Where the Startup Community Meets

Issa has been in the finance and investments industry for 15+ years with a focus on Venture Capital. He has executed 50+ direct and indirect investment deals (from $100K to $25M per transaction), managed over $150m in MENA Venture funds. In 2015, he led the exit of twofour54's largest three investments, and more recently in , led the exit souq.com and Vezeeta for IFC. He also led on the creation and launch of a leading accelerator in the MENA region. He currently heads IFC Middle East, North Africa, Parisian and Europe's venture investments both from a Direct and Indirect (accelerators and fund of fund) perspective.

Investor, mentor and advisor for tech startups, actively involved in shaping the startup ecosystem in MENA, in her capacity as Venture Partner with Mindshift Capital investing in women-led tech startups in EdTech, FinTech, FoodTech and HealthTech, Investment Committee member with Dubai Angel Investors (DAI), and previously member of the Investment Team of Women Angel Investor Network (WAIN). Hana invested in 30+ startups (directly and syndicated). As a former top-tier strategy consultant who brought a bankrupt company back on the road to success, Hana knows how to build winning strategies and business models, and shape young startups into real companies.

As an Investment Professional with Shorooq, Himag can put his passion for technology market trends and entrepreneurship into play on a daily basis. He received his Dual Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Finance Track) and Music Practice from NYU Abu Dhabi, after which he has worked with a startup and a law firm in New York, as well as top consulting firms in the UAE and in India, while contributing to research projects with the European Union. Himag has a strong interest for social impact and moving forward he hopes to serve the entrepreneurial aspirations of the low-income immigrant population in the region. When he’s not analyzing a new market, Himag enjoys writing poetry and composing music.

Saleh runs the Flat6Labs international accelerator program based in Bahrain, he has scouted and mentored startups from different ecosystems across the globe over the past three years and is a Stanford VCU alumni.. Previously he has launched and managed large scale projects for leading corporations in the logistics, commercial real estate and telecom verticals.

Stephanie Nour was most recently Wamda’s Director of Communications and Outreach, working on outreach and partnerships with multiple stakeholders in the MENA startup ecosystem. At Wamda, she focused on building the brand and community since joining in 2012, and led on projects such as the MIT Media Lab workshop Dubai, the American University of Beirut’s Reboot Beirut Hackathon, and the Crown Prince Court’s Minds on a Mission Design Thinking workshop. She has a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Creative Writing from the American University of Beirut. Previously, she worked on both the product and community fronts of converged communication media startup Telephone.com.