NOOR SWEID

Chairperson

Noor Sweid is the Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures, a leading venture capital firm based in the UAE, investing across the Middle East and Africa (currently deploying from Fund III). Prior to launching Global Ventures in 2018, Noor was the Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation. Before her tenure at DFF, she successfully scaled two companies. The first was Depa, initially her family business and ultimately the world's largest interior company, which she listed on the LSE and NASDAQ in April 2008 in a billion-dollar IPO. The second company was ZenYoga, the region’s first yoga studio, which became the largest yoga and wellness chain, and which she exited to a PE firm in 2014.

Noor is frequently featured as an authoritative voice on venture capital in the region by Bloomberg, CNN, and Forbes. She has been on the covers of Entrepreneur ME and Womenpreneur ME, and is cited by Forbes as one of the "World's Top 50 Women in Tech", by Arabian Business as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential Arab Women", and is one of the 'sharks' on Shark Tank Dubai Seasons 1 and 2. Noor is the author of the upcoming book, ‘Coming of Age: The Digital Rise of the World’s Youngest Population’, and is a strong advocate for founders in the region, helping them scale their businesses into global success stories.

Noor is the Founding Chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association, and a Director of the Global Private Capital Association, TechWadi, and the Karman Fellowship. She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, and a Kauffman Fellow. She previously held Board Director roles at MIT Sloan and was a founding board member of Endeavor UAE.

Noor holds Bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Economics from Boston College, and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

OMAR ALKHAWAJA

Vice Chairman

Omar Alkhawaja is the Founder & Managing Director of AMK Investment Office based in London. AMK Investment Office (AMK) is a second generation family office for the Alkhawaja family. AMK invests in Real Estate, Capital Markets, and Venture Capital with a focus on technology. The firm identifies and invests in venture funds with portfolios of technology companies in US, Europe, and MENA. The firm also invests in winning technology companies that are changing several industries such as fintech, infrastructure technology, consumer technology, digital health, and AI.

Omar is also the Managing Partner of Omakase Investment Club, a food & beverage fund based in Europe which invests in food & beverage companies and foodtech companies in the US and Europe.

Along with the above roles, Omar serves as an Executive Advisor to Global Ventures as well as an Strategic Advisor, Board Member & Shareholder to Al Arabia Cinema, and Renaissance Cinemas in Egypt.

Prior to this Omar was the executive chairman of Four Winters, a global Ice Cream chain with stores in 4 continents at the time. Omar worked in private banking and Wealth Management in 2014 for Coutts Bank in London and then left to be independent and set up the businesses and investment firms mentioned above.

Omar is a serial entrepreneur who started his career in 2012 making investments in several sectors and companies while studying in the UK. These include small investments in companies like Roznama which today is owned and led by Hisham Gamal the well known Egyptian TV, film, and music producer.

Omar obtained his Bachelors of Science (BSc) in business management degree from King's College London in 2012. Followed by obtaining his Masters (MSc) in Real Estate degree from Cass Business School (now known as Bayes Business School) in London in 2013.

Omar is an Egyptian Jordanian with a British Passport based between London and Dubai.

OMAR A. ALMAJDOUIE

Board Member

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 45 innovative startups to-date.

He is the former CEO of Almajdouie Manufacturing Co. and 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.

Some current roles:

• Founding Partner, Raed Ventures
• Board Member, Almajdouie Holding
• Board Member, Almajdouie Logistics
• Board Member, Middle East Venture Capital Association
• Board Member, Endeavor Saudi Arabia
• Supervisory Committee Member of the National Technology
• Development Program
• Board Member, Majd Investment
• Board Member, Mrsool
• Board Member, Noon Academy
• Board Member, Lean Technologies
• Board Member, Trella
• Board Member, Mozn
• Board Member, Qunat
• Board Member, Tweeq
• Board Member, Raya Financing

KARIM BESHARA

Board Member

Karim Beshara, co-founder and General Partner at Egypt-based Accelero Capital, is a 20-year asset management and investment industry expert. He has co-founded and led numerous companies in the region and worldwide, with exits totaling around USD 3 billion.

As the General Partner of A15, one of the leading venture capital firms with the biggest number of exits in the MENA region, Beshara is considered among the top mentors in the MENA region. Focused on tech start-ups and with a long track record in generating value for FinTechs, Beshara and his teams believe in young talents and invest in startups at an early stage, working closely with their founders to generate value across different channels

In addition to supporting the entrepreneurs with the capital, A15 also supports start-ups by filling in gaps in their operations, through sessions on product development, technology and preparing them for future funding rounds and exit strategies.

Currently under his management, assets make a total value of USD 700 million. Beshara today sits on the board’s of companies in Egypt, Netherlands, UK, Canada, Dubai, Mauritius, USA and others, providing hand-on operational and financial support to help these companies reach their full growth potential.

After graduating from the American University in Cairo in 1997 with a bachelors in Business Administration, he co-founded LINKdotNet, the largest internet service provider in the Middle East. Beshara played a vital role in the merger of Egypt's two largest ISPs that led to the formation of the company in 2000. Soon with his skills and perceptiveness, the company acquired eight online businesses before he assumed the responsibility of CEO in 2005.

As CEO, he developed several dedicated subsidiaries for online advertisement and content management, which he believed to be an integral part of the ever-growing digital market industry and which helped LINKdotNET become a market leader in the region.

He also oversaw the acquisition of LINKdotNET by Egypt's leading mobile operator Mobinil in 2010, in line with the global market trend seeing convergence between ISP's and operators to form integrated telecommunications companies.

From 2012 to 2014, Beshara became the CEO of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology S.A.E. ("OTMT"). He joined OTMT to set it up as the spin-off from Orascom Telecom Holding and to develop its expansion strategy. He also takes pride in having been among the great team that took Italia online (IOL) public.

Today, Beshara serves on the board of companies such as A15, Accelero Capital, Subfero, SYMPL, Kijamii, Paymob, among others.

ABDULLAH MUTAWI

Board Member

Abdullah Mutawi is a partner at global law firm Taylor Wessing and heads the firm’s corporate practice in the Middle East. He is a market leader in technology transactions and has worked with a number of the region’s founders, VCs, PE and sovereign wealth players on capital raising and M&A exits as well as being one of the region’s ‘go to’ lawyers for restructuring and special situations. Abdullah is an expert in seed and early-stage tech investing and is co-founder and chairman of both Dubai Angel Investors and Saudi Angel Investors. He is a mentor with Endeavor, Techstars and Oraseya Capital’s Sandbox and is a regional legal thought-leader on the venture capital asset class. In addition to serving on the MEVCA board, he also serves on the MEVCA Governance Committee.

H.E. DR. NABEEL KOSHAK

Board Member

H.E. Dr. Nabeel Koshak is the CEO, Board Member, and Investment Committee Member at SVC. He is the Chairman of Saudi Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SVCPEA) and a Board Memebr of Middle East Venture Capital Association (MEVCA). Nabeel is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Capital Market Authority (CMA). He is a Board Member of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) Investment Company (SIC). He is a member of the Board Executive and Investment Committee at Cultural Development Fund (CDF). Nabeel is a member of the Board Executive and Credit Committee of Small and Medium En terprises Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah). He is a Board Member at the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

Formerly, Nabeel was the Founding Executive Dean of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College (MBSC) of Business and Entrepreneurship in partnership with Babson College. He was an Executive Advisor at Ministry of Economy and Planning and an Executive Advisor at Deloitte. He was a member of the Investment Committee at KAUST's Innovation Fund. He was a Board Member of Oqal Angel Investors Group. He was a Board Member and the Chairman of the Investment Committee at King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Innovation (Mawhiba). Nabeel is the former Co- Founder and Director of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) GIS Technology Innovation Center. Nabeel was a Member of the Executive Committee of King Faisal International Prize.

Nabeel received an Executive Education in "International Board Directors Program (IDP)" from INSEAD in 2021, 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.

AMAL DOKHAN

Board Member

Amal Dokhan is a Managing Partner at 500 Global, a seasoned professional with experience in startup investments, corporate innovation, and consulting in the MENA region.

Previous to joining 500 Global, Ms. Dokhan was the Managing Director of Babson Global for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Previously, she was the Manager of Learning and Design at the Entrepreneurship Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology where she led the New Ventures Acceleration and Corporate Innovation programs.

Prior to that engagement she worked in the KAUST Seed Fund developing marketing and events, while also providing a range of services to startup clients. Ms. Dokhan sits on the board of several organizations such as Wayakit Company, Cranfield University UK, King Abdulaziz University. She contributes to a monthly column at Leaders Magazine on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and has been a speaker at Davos World Economic Forum, TEDx at Kaust, the Annual Conference of the Islamic Development Bank, among others. Ms. Dokhan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, English Language & Literature from the King AbdulAziz University, and a Masters of Strategic Marketing and Marketing Management from the University of Wollongong.

IVO DETELINOV

Board Member

Ivo Detelinov is a General Partner at Oryx Fund – an early-stage VC fund focused on MENA region and managed by London-based VC firm Salica Investments. Previously, he was at Riyad Capital heading the firm's PE and VC Funds business and managing Riyad TAQNIA Fund (RTF).

Following the completion of an MBA degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business, Ivo joined the Financial Sponsors Group of Merrill Lynch, where he assisted in origination, diligence and deal execution global PE and VC firms in NYC and in London.

Prior to attending graduate school, Ivo started his professional career at the Technology Equity Research at Merrill Lynch, where he covered Enterprise Software companies. He is a CFA Charterholder.

REBECCA HALL

Board Member

Rebecca Hall is the CEO, Kanoo Ventures, the joint venturing and direct equity investing platform for the YBA Kanoo group. With over 15 years of GCC experience, Rebecca is passionate about generating value via changing the way leaders view their businesses and is actively advising corporate investors and entrepreneurs across emerging markets including the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Over her career Rebecca has worked with Founders, CEOs and investors across more than 100 companies and has overseen an investment portfolio from early-stage start-ups to established infrastructure assets.

TALA AL JABRI

Board Member

Tala Al Jabri is a Saudi founder, VC investor and board member. Tala is an active investor in MENA and the US having backed 15+ companies. She has advised some of the leading VCs including a16z and Turmeric Capital (L Capital spinoff), among others, on topics ranging from sourcing, ME strategy to portfolio value add. Previously, she was a Partner at HOF Capital and an investor at SoftBank Vision Fund. Tala was named Arabian Business' Woman of the Year in Finance in 2022 in KSA. She is a regular contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine and serves as a board member of many organizations including as an advisory council member at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business and Government and Young Leaders Circle at Milkin Institute. She obtained her MBA from The Wharton School and MPA from Harvard University. She completed her finance and women’s studies undergraduate degree at McGill University.

STEPHANIE NOUR PRINCE

Board Member

Stephanie Nour Prince is a Partner at Nuwa Capital, where she leads Investor Engagement and Thought Leadership. Focused on deepening investor relationships and expanding Nuwa’s network, Stephanie actively engages with key stakeholders, creating value for both investors and portfolio companies. Before co-founding Nuwa, she was Wamda’s Director of Communications and Outreach, driving ecosystem-building activities and partnerships within the MENA/GCC startup landscape. Since joining Wamda in 2012, she led high-impact programs such as the MIT Media Lab workshop in Dubai, AUB’s Reboot Beirut Hackathon, and the Crown Prince Court’s Minds on a Mission Design Thinking workshop. She holds a BS in Computer Science.