Vested Summit is celebrating 5 years in supporting #conscioustech startups!
Join skaleup ventures – capital arm LP network
Special access to VIP investor dinner at Vested Summit
Access investor package benefits (VIP accommodation, VIP transport, VIP lounge)
Network with high net-worth investors, family office, government, VCs)
Select top startups from shark zone investment competition winners
Access to special investment opportunities in the following sectors: Agritech/food tech, Fintech, supply chain/logistech, climate tech, blockchain/Web3)
Access to quarterly investment opportunities
More than 20 years of international (USA & Europe) VC/PE activities as founder/operator, advisor & Board Member. Deep expertise on the value creation and financing/funding challenges during the scale-up or expansion phases for venture, early or growth stage companies with international scope
I have been making a future where the point of education is not to prepare people for another useless job but for a life well lived!
Kamu İlişkileri Yönetimi
Teknoloji Danışmanlığı
I’ve been an engineer, entrepreneur and investor in Silicon Valley for 30 years. I founded Practical Venture Capital and 500 Startups, and worked at Founders Fund and PayPal. I’ve invested in hundreds of startups around the world, including 50+ unicorns and 10+ IPOs. Forbes Midas List named me one of the top 100 global VCs in 2016 and 2017. I have a BS in Engineering and Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University. I’m a nerd.
[Practical Venture Capital]In 2019 I founded Practical Venture Capital, a VC secondary firm that provides liquidity solutions for LPs and GPs in early-stage VC funds. We specialize in buying fund interests in microVC funds at years 5-10 (“skip the J-curve”), as well as direct secondary in breakout companies within those portfolios. Our investors include senior execs at Facebook, Credit Karma, and Lyft, several Silicon Valley VCs, and experienced PE investors.
[500 Startups]In 2010 I founded 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley VC firm now with over $1.5B AUM that has invested in 2,500 companies and 5,000 founders across 75 countries. Our investments include 50+ unicorns and 10+ IPOs: Credit Karma (acq INTU $8B), TWLO (IPO 2016), SEND (IPO 2017), REAL (IPO 2019), FLYW (IPO 2021), BARK (IPO 2021), GRAB (IPO 2021), GTLB (IPO 2021), UDMY (IPO 2021), TalkDesk, Lucid, Intercom, Canva, Ipsy, Iterable, Innovacer, FabFitFun, Algolia, Shippo, Solana, Carbon Health. We created 20 VC funds under the 500 brand, and invested in 20 other VC funds globally.
[Founders Fund, Facebook fbFund]From 2008-10 I was a VC at Founders Fund with Peter Thiel and Sean Parker. I made seed-stage investments in 42 companies resulting in 5 unicorns / 4 IPOs (TWLO, SEND, LYFT, Credit Karma, Life 360), and I led the seed round in Credit Karma (acq INTU, >400X return). The $3M portfolio I managed returned $200M (>60X) in 10 years.
[PayPal, Aslan, Johns Hopkins]In 2001 I joined PayPal as Director of Marketing. Before PayPal I was founder/CEO of Aslan Computing (acq by Servinet, 1998). I graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1988 with a BS in engineering and applied mathematics, and played lots of ultimate frisbee with other engineers and CS nerds.
I was born in Morgantown, WV and also grew up in Columbia, MD. I’m a fan of Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, Schoolhouse Rock, and Free to Be You & Me.
Changing the future for the better one startup at a time. Bridging the gap between technology, product, and business.
I’m a technology and entrepreneurship evangelist. In 2014, I received a masters degree at San Diego State University. In 2016, I joined Istanbul’s Kolektif House, the city’s premier co-working space, working initially with startups and eventually moving to oversee Isbank’s Entrepreneurship Program. As the program coordinator for the entrepreneurship program, I worked with startups on business plans, scaling up, fundraising, and other challenges.
At 212, I take role in the deal process, conducting due diligence, research & analysis and I’m also Head of Communications.
The visionary behind S[k]aleUp Ventures & Vested Summit. She’s a serial entrepreneur, a young Egyptian investor, a Silicon Valley vettern globetrotter between San Francisco and Cairo who has a vision of building a more equitable, sustainable future for emerging world economies through exponential technologies by igniting the full power of its youth. She calls them “#conscioustechies” as she coined the term conscious tech. She founded Vested Summit – the world’s largest #conscioustech summit has now become a global sensation building bridges between worlds as it is hosted in Egypt and attended by tech influencers from over 25 countries and a community of over 50,000 #Conscioustechies globally. She’s also kick started the world’s largest #Conscioustech syndicate of $1B through her digital platform “Crowdwealth” harnessing the power of the crowd and their collective human consciousness in creating new wealth by doing good. Salma was previously the cofounder of PITME Labs accelerator focused on MENA based startups in Silicon Valley. She advised and supported more than 120 startups over the past 7 years who collectively raised $60M and are some of the leading MENA based startups today. Salma is a graduate of both the american university in cairo and hult international business school with degrees in Business & Computer Science and a lover of life and beauty <3
Walid El Gendy has started his career leading a technical support team with more than 20 members, and got the top ranked reward in Vodafone for consistently delivering high and solid results. He left the corporate life to chase his bigger dream as an entrepreneur. With more than 12 years of experience with startups founding and co-founding more than five startups he has gained a big network of connections and business development tools. His main passion is to cascade his knowledge and failures to other startups to make their life easier.
A Digital Media Engineer & an Interdisciplinary Designer, Hala Gabr finds inspiration in a human’s state of ‘becoming’. Interests include concept, experience and system design aimed at developing projects in education, empowerment, behavioral change and tech. Recent work explores gender roles. With a curious eye, and an open heart, Hala is the experience designer and content curator of Vested Summit with a mission to bring more consciousness to the traditional tech story. Being ‘human’ is a miracle, honoring it is a mission of a conscious progressive becoming.
Dr. Gino Yu received his BS and PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in 1987 and 1993 respectively. After receiving his PhD, he taught at the University of Southern California and worked to establish multimedia initiatives including the Integrated Media Systems Center. From 1995 to 1997, he taught at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he helped to establish the Center for Enhanced Learning Technologies. In 1999, he established the Multimedia Innovation Centre at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), a leading edge think tank and research centre on digital entertainment. He is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Digital Entertainment and Game Development in the School of Design at PolyU where he founded M-Lab, a commercial digital entertainment entity that provides consulting, research, instruction and new ideas for the industry. His main area research interests involve the application of media technologies to cultivate creativity and promote enlightened consciousness. Dr. Yu also founded the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association, the annual Consciousness, Science, Technology Conference, and Society and Asia Consciousness Festival. He hosted many events including TEDxHongKong, Wikimania, Toward a Science of Consciousness, and Meaningful Media. Additionally, Gino is a sought-after speaker on Blockchain and other emergent technologies and serves as an advisor to several leading-edge endeavors including SingularityNET, Rio Defi, Maaind, and Hanson Robotics.
Specialties: Creative development, Consciousness, Meaningful Media
Dr. Nashwa Joy Saleh is a Senior Policy Advisor, Certified Non-Executive Director (CNED) by the UK Institute of Directors, holder of the CFA Institute Certificate in ESG Investing, educator and published author. She has more than 25 years of experience across global capital markets with a special focus on EMEA, holding various senior policy, equity, debt and capital markets roles with a number of international organizations and regulatory bodies. Her track record spanned mandates with USAID, EBRD, AfDB, Central Bank of Egypt, S&P Global and KPMG Corporate Finance.
She is also founder of BAST Ratings (www.bastratings.com), aspiring to become the first premium provider of SME ratings in EMEA.
She is an Associate Professor of Finance at Kingston Business School (KBS), London. She has also held various senior academic roles prior to joining KBS, including Director of the Full Time MBA Program at Cranfield School of Management, Senior Lecturer in Finance at De Montfort University in the UK, DMU and visiting professor at ESCP Europe, Cambridge Judge Business School and the American University in Cairo.
Mohammed Ebrahim Al Fardan is #Bahraini national, #visionary, #innovative, #passionate, #persistent with #futuristic thinking, thinking through #principles & #values, Serial #Entrepreneur, and result oriented. He specialized in Computer Science, International #Business and #investments. Upon graduation he joined IBM, then Lexmark, #Microsoft and other top ICT multinational firms. Educated in #USA, #Canada and the #UK, attended many #professional trainings at Franklin Covey, IBM boarding college in UK, Arthur Andersen, Bachman in Boston and others. Native Arab, global expert, advisor and speaker in #ai #KnowledgeEconomy #Blockchain #FinTech and #digital #transformation . He is one of the early creators of the #ecosystem for #startups and #entrepreneurship in the Middle East region from 2007. created a platform to facilitate go to market for all international firms and startups to leverage on his experience saving them time, efforts and money. Hard worker and proactive, he created the concept design and study for the fully integrated #ICT #MENA hub in 2008, which he is still hoping to see the light.
Founded and Co-Founded several startups around the world, advised many others and wrote several articles. Believes in #SMEs and believe entrepreneurship, also believes that #technology changed and will continue changing the way we live, will eliminate so many #jobs, will eliminate so many businesses, will create many new jobs and will continue getting many new startups to the top.
His ultimate goal is to take at least one of his Bahraini startups to be a #global.
Communications Professional and entrepreneur with more than 28 years of experience with global corporate giants, high growth tech startups and top governments. Breadth of experience in media, marketing, PR, events, digital communications and crisis management. Reputation for delivering results and ability to manage projects from inception to execution with creative, strategic and analytical drive. Raised and educated in the USA to Egyptian parents, I am home in both West and Arab worlds. I am all about relationships – building them, nurturing them and serving them. I thrive on storytelling, building scalable campaigns and thought leadership. I am calm in a crisis and love to lead and train teams
With over two decades of first-hand experience, including as a strategic adviser to one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, an investor in the Middle East (VC, health, education, agriculture, and infrastructure, etc.), consultant and certified trainer with the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Dr. Azmi is the founder of “Alexandrite Decisions”, supporting global decision making in our ever-changing world.
“Alexandrite Decisions” enjoys the depth and track-record stemmed from its founder, who combines institutional investors and family office/UHNI investors’ supporting experiences, while complementing academic insights with practitioners’ judgments, covering various regions in the world, with a dedicated focus on social infrastructure. Dr. Azmi particularly enjoys a long track record in building emotional intelligence and leadership abilities in her region and internationally, believing in the importance of nourishing human capital.
Dr. Azmi is a member of the executive education board at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She received her Doctorate in Multiple Objectives Decision Making from the University of Portsmouth and was chosen by the Asset International Magazine as one of the brightest “forty under forty” investment stars, while being designated a “Woman of Influence” by the Women Speakers Association. Rania has been also a patient advocate for over eleven years, volunteering locally and globally by supporting cancer awareness and cure, with a focus on public health and prevention, where she leads “Fadia Survive & Thrive” International Cancer Association. Rania enjoys an extensive global experience, having traveled as in-demand international speaker in over 78 cities in Europe, America, Asia and Africa besides the Middle East.
The Chairman & CEO of Gemini Africa a one stop e-hub, playing an active role in the development of the Egyptian entrepreneurial ecosystem by bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and the business world through offering unique investment models, untapping business opportunities and creating innovative flagship programs.
Thoma created the CinemaTech track aiming to introduce entrepreneurship into the filmmaking industry for the first time worldwide and he holds the intellectual property rights for this pioneering initiative.
Adly is a Worldwide Project Management Consultant for 85 countries and he has an extensive experience in education, teaching and development.
Mohamed Sameh holds a Ph.D degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Perugia in Italy and post-graduate degrees in Economics and Finance from the College of Europe Belgium and the Arab Academy in Egypt. He is passionate about learning and dreams of & works towards building a better world. His love for life and people drove him to travel to over 20 countries over the last four years. He is fluent in four languages: Arabic, English, French and Italian and has fair knowledge of Hebrew, German, Luxemburgish, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian. Born in Saudi Arabia for an Egyptian family with Italian and Turkish heritage, a citizen of Egypt, Italy and Luxembourg and honorary citizen of the City of Bruges, Mohamed is a management consultant with a unique global network spanning the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. He worked for the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg, the United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) in Rome, and major consultancy firms in Belgium, the United Kingdom and Western Balkans. He worked with the Investment Promotion and the private sector support governmental bodies in Egypt, Italy, Jordan and Senegal and taught university courses in Cairo and Baku. Mohamed is trained in due diligence and investment analysis and has extensive professional and practical experience in the challenges which businesses face through their growth journey. He is an angel investor of startups in Egypt and Ukraine. Mohamed is an investor and management advisor to S[k]aleUp Ventures, Inc.
Euler Bropleh is the founder and Managing Director of VestedWorld, an investment fund manager that focuses on early-stage companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. A Liberian native who left the country during the Liberian Civil War, Euler understands firsthand how conflict, instability, and lack of economic growth can impact the lives of people in developing countries. Prior to founding VestedWorld, Euler was an attorney specializing in corporate transactions with leading law firms Latham & Watkins and Vedder Price, where he represented Fortune 100 companies, venture capital and private equity firms and emerging businesses worldwide. As an angel investor, he’s helped fund several early stage businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa, developing an acute understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with early stage investing in emerging markets. Euler holds a JD from the University of Chicago Law School, a Graduate Diploma from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), and a BA from Emory University.
Emad Fouad – Cventures Managing Director
Emad is responsible for the overall management of CVentures. He has more than 20 years of combined experience in Banking, Finance, Private Equity and Venture Capital.
Prior to CVentures, Emad led Deal Structuring and Execution for CIB’s Direct Investment Group. During his 12-year tenure in Private Equity, Emad successfully completed more than 30 private equity transactions with combined valuations in excess of US$500 Million, and managed portfolios in a wide range of financial and non-financial industries including Leasing, Factoring, Mortgage, Investment Banking, Brokerage, Asset Management, Consumer Finance, Telecom, Retail, Power, Food and Textiles. Additionally, Emad has also represented CIB on a number of portfolio company Boards and Executive Committees throughout his career.
Emad holds a BComm in Accounting from Cairo University, as well as an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management.
Emad is a CVentures Board and Investment Committee Member.
Ba Minuzzi, founder & CEO of UMANA, is a self-made entrepreneur who leads conscious investing and wealth management for high-net-worth celebrity clients. With UMANA, Ba is redefining wealth through purpose-driven efforts that will create a legacy for the next generation.
UMANA is pioneer in the concept of purpose-driven family office and is revolutionizing the wealth management industry. At UMANA Family, Ba primarily focus is to create wealth aligned with one’s values. As of today, UMANA’s current AUM is over $370M.
UMANA House of Funds focuses on our venture capital investments and has been part of some of the most premium deals in the U.S. Only 15% of decision-makers (partners) at VC firms are women in the U.S. Black women make up 1%, while LatinX women represent 0%. No coincidence that Ba has been lauded for “breaking all the rules” and “rocking male-dominated Silicon Valley” by various mainstream publications. As the General Partner of UMANA House of Funds and co-leading multiple funds, she is changing the data for the better.
Ba is the 1st Latina to be founder and sole GP (decision-maker) of a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, where she raised $29M for her debut fund, being also a record for a venture fund raised by a woman of color.
Last but not least, Ba co-leads UMANA Venture Studio (UVS). UVS exist to provide some of the most influential voices of our generation the resources to be loud, responsible and authentic. UMANA Venture Studio is a brand creation and match-making boutique, re-imagining the relationship between influential individuals and purpose-driven brands. The first brand built and launched by UVS is the delicious hazelnut spread, tbh, in partnership with GenZ Stranger Things actor, Noah Schnapp.
Sahar is a venture builder, innovation coach, and startup mentor with a focus on exponential innovation and social impact transformation. Merging her corporate and startup experiences, she co-creates initiatives with large corporations leading to 10X in ROI and impact in emerging markets. Her primary focus is solving problems related to access to education, unemployment, and food security. Sahar is also the founder of Women4Impact, a global initiative to support female-led high impact ventures, and to increase participation of women in angel investing globally. Sahar is a startup mentor and educator with the IE Business School Venture Lab in Madrid, ranked 4th in Entrepreneurship education globally.
Multiple-educated Mind Strategist Guinevere Ellis has become known as The Mind Director for her ability to show others how to direct their own mind to achieve the results they seriously desire. Professional qualified in finance and law with over three decades of experience in senior executive positions, Guinevere has been deeply involved in the science and psychology of success since she was very young. An experienced speaker she engages with authentic storytelling, sharing humility and understanding, leaving the audience with a strong belief that they too can create results in business and in life way beyond what others believe possible.
Alper Güven
As a Program Associate, Alper supports the design and delivery of regional and global programs. He is particularly passionate about the role of impact-driven innovation and entrepreneurship to address pressing challenges in developing countries.
Before joining Village Capital, Alper worked on the entrepreneurship programs team of social innovation platform ‘imece’ where he was responsible for implementing the support programs for early-stage impact startups. Additionally, he founded Arkhé Innovate, an organization that provides young impact makers in Turkey the tools, resources and connections they need to scale their solutions.
Walid is the CEO of valU, the Chairman of Paytabs Egypt and the Vice Chairman of EFG EV Fintech. He sits on multiple boards including, KarmSolar, and Bedaya for mortgage finance Walid’s leadership of the NBFI platform at EFG Hermes over 5+ years has seen it grow multiple businesses and launch innovative brands. Prior to joining EFG Hermes Holding in 2016, Walid had a successful 17-year banking career. He was General Manager and Head of Structured Finance and Investment Banking at Bank Audi, where he closed structured and project finance transactions in excess of USD 15 billion. He first started in Misr International Bank, structuring and executing several award-winning deals, in project finance and M&As within Egypt and the GCC. He was the Head of structured finance and syndication in Banque Misr where he successfully managed to top the league table of the MENA region in syndicated loans.
Walid holds a Cairo-University B.B.A with highest honors, an MBA from J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University and an Islamic Finance Qualification from CISI- UK.
Until today, professional life has taught various lessons and let me built up the following abilities:
Strategic level decision making on business development, planning, management, HR, organizational development, finance, Market research and investment,
Operational experience in HR search & selection, interview and staffing, cost reduction, business development, organizational development, Total Quality Management, quality assurance,
Experience in finance such as corporate finance, IPO, company valuation, investment feasibility, financial modelling, Investment Advisory,, Private Equity, Equities, financial analysis, M&A, debt financing.
As a professional certified by UNIDO on business performance and World Bank on business advising, I’m ready to create value added to companies.
I’m the CEO of the Q2 Impact – a firm that leverages talent, technology, and capital to help solve some of the world’s most complex problems. Working with the private sector, communities, and governments, Q2 Impact seeks to promote trade and investment, develop economic opportunity, advance security and stability, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance at home and abroad.
Before launching Q2 Impact. I was the founder and Managing Director the Georgetown Strategy Group. Prior to GSG, I was a Minister Counselor in the career Senior Foreign Service. I served as the Assistant Administrator for the US Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance in the Obama Administration. In that capacity, I led a bureau focused on global crisis response and political transition with an annual budget of $4.8 billion with nearly 1,200 staff. Specifically, I spearheaded all USAID efforts to respond to crises and stabilization efforts – including responses in Haiti, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, the West Bank/Gaza, and Yemen.
Serial entrepreneur: Mentor. Coach. Investor. Loves to climb mountains
Investments in 70+ Companies in last 12 years
Self-funded Venture Build-Up of Open People Network & Supporters Fund
Residential Real Estate investor over 20 Yrs (15+ Doors in Canada and USA)
8 Angel Groups screening member globally
As an experienced researcher and builder of emerging technologies, I have developed a variety of digital artifacts, apps, and immersive environments for leading startups such as Psychomeasure, Cosmiq Universe, and many others. As an academic, I’ve led and created entirely new digital innovation programs both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels across 3 different continents (Brazil, Australia, and Dubai). My research has been published in dozens of peer-reviewed scientific journals, featuring work developed as part of an international network of partnerships that include the University of Melbourne, MIT, RMIT, Parsons, EGS, USP, PolyU Hong Kong, et al. Since 2021 I have transitioned entirely to the field of Web3, being part of the first-ever cohort of Fellows at FWB and joining Kernel 05. As an active contributor to several DAOs and blockchain ecosystems, I am at the heart of a thriving community of Web3 founders and builders. As a builder and strategist, I can bring the best of my talent and expertise to the design of new on-chain pluriverses.
A 2-day challenge where top #ConsciousTech startups in emerging markets get the chance to pitch their business to global investors for a chance to get fast tracked into Skaleup Ventures investment readiness program with $100K in investment.
Eligibility Criteria:
Sectors: climatetech, food/agritech, supply chain/logistech, fintech, blockchain
Round: raising $1-10M
A 48 hours deal closing hackathon
Aimed at first time angel investors interested to kickstart their angel investing journey.
Angels practice deal analysis & build the confidence to take a decision within the 48hours timeframe to invest in a startup.