Top investors to look out for at Techne Summit Alexandria 2024
Between October 5th and the 8th, leading tech investors, entrepreneurs and startup founders from across Egypt, the Middle East and the wider globe will descend on Alexandria for the 10th edition of its annual Techne Summit. The summit drew 30,000 attendees in 2023 last year, along with 1,000 start ups and 200 investors from more than 70 countries.
As we gear up for the summit to kick off on Saturday, StartupScene is giving you an exclusive preview into the leading participating investors on the hunt for this year's most exciting new startups…
Ayman Ismail
Ayman Ismail, Chair of Entrepreneurship at the American University in Cairo’s Business School, leads the AUC Venture Lab and Innovation Hub, Egypt’s premier startup incubator. As an academic passionate about public access to education, Ayman introduced the first Arabic Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on entrepreneurship in the Arab region.
Rafeh Saleh
Rafeh Saleh is a seasoned executive and leading regional venture capitalist, as the founder of the North Africa-focused VC fund Cubit Ventures and the sports-tech-focused SNF Ventures. He also has extensive experience as a management consultant, advising numerous companies in the region on growth turnaround and business restructuring.
Ahmed Tarek Khalil
Shark Tank sensation Ahmed Tarek Khalil is a serial entrepreneur and investor active in sectors ranging from healthcare to education. He holds several leading positions at major regional companies, including Chairman of Swiss Co and Allianz Middle East, as well as Chairman of Allianz Logistics and Services Holding, an ADGM entity.
Dine El-Shenoufy
Before joining startup accelerator Flat6Labs as Chief Investment Officer, Dine El-Shenoufy managed multi-million dollar investment portfolios focused on the MENA region and the oil and gas sectors for leading financial institutions.
Haytham Wagih
Haytham Wagih, Senior Director of Avanz Capital Egypt, has over 23 years of experience in the Egyptian financial sector, spanning private equity, banking, and direct investing. Passionate about impact investing, his firm, Growth Partners, has launched a series of private equity investments in local startups and SMEs.
Wael Aburida
Wael Aburida, one of the region’s top AI investors and entrepreneurs, scaled his computer server business, W3BCLOUD, into a multi-million dollar enterprise across three continents. Wael also has extensive experience in asset management in both New York and Abu Dhabi, deploying upwards of $4 billion across more than 100 companies worldwide.
Craig Mullet
Angel investor Craig Mullet is the founder of AngelHub, Africa’s first angel group, with direct, active seed-stage investments in sectors like AI, cloud computing, and agritech. Interviewed by the New York Times and Forbes, among other leading publications on startup investing, Craig also serves as a Venture Mentor at Yale University.
Magnus Rehn
Swedish business coach and investor Magnus Rehn has mentored over 50 startups in a wide range of sectors. His coaching draws upon his extensive business career, co-founding the radio-technology company TagMaster AB and building it into a global multimillion-dollar business.
Mohammed Al Rasbi
Since 2003, leading Omani entrepreneur Mohammed Al Rasbi has pioneered the tech sector in Oman and across the region. His fund, Oman Technology, has invested in and accelerated the growth of over 140 Middle Eastern startups and currently manages a portfolio of 90 companies.
Mohamed Abouelnaga Nagaty
Prominent Egyptian tech entrepreneur Mohamed Abouelnaga Nagaty currently serves as Executive Chairman of Exits - the region’s first fintech investment banking platform. Prior to this, Mohamed was involved in numerous successful startup ventures, including co-founding KLIVVR, Egypt’s first digital agent banking platform, and Halan, Africa’s largest super app.
Motaz Abounq
Motaz Abounq started as a street vendor selling drinks. Now, as the founder and CEO of Value Makers Studio, he manages a portfolio of startups and businesses in Saudi Arabia valued in the tens of millions.
Vijay Tirathra
Serial entrepreneur Vijay Tirathrai is Head of MENA at Techstars, the world’s most active pre-seed tech investor, with a combined market capitalization of $90 billion across 3,800+ companies. With experience founding and growing several companies across a range of industries in Southeast Asia, he previously served as Global CEO and Chairman of the Entrepreneurs' Organization based in Washington, D.C.