Discover the joys and conquer the challenges of women entrepreneurship as we delve deep into the stories of these incredible foundhers. Gain valuable knowledge, practical advice, and actionable strategies that will fuel your own entrepreneurial journey.

MEET THE  FOUNDHERS 

Rosa Aygun

Rosa is a dynamic CEO and founder of Anqa, a revolutionary holistic wellness app that has transformed the wellness industry. Inspired by her own life-changing journey, Rosa's mission is to empower individuals globally to discover their inner strength and transform their lives by connecting them with the world's greatest wellness professionals.

As a highly driven, passionate executive, innovator, strategist, athlete, and entrepreneur, Rosa has built an international career spanning 4 continents with over 15 years of experience in strategic business planning and consulting. Her expertise in all aspects of business formation, operations, financial planning, community building, branding, and management has enabled her to develop and lead visionary products that make a meaningful difference in people's lives and create a better overall quality of life in society.

Rosa's personal transformational experience with alternative healing therapies opened her eyes to the challenge of finding the right expertise and access to these therapies. As a former corporate executive, she realized that there was more to life than climbing the corporate ladder. This realization led her to devote herself to building Anqa and sharing the power of alternative healing therapies with the world.

Rosa's deep research and analytics skills in understanding consumer behavior, supply and demand, market gaps, and opportunities, combined with her visionary product development skills, have created a platform that helps others heal and transform in mind, body, and soul. Through Anqa, Rosa has successfully bridged the gap between wellness professionals and individuals seeking their services, creating a global community of people committed to holistic well-being. In summary, Rosa is a visionary leader with a passion for empowering individuals to achieve their full potential through holistic wellness. Her expertise in business planning and consulting, combined with her personal transformational journey, has led her to create Anqa, a platform that is changing lives and revolutionizing the wellness industry

Marilyn Zakhour

Marilyn Zakhour is the CEO & Founder of Cosmic Centaurs, an organizational development consultancy, helping leaders make better decisions about work and the workplace and implement sustainable organizational change.

Having spent 10 years in the startup world, building and running digital native companies, and previously the CMO of EMAAR as well as the Head of Dubai Opera, Marilyn knows how to bring the agility of small startups to big corporations. Marilyn also holds an executive MBA from INSEAD.

MEET THE FUNDERS

Silvia Lupu

Silvia Lupu is a seasoned executive with over 7 years of experience in the investment and financial industry accumulated while working for the world’s largest alternative asset manager and for a Big4 consultancy company. She is the CEO and Founding Partner of a Boutique Investment and Financial Consultancy Firm “Hikaro Capital” operating in Europe, MENA and the US. With a strong academic background in International Economic Relationships, Silvia possesses a deep understanding of global markets and a keen eye for strategic decision-making. She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

Throughout her career, Silvia has honed her expertise by working in five countries across three continents, gaining invaluable insights into diverse financial ecosystems. Her international exposure has equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of the nuances and challenges of conducting business on a global scale. Silvia’s leadership journey spans both mid and senior management positions, where she has consistently demonstrated her ability to drive results, inspire teams, and navigate complex financial landscapes. Her dynamic approach, combined with a strong focus on innovation and sustainable practices, has positioned her as a visionary leader in the industry.

With a passion for Women in the Investment and Financial industry, Silvia has been at the forefront of integrating female entrepreneurs into the financial sector. Her commitment to ethical decision-making has earned her recognition as a thought leader in the industry, advocating for the importance of integrating, educating, and empowering women to step into the investment and financial industry. Silvia leverages her extensive experience, global perspective, and financial acumen to guide women's strategic direction, foster strong relationships internationally, and deliver exceptional results.

Sana Bagersh

Sana Bagersh is CEO of an advertising agency called BrandMoxie that is based in Abu Dhabi, UAE that provide branding, communication, PR, advertising, digital marketing and events management services. She is also Innovation and Strategy Advisor for the Abu Dhabi Municipality, and provides high level consulting to government entities in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship/ intrapreneurship and digital marketing.

Bagersh oversees the editorial team of Tempo a youth/community magazine that promotes innovation, social enterprise and community engagement. She is also founder of Tamakkan, an entrepreneurship and innovation social enterprise that offers guidance to SMEs. Bagersh is also Executive Producer of a short film platform called The Smovies that identifies emerging film talent, and a programme called the Innovation Impact Community that recognizes community leaders. 

Bagersh established Tamakkan 2009 as a knowledge sharing platform that leverages the readiness of experts/ consultants to give back to the community. The initiative offers free seminars to entrepreneurs on topics such as funding, marketing, social media, leadership, franchising, new technologies. Bagersh uses information as a powerful ‘trigger’ to mitigate SME failure by focusing on the fundamentals of business success. In response to the need of entrepreneurs to network more frequently, Tamakkan holds its seminars monthly.

Bagersh Chaired AmCham Abu Dhabi’s Women in Business committee for two years (up to June 2015), during which time she developed and deployed Women Achieve, a platform that promotes seven women’s empowerment ideals. In June 2015, She took over chairmanship of AmCham’s Art and Culture Committee. In the past Bagersh had served as adjunct professor at Zayed University teaching marketing to fourth year students, and also served on various industry advisory committees in institutions such as the Higher Colleges of Technology Women’s College and Abu Dhabi Vocational Institute. 

Bagersh started her career as a journalist at Gulf News in Abu Dhabi, UAE (1985 – 1990), where she was one of a handful of Arab women involved in general reporting. Upon her return to the UAE she worked as as bureau chief (1997-1999) of Gulf News’ Abu Dhabi office, during which time she led the news team and launched the neighborhood reporting scheme which trained community reporters. During her time as journalist she met leaders such as HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, Richard Branson, George Bush Sr., Kurt Waldheim, Princess Diana and Prince Charles; attended press conferences for newsmakers such as Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat, Muamar al Gaddafi, Benazir Bhutto, Jacques Chirac and Richard Cohen; and interviewed personalities such as Nelson Mandela and Wilfred Thesiger.

David Munir Nabti 

David Munir Nabti is driven by a passion to build towards a more inclusive, sustainable and compassionate world through making values-driven applied skills development and entrepreneurship/organizational development support universal. He has been running organizational growth and skills development programs in MENA for 15 years that help enterprises, organizations and individuals grow and flourish, with a focus on inclusive and social entrepreneurship. He co-founded Bloom.pm (@bloomemea), a social enterprise that runs online+hybrid+offline programs and builds tools+software (the Bloom platform, assessments & library) to enable customized programs and support to individuals, enterprises, organizations, and accelerator programs. Bloom along with the affiliated NGO AltCity Impact have run 80 sprint and accelerator programs and supported enterprises in 10 MENA+African countries in the last 8 years directly or in collaboration with partner organizations. He graduated from UC Berkeley in Political Science and International Economics with an additional emphasis on environmental science, policy and management. He previously worked for the UN/FAO (rural & agricultural economic development), Stanford University, Google, and at a research center at UC Berkeley focused on project-based learning. Find him on Twitter/Insta/LinkedIn @dmnabti.

UNLOCK THE OPPORTUNITIES

Apply for HERMENOW Accelerator's 2023 Cohort

impact focus - the 2023 edition GREEN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The second edition of the HERMENOW Accelerator will focus on Green Social Entrepreneurship: the development of innovative business ventures that addresses environmental and social considerations while maintaining long-term financial sustainability. Applications for the second edition will open on Jun 15, 2023. HerMeNow is currently open for partnerships to expand our collective impact (www.bloom.pm/hermenow/partners). To receive updates on HerMeNow and other Bloom activities, you can sign up to get updates (www.bloom.pm/newsletter).

Xchange + Summer Party

At Startup Grind, we don't network, we connect. Forget about collecting business cards! Get ready to make authentic, meaningful connections while exchanging skills and ideas. We're all about building relationships, sharing wisdom, and supporting each other's growth. So gear up to connect, learn, and grow with us!