Idriss Al Rifai- Founder of Fetchr
Idriss Al Rifai is the co-founder and CEO of Fetchr which is an international express, mail delivery, and logistics services company. The business has raised so far $100 million from top-tier investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), NGP Capital, Winklevoss Capital, and Mobility Ventures to name a few.
In 2012, Idriss Al Rifai founded Fetchr which has evolved to become a full end-to-end logistics solution, backed by technology, for e-commerce companies, regional players, social media sellers as well as SMBs in the MENA region.
In addition to its B2C and standard C2C deliveries powered through its app, Fetchr also recently launched an on-demand delivery service, the first of its kind in the region.
Fetchr is also the first company in MENA to raise $52M in funding to date ($11M Series A and $41M Series B), led by a top-tier Silicon Valley VC, New Enterprise Associates.
This opened up the doors for other startups and entrepreneurs to receive funding from outside the region. Idriss Al Rifai’s goal is to empower all deliveries through technology in emerging markets.
Ahmad Al-Zaini – CEO of Foodics
Ahmad Al-Zaini is CEO of Foodics, the retail and food tech startup based in Saudi Arabia, which he co-founded in 2014.
The company supports the food and beverage industry with technology that enhances sales and operations. Foodics is one of only three companies to receive a financial technology (fintech) license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), allowing it to fast-track its product development.
Al-Zaini was selected as a high-impact entrepreneur by Endeavor Global in 2018 and also received the Forbes award for Entrepreneurs Shaping Saudi Arabia’s Future in 2015.
Before Foodics, he co-founded his first startup, Alwans, in February 2010. The business develops apps as well as investment opportunities for other startups.
In 2012, Al-Zaini graduated in electrical engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.
He joined an executive program of entrepreneurship/entrepreneurial studies at Harvard Business school in 2019.
In 2020, Al-Zaini completed a short program on organizational leadership from THNK School of Creative Leadership.
Mahmoud Adi- Founder of Pure harvest
Mahmoud Adi built his career as an investment professional. He is a Founding Partner of Shorooq Investments, a rising VC firm out of Abu Dhabi. Inspired by Silicon Valley’s value investing, he is focused on technology localization and backing smart/self-driven entrepreneurs to build great businesses.
He is a co-founder of Pure Harvest, a leading technology-enabled agribusiness in the UAE. Mahmoud is also a VP Mubadala Investment Company. Pure Harvest Smart Farms is a regional innovator in sustainable agriculture focused on the production of greenhouse fruits and vegetables in the challenging climates of the Arab Gulf region using world-leading Dutch greenhouse growing technologies.
Pure Harvest specializes in vine vegetable crops (tomatoes, capsicum, cucumbers, eggplants, strawberries, etc.), we seek to leverage innovative growing technology in order to pioneer year-round production of affordable, premium quality fresh produce. Started with investing in metals and mining, then moved to technology/semiconductors and most recently he leads the Medical Devices investment practice. Mahmoud graduated with B.S in Mechanical Engineering from the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi with Honor and Distinction. He also holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 2019, he was selected by H.H Shk Mohamed Bin Zayed, as one of the UAE Future Experts in the Business and Financial Services sector.
