in the UAE consistently despite the financial crisis of 2008. Prior to that, Abed spent a few years within the financial services sector across the globe with firms such as Standard Chartered Bank and Capital Credit and invested in multiple technology firms that enabled him to witness the digital economy’s early development. Abed is currently a board advisor at the Beirut Arab University’s school of Maths and Computer Science, in addition to advising a multitude of digital startups in the MENA region. He holds a BSc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

A corporate and commercial lawyer with over eight years of experience in the MENA and India region acting for acts for multi-national companies, regional conglomerates, as well as upcoming start-ups. Her primary practice areas are mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, joint ventures, corporate restructuring, finance, commercial, and general corporate advisory. Outside work, she enjoys reading and writing (both fiction and non-fiction), music, working out, and exploring spirituality and philosophy. Also, as an animal lover, Priyasha volunteers for animal welfare organizations from time to time.

The CEO and founder of Unwind the Grind – millennial career development platform offering an interactive and inspiring place for young folks based in UAE to accelerate their careers or businesses. Samia skillfully blends her decade long marketing and coaching background to craft engaging experiences through community building events, corporate events, employee engagement consulting, career & startup coaching, writing, training and speaking. She’s a certified Strengths Strategy coach, NLP Practitioner and IPCC from International Coaching Federation. After completing her MBA in Marketing, she started her career with Procter & Gamble, world leading FMCG organization. She worked her way up as a Senior Regional Brand Manager, growing some of P&G’s billion dollar brands for 9+ years. Throughout this time, she experienced tremendous learning and growth, managed a huge business with multiple geographies and teams, until she discovered ‘people development’ as her true calling. Samia helps young professionals see who they are and achieve what they are capable of. As a career coach, she helps them find their passion and calling, discover and leverage their strengths, enabling them to excel in their careers. As an employee engagement consultant, she enables organizations get the best out of their millennial employees by understanding their drivers and barriers of peak performance. Having lived in the UAE for more than 20 years during different stages of her life, she has witnessed the country’s remarkable growth and the limitless possibilities it offers. As a budding thought leader, Samia writes about career and startup topics pertaining millennials as a regular contributor at Huffington Post, Thomson Reuters and Entrepreneur ME.

Regional Director GCC @ Founder Institute, Advisor @ Loyal VC

A certified Blockchain Solutions Architect, Business Strategist, Angel Investor and an Entrepreneur since a young age starting in 2009. Mohamed has worked within multiple industries in different capacities including Banking, Advertising, Management Consulting, Wealth Management and Public Relations. Mohamed is also involved with the Start-Up community through mentoring in accelerator labs. Mohamed holds a MSc. in Real Estate Development from the University of Manchester and a BBA from the American University in Cairo, with a major in finance and double minor in macroeconomics and political science international relations.