Featured Guests - The Abez Show

Bella Arcari-Bowler

CEO | Nyasa Investments and Shiftling

Bella started her career in Private Equity in
New York before coming to the UAE to work in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in startup enablement and investment. She invested in and advised over 100 startups across MENA through her various roles before founding her first company in 2018. She now has four companies across various sectors and is particularly passionate about traditional businesses being disrupted by the use of technology as well as hip hop and philosophy.

Racha Ghamlouch

Co-Chief Aggregator | Digital Digest

Racha is a connector and geek at heart. In 2011, she joined the ArabNet team to spearhead the development of conference content and competitions across the MENA region. Racha is also passionate about the potential power of technology to levitate the region’s youth and economy and believes in creating inspiring dialogues among people to aid their growth and development. Racha is now working on connecting global tech innovators with the MENA region and developing programs to support regional entrepreneurs.

Maria Freitas

Founder | uMore

Like many around the world, Maria’s family was affected by COVID-19. Her sister became ill and, due to isolation, struggled with her mental health. Maria and her family felt hopeless that they could not help her, which brought her to build and ground uMore, a tool not only for her sister but all living in isolation. As a founder, Maria thought it is easier to help solve other people's problems when they match your own. uMore was born from the idea that individuals have a vested interest in taking care of their mental health.

Ibrahim Abudyak

CEO and Co-Founder | The Smash Room

A serial entrepreneur, strategist and growth hacker, that is Ibrahim. He excels at creating systems and processes, which guarantee businesses to thrive and operate at maximum profitability and customers’ engagement. He is also the CEO and co-founder of Middle East’s ultimate de-stress destination, The Smash Room, and has been managing operations since its birth in 2018. Having quit the corporate world, Ibrahim now serves as a consultant and business coach for a number of businesses and individuals, especially in the automotive industry and start-ups ecosystem.

Natalia Sycheva

Senior Manager | Dubai Chamber of Commerce

A business management coach, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, Natalia is synonymously known for her innovative take on business management solutions design, and her impeccable track record in conceptualizing products and services for large multinational corporates and up and coming startups. In her online blog, she helps individuals and companies navigate through the volatile business conditions that face us today safely and successfully. She is a profound believer in the application of meritocracy in the workplace and believes that we can all aspire to a brighter future if we invest in becoming better leaders today.

Hamad Al Fahad

CEO, CTO and Founder | Ascentech & Wowcall

Hamad is a technologist, entrepreneur, and investment advisor. In 2005, he founded one of
the first private telecom companies in the GCC
and launched products with over $25M in annual revenue and over 350K users. Since 2016, he has helped startups and tech companies establish a foothold in an ever-competitive market. He is also a lecturer/speaker at numerous accelerators, addressing pricing strategies and data analytics. He currently discusses opportunities with angel investors and is a selection committee member of a $25M+ Asian angel investment fund based in China, targeting GCC opportunities.

Khalil Alami

CEO | Telr

Khalil is the Chief Executive Officer of the leading online payment gateway, Telr. Khalil has more than two decades of experience in the financial services sector, including 18 years in the payment and card industry, with a focus on payment infrastructure and system implementation. He brings deep knowledge of industry structure, with emphasis on card processing and settlement, the four-party system, international payments architecture, electronic and mobile payments, consumer touch points, and network security. Khalil has an MBA from the American University of Beirut and a Bachelor of Science from Purdue University in Economics.

Ibrahim Asif

Founder and CEO | Parfumery

Ibrahim is the Founder & CEO of PARFUMERY which offers bespoke perfume experiences. Fresh out of university in 2013, he embarked on a journey of entrepreneurship in a myriad of industries; first having a successful construction business and then a failed textile trading business. This forced him to get a job in a plastic trading mnc for a while to nurse his wounds till he was ready to get back in the game. Starting again with a short stint in late 2018 with a perfume manufacturer he saw an opportunity that was being overlooked; low volume orders. He took the plunge at the end of 2019 starting PARFUMERY and the rest is history being made.

Ammar Akhtar

CEO and Founder | Finalrentals

Ammar is the Founder and CEO of Finalrentals which is a car rental booking marketplace in the UAE founded in March 2016 which is today the largest car rental platform in the UAE. Winner of Gulf Capital SME Award 2018, the startup is growing by leaps and bounds. He is also the brain behind the online booking systems for Budget, Thrifty, Dollar and many other companies in the UAE. Ammar’s dream is to make car rental reservations as easy as renting a movie from Netflix or ordering food from Zomato and he would like to create as many jobs as possible in order to fight poverty around the world.

Steven Griffiths

CEO and Founder | Absolute Collateral

Steven has over 15 years  of experience in Investment Banking Career concerning Sales and Trading desks. With that, he founded Absolute Collateral, a company that connects Global Institutional clients directly within Securities Financing Transactions (SFT). Throughout his career, he worked with Mitsubishi, Commerzbank AG and CitiGroup London. Steven has now been in a variety of leadership, sales and Product & Business Development roles with the aim of Generating Revenue, Cross Selling and developing new Business Opportunities and Marketing Strategies.

Zeena Majali

Co-Founder | Crystel

After working in the fields of market research and advertising in both Jordan and the US, Zeena in 2007 started her entrepreneurial journey by co-founding Crystel, the first independent multilingual outsourcing contact center in Jordan, with a vision of changing the face of customer service experience in Jordan and the Middle East. Crystel currently employs around 1,600 Jordanians and is serving various companies from around the globe. Zeena’s latest entrepreneurial journey involves
co-founding Xina AI, mainly focusing on building the first Intelligent Arabic Voice Assistant.

Tamer AlMasri

CEO and Founder | Jobedu

Consumed by the awesomeness of pop culture in all its forms, Tamer is obsessed with how it shapes our lives and in turn we shape it. A musician and illustrator himself, Tamer is dedicated to building and engaging with platforms that nurture talent in the region. As a Co-Founder and CEO of Jobedu, 
Arabia's streetwear brand, Tamer and the Jobedu team evolved a grass-root t-shirt brand from selling at a Friday market in Amman, Jordan to collaborating with Disney, Marvel and DC on licensed merchandise made by the region for the region. 

Mohamad Sabouneh

Co-Founder | Moodfit

Mohamad has 7+ years of experience in digital and tech startups from the investor, founder, and accelerator sides. His functional areas range from initial concept validation, venture building, business model design, fundraising, financial modeling, and digital strategy. His latest roles include cofounder of Moodfit, MD of Dubai Fintech Accelerator, and currently Venture Lead at Rainmaking. Mohamad holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the Lebanese University and an MBA from the American University of Beirut (AUB).

Theo Goetemann

COO and Founder | Basil Labs

Originally from Boston, Theo is a co-founder of City78, an urban analytics startup and has worked in the open data and data journalism fields. He then founded Basil Labs, a consumer intelligence startup that helps organizations quantify in store consumer experience to craft stronger brands, optimize their current locations and identify where to build next. Theo's work often joins narrative inquiry with network science and natural language processing and explores the intersection of virtual communities and the physical world.

Mamoun Saudi

Founder | Sanagel

Mamoun is an engineer for the past 10 years with a solid background in computer engineering. He has worked in Jordan for 6 years on recruitment and HR software, which landed him the CTO position of an early stage startup in Amsterdam. For the past year, Mamoun has been a senior engineer working at an Artificial Intelligence company that combats money laundering online, and is currently in the process of moving to Canada to join Shopify. Mamoun and his wife also recently started Sanagel, a new way for Arab singles to meet.

Richard Richie

Founder | Alcon Maddox

As the Founder and Managing Director of Alcon Maddox, a niche recruitment and executive search firm specialising in sourcing exceptional sales and commercial leadership talent for the IT Channel industry, Richard also consults for tech companies on areas such as commercialisation, monetisation, sales strategy and recruitment. Prior to founding Alcon Maddox, Richard’s 25 year career, in which he held numerous sales and sales leadership roles, provided him with unique insight into how to scale operations ensuring they remained commercially viable. 

Omar Sati

Managing Partner | Dash Ventures

Omar has been integral in supporting the MENA region’s startup ecosystem since its infancy and he continues to remain a driving force behind the development of the region’s most cutting edge companies. He currently serves as a mentor to early stage startups and sits on the boards of several high-growth startup ventures, leveraging his 20 years of international work experience. Omar also serves as advisor to the investment team and board of Hikma Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, a multinational generic pharma listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Khaled Budeiri

General Manager | Artikid Playgrounds Company

An engineer by training but a jack of all trades, literally, that is Khaled Budeiri for you. He has worked in the construction industry, the manufacturing industry, the DJ industry, the playground industry, the radio industry as well as print media as a Technology Editor and events management. Khaled likes long walks on any street that sells used records, music and geek culture. It is also worth mentioning that he is a Radio Presenter on Rise and Shine at Bliss 104.3. Most importantly, Khaled is also the father of a child with no discernible superpowers ..... yet.

Leen Nabulsi

Venture Lead | Rainmaking

Leen is an Ex-Entrepreneur Search and Selection Manager at Endeavor; the leading high-impact entrepreneurship movement around the world. Leen has screened and assessed over 1,000 entrepreneurs who are now running companies generating $500K-$20M in yearly sales. She is also an Ex E-commerce Manager and lead the launch of Alissar Flowers, an online flower shop in UAE, Jordan and Qatar. Leen recently shifted from her role as Managing Director of Dubai Smart City Accelerator at Startupbootcamp to Venture Lead at Rainmaking Venture Building.

Amin El Husseini

Head of Mobile Application | MBC Group

With 15 years in the Entertainment Business,
13 of them with MBC Group, Amin started off heading Interactive Services & VAS to becoming Mobile Business Development & Product Manager. Amin went into setting up Mobile App services and Mobile VAS content then ventured into digital verticals for the Group to include Music (Anghami), Kid (Lamsa), Travel (Wego) and more. His passion is to lead in the Mobile Gaming Industry and accordingly launched WIZZO to be The Mobile Gaming Distribution Platform with a unique rewarding experience.

Luna Irshaid

CEO and Founder | Good Mood

Founder of The Good Mood Co, a health tech start-up that digitalises nutraceuticals, Luna specialises in international investment, conducting advisory projects within international companies including technology, start-ups, real estate and energy. She started her career as a project manager for foreign direct investment at London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s investment arm. Luna is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) for International Investment and Wealth Management (ACSI).

German Gussakovskiy

Co-Founder and Partner | Top Stretching

German is a serial entrepreneur and has 9 years of successful business experience. He has built and expanded multimillion dollar business in the MENA region in industries of both fitness and marketing. German also graduated with honours taking up the course of Macroeconomics and Fundamental Finance, which also lead him to be part of the Modeling Committee member of Macroeconomic under the Dubai Government. He is now currently a Co-Founder of Top Stretching ME; a unique project that includes everything you need for physical and spiritual development.

Khalid Kassem

Founder and CEO | AlGooru

Khalid is the Founder and CEO of AlGooru, a tutoring network marketplace that matches students with qualified tutors from various academic fields and backgrounds on a mobile application. The app is also known as a ‘Mentor to Academic Success’. Driven by his passion for tutoring, Khalid founded AlGooru in 2017 right after graduating from university, and has been relentlessly working on creating new opportunities for the youths between Saudi and Lebanon, as well as empowering entrepreneurship within emerging ecosystems ever since.

Shereen Abdulla

Accelerator & Corporate Innovator | FinTech Hive

Shereen is passionate about fostering startup ecosystems and empowering entrepreneurship education. As part of the DIFC FinTech Hive team, Shereen operates the Middle East's largest FinTech accelerator program and consults financial services and government entities on corporate innovation. She also hosts and produces the podcast Spark! with Shereen to amplify the stories of startups and innovation in the Middle East. With 10+ years of experience in financial services and technology innovation, Shereen is also a former banker & management consultant. 

Tamer Gargour

Content Creator & Radio Host | Travelling While Arab

Tamer is an American/Jordanian content creator who recently began streaming, fusing radio experience, musicality, and a love for gaming to create a cross-content format that resonates with a wider demographic of interests. With a background in Law and Masters in Digital Media, Tamer uses all aspects learnt over 10 years to best provide an inclusive experience to multi-cultural viewers. Alongside that, Tamer also has a twitch page and a podcast 'Travelling While Arab' which is a reflection of the use of technology to restrict the free movement of arabs around the world.

Rami Alame

Founder | Lexyom

Rami Alame is a lawyer who graduated in Financial Services Law from New York Law School. Rami practiced in New York, USA before coming back to the MENA region to then practice as a Startup Lawyer. This venture lead Rami in 2018, to foun Lexyom, a legal Tech Start-up that aims to automate legal services using both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Alongside this journey Rami embarked on is his Co-Founder Nadine Imad and the amazing team behind Lexyom who are now currently servicing startups across MENA & GCC.

Walid Daniel Dib

CEO | Hala Insurance

Walid is the CEO of Hala, the UAE's first car insurance that rewards policyholders for each day they are accident-free. Walid originally an environmental engineer, then entered the world of insurance in 2016. He worked as a loss adjuster in Dubai and Qatar including major and complex loss across the GCC. Walid also handled various companies’ marketing by implementing organic and non-organic growth opportunities through proposal writing, budgeting and bid and tender management. Today, he's leading the development of Hala’s regional expansion and long-term vision.

Sami Elayan

Co-Founder | Fine Diner

Sami Elayan is the Co-Founder of Fine Diner, a company specializing in bringing home a unique fine dining experience. Sami has over 10 years of experience and his career has always been involved in startups and both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) making Fine Diner his natural step forward. Specializing in Sales, Business Development and Marketing, Sami is well versed in understanding and setting up the integration of different systems to maximise corporate efficiency, allowing for business growth and project successes.

Zohare Haider

Founder and CEO | jalebi and Digital Street

Zohare Haider is the CEO of jalebi.io, a B2B food-tech venture and also the Founder of Digital Street - an award-winning digital agency, and is deeply involved with both UAE and Pakistan startup ecosystems. He is a registered mentor with Techstars, Startupbootcamp, Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus, and is on the board of various companies and startups. In a past life, he led digital transformation across South Asia with British Council, launched an internet operator with Ooredoo, and an agri-tech startup in the desert with Acumen.

Sami Eltamawy

CTO and Co-Founder | Tribetactics, Insydo & Ripplr

Sami Eltamawy is a passionate Technologist, Serial Entrepreneur, Cybersecurity Expert and Self-development Enthusiast. Currently, Sami is the CTO at TribeTactics, where he’s leading the development of it’s technical product, Chopcast; that enables content creators and businesses to repurpose their content and redistribute it across all the social media channels with minimal effort. Sami is also a Co-founder at Pet With It, Brand Ripplr and Insydo. These hybrid experiences and passion are Sami’s main drivers to perform every day with excitement and to take up new challenges.

Steve Mackie

CEO & Founder | Solutions Four & Start up QATAR

Amongst those titles, Steve Mackie is also a Partner at Soutien Group and the Host of “In the Game” which is Qatar’s first sports podcast. He is also a speaker at events and initiatives, a mentor for start-ups and scale-ups and an advisor to SMEs. Steve has assisted more than fifty companies to establish in Qatar and plays a role in the startup ecosystem here. In essence, he builds bridges between those who need help and those who can help in line with his purpose to advance, enhance and improve the ease of doing business in the State of Qatar and MENA.

Mark Engelhardt

CEO and Co-Founder | Fridai

Mark Engelhardt is a huge geek and is passionate about e-sports, superheroes, movies, games and technology. He is an avid gamer and builder in the Metaverse. Mark has found a way to combine these passions and built Fridai in 2019, based in Berlin, Germany, which is a friendly AI companion that sits in the background of your system, awaiting your command. It works with a variety of software and games, and has an ever-expanding library of skills. Today, Fridai is known as the gamer’s assistant as it continues to reshape the way people play games worldwide.

Gary Sheynkman

Co-Founder and GP | Leyden Ventures

Gary has held roles across product management, corporate development, and venture capital throughout his career. Residing in Dubai, he currently works across early stage venture and public sectors. Gary has invested in over 3 dozen companies over the past 3 years and led the launch and day-to-day management of Techstars Dubai in Partnership with GINCO. Gary has served as an advisor to The Executive Office of the Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Holding, and Abu Dhabi Media Group. Prior to moving back to Dubai, Gary was the Video Technology Product Lead at VICE Media.

Gustavo Smidt

Chief Product Officer | Namshi.com

Gustavo is an Award-winning Product Nerd with +13 years working in Online Businesses (Google, OLX/Dubizzle, Virgin Mobile and Namshi) and a solid track record. He is obsessed with growth through mind-blowing user experiences.

Mary Nazzal-Batayneh

Chairperson & Founder | 17 Ventures & Landmark Amman Hotel

Mary is an Impact Investor, Social Entrepreneur, Barrister, Justice Activist, Mother – Founder of 17 Ventures and Landmark Hotel. She is also a Managing Director for SEAF’s Globally Displaced Peoples' Fund, a global fund with a refugee-lens. She was chosen as Jordan’s Top Businesswoman in 2019 and as one of Forbes' Most Powerful Arab Women for several years. Mary is also the Founder of Landmark Hotels, Jordan’s leading SDG-aligned hospitality business. Following the pandemic, the hotel launched Landmark 2.0 Innovation Hub in partnership with Endeavour to encourage innovation in the hospitality sector.