Meet 11 of the Investors Speaking at MAIN’s Second Conference in El-Gouna
From Angels to VCs, these are 11 of the investors speaking at the second edition of MAIN Angel Oasis conference.
The Middle East Angel Investment Network (MAIN), a regional network of angel investors and funds focusing on promoting investment in startups across the Middle East and Northern Africa launches their second cohort of their Angel Oasis Summit to be held in El-Gouna on the 31st of October to the 2nd of November.
Last year, MAIN held its inaugural angel investors conference, which brought together more than 130 angel investors, venture capitalists and other early stage investors from all around the world for an intensive two-day summit to discuss the latest investment trends and exchange expertise.
This year’s conference will include a series of interactive and challenging training workshops dedicated to varying levels of expertise and experience, catered for beginners, short to medium enterprises (SMEs), all the way to advanced angel investors. Leading Series A-ready startups in the region will be given the opportunity to showcase their business models at a special pitch event during the conference.
Moreover, the conference will once more feature top-notch panel discussions that will cover sectors of interest such as transport-tech, fin-tech, health-tech, clean-tech and agri-tech, with a diverse list of renowned entrepreneurs and industry key players in the investment sector. Here’s a list of the 11 speakers that have confirmed so far:
Ahmed El Alfi
Named one of the most creative people in the world by Fast Company. Ahmed El Alfi has been an early/growth stage investor for the past 30 years. From 2010 to 2013, El Alfi established Sawari Ventures, Flat6Labs, Nafham and TATP (Greek Campus). Flat6Labs has grown to become the MENA region's leading startup accelerator operating in 6 countries having funded and launched over 200 companies. TATP, founded in 2013, took over half of the American University in Cairo's Tahrir Square campus to form the GrEEK Campus; a 25,000 square meter office park where over 130 startups work and collaborate and is now expanding with more new campuses in Egypt, Saudi and Bahrain.
Aly El-Shalakany
Aly El-Shalakany is the Chairman of the Cairo Angels, one of the leading angel investor networks that invests in and supports start-ups and early stage high growth businesses across the Middle East and Africa. Aly is also the President of the Middle East Angel Investment Network (MAIN), an alliance of the leading angel investors, networks and funds operating in the MENA region. Aly has invested, mentored and coached various startups globally across a number of different sectors.
Ayman Ismail
Ayman Ismail is the Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship at the American University in Cairo School of Business and the Founding Director of AUC Venture Lab and AUC Angels. He is a cofounder, angel investor and board member in several fast-growing startups in FinTech, microfinance, and logistics
Dina El Shenoufy
While serving as the CIO of Flat6Labs, El-Shenoufy has over ten years of financial services experience managing venture capital and investment portfolios in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Prior to joining Flat6Labs- the leading startup accelerator and seed funding organization in MENA, from 2009-2011. El-Shenoufy worked as a Senior Analyst for Al-Ahly Capital Holding, where she was responsible for managing the Oil and Gas portfolio valued at over $200 million.
Con O’Donnell
Con is best known as the co-founder and ex-CEO of Sarmady Communications. Sarmady (sold to Vodafone in 2011) pioneered much of Arabic online content in Egypt. As an angel investor he has invested in 13 Egyptian tech and tech-enabled startups since 2012. Prior to that, Con joined RiseUp early 2015, as head of Commercial and later as head of Innovation, after a year as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Hindawi Foundation for Education and Culture. Currently, O’Donnell is a partner and CCO at Elves, the Egyptian AI-based startup.
Fadi Antaki
Fadi Antaki is the CEO of A15, an entrepreneurial company that invests in digital products and technology brands, with more than 17 portfolio companies under its umbrella. Under his leadership of A15, there are 9 leading growth companies in the region including Connect ads, the number 1 digital agency in the Middle East. There are also 8 innovative ventures such as PayMob, the rising Fintech Start-up for payments acceptance. Antaki is overseeing the business of 17 regional offices of A15, for which more than 1,000 employees are working to serve more than 20 promising markets; and partnering with major international players such as Microsoft, Twitter and LinkedIn
Heba Ali
Heba Ali is Managing Director of Egypt Ventures and Vice-Chair of Falak Startups. She has over a decade of experience leading innovative organizations that develop and foster startups and ecosystems across multiple sectors, as well as extensive expertise in strengthening the role of entrepreneurship as a socio-economic development catalyst. Ali particularly focuses on high-impact entrepreneurship, venture capital, business model and institutional innovation, and ecosystem development.
Christina Andreassen
Christina Andreassen is the Womentum Accelerator Managing Director, responsible for the launch and management of MENA’s first accelerator focused on tech startups with at least one female founder. Womentum is an initiative of Womena, an investment and media platform focused on increasing diversity, female representation and equity in MENA’s tech ecosystem.
Ramez El Serafy
Ramez El-Serafy accumulates over 14 years of experience in technology, entrepreneurship and management. Ramez currently heads Flat6Labs and its regional expansion in the MENA region. Flat6Labs is a leading early stage investment entity that fosters and invests in bright and passionate entrepreneurs with cutting-edge ideas in the MENA region. Flat6Labs has established its presence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia and Bahrain with plans to expand into more locations in the MENA region soon.
Issa Aghabi
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 two investments, and more recently in 2017, led the exit of IFC’s largest MENA direct deal, souq.com. He currently heads IFC MENAP venture investments both from a Direct and Indirect (accelerators and fund of fund) perspective.
Tomi Davies
Collaborator-in-Chief, TechnoVision, Co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN). Systems Analyst turned Tech Strategy Advisor, Public Speaker and Angel Investor, Harry ‘Tomi Davies (TD) is Collaborator-in-Chief at TechnoVision, co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN). Davies is an exceptional analyst, strong strategic planner and pragmatic project manager who consistently delivers results while contributing with excellence. He has been regularly recognised for developing innovative cost-effective approaches that streamline commercial processes to enhance operational performance.
