Overview

In this session, we are hosting a panel of experienced and promising group of female founders in the technology startup space. The aim of the session is to highlight their journey, learn from their successes, failures and what the current landscape for female founders looks like.

Women’s Majlis, an informal gathering of leading, inspirational women leaders, aims in part to act as a platform to enable current and future women leaders and entrepreneurs.

Speakers

Ambareen Musa, is the Founder of Souqalmal, which enables customers to compare over 3,200 personal finance products in the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, including personal loans, home loans, car loans, credit cards, bank accounts, car insurance, and home insurance. So far, Souqamal has raised about $15 million from investors, including GoCompare, UAE Exchange, Riyad Taqnia Fund, Hummingbird, VentureSouq, NNS Capital. Before founding Souqalmal.com in 2012, Musa set up the consulting arm of MasterCard Middle East and Africa. She led the first online financial literacy initiative in the U.K., Moneybasics.co.uk., later relocating to the Middle East in 2008 where she consulted for Bain & Company Middle East, focusing on financial services projects such as growth strategies for banks in the region. Ambareen is one of the Top 50 most influential women in the Arab World by Arabian Business. Souqalmal.com makes it to the Top 10 most promising UAE start up by Forbes Middle East after winning the online business of the year from Gulf Capital Meed award committee. The business has grown from a start up to a well-established sme by being listed as one of the Top 100 most promising SMEs by the Dubai government entity, Dubai SME. Winner of the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by The Entrepreneur magazine. Winner of Emirates Women Award by the Dubai Government.

Nadine Mezher is the Co-founder and CMO of Sarwa, one of the first automated investment advisory platforms in the Middle East. The company has raised $9.9 million so far and recently expanded to Saudi Arabia after receiving a Fintech experimental permit from Saudi’s Capital Markets Authority. In 2020, the company partnered with Saxo Bank to unveil a new Sarwa X product. In July 2021, it launched Sarwa crypto portfolios. Nadine co-founded Sarwa after years of consultancy in retail strategy and activation with a track record of successful projects delivered for clients ranging from government entities such as the Office of HH the Crown Prince of Dubai and large-scale companies such as OSN, Nestle... Prior to launching Sarwa, she worked for Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Government of Dubai in retail strategy and strategic alliances, as well as festivals development, where she led the management and development of citywide festivals and worked on the Dubai Retail Strategy. Nadine holds a Bachelor of Business Administration/Marketing from the American University of Beirut, as well as a degree in design from Esmod Paris.

Ming Hu is a Co-Founder of Women In Tech Dubai, an educational and networking community for women in STEM professions, with more than 600 members. Originally from China, Ming relocated to the UAE in 2014 for a college education at NYU Abu Dhabi. Afterward, she started her career as a software engineer at Namshi. Now she works as a Senior Fullstack Engineer at Tradeling, a technology startup with a vision to become the preferred B2B eMarketplace in MENA. Ming was selected by Khaleej Times as UAE's 5 most prominent women in the tech world because of her contribution to the tech scene in the region.

Hayat Abu AlHassan is a co-founder at Sweech, a tech startup with a vision for shared mobility. Her expertise lies at the intersection of technology, product development, and design. She started her career in software engineering, and is now leading product management and user experience at Sweech. Hayat’s vision for the region is the driver behind her exploration. She is actively developing her expertise and perspective to support in advancing the tech ecosystem in the region.

Moderator

Keltoum Zniber recently moved to Dubai from London after years of experience in the tech scene in the UK and globally. Her background ranges from ESG, tech, events, operations to being a founder herself. Her most recent venture was Datascrum, a community and platform aimed at bridging the gap of alternative data and finance in the UK via workshops, courses, hackathons and weekly insights.

Originally from Morocco, Keltoum has lived in Boston, Madrid, Paris and London prior to relocating to the UAE. She is currently the Program Manager at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund's Accelerator, aimed to enhance the growth potential of the most innovative and disruptive businesses in the UAE and abroad.  Keltoum is also a member of Amis des Ecoles, an NGO in Morocco which provides educational and economic opportunities for women and children in Morocco.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This session will be hosted in a hybrid format to accommodate in-person and virtual attendees.

If you are attending IN-PERSON, the session will take place at DFA Auditorium, Emirates Towers - The Boulevard (Mezzanine floor).

Parking information: Kindly note that we do not provide stamps for valet parking. The attendees can either take the self-parking in the Boulevard (free for 2hours, 20dhs for extra hours), or the grass parking (next to emirates towers)

If you are attending VIRTUALLY, you can register through the below link and receive your unique zoom link to join the session.
https://dubaifuture-gov-ae.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYsduuqrDItH93qaZ0iLe3Q8swSMgHLk1Au