Bitcoins, Metaverse, and NFTs, are terms that have been around for quite some time, and everyone is either investing in, talking about, or wondering what they are!
These terms and more are a part of Web3; A new version of the web has been making some noise in recent times. For many, this is the first time they would have heard about the fact that there are different versions of the web as we know it. The new version is called "Web 3.0," also known as "Web3."
Cryptocurrency is the underlying force of Web3, the asset class laying the foundation for a decentralized, autonomous network, free from corporate governance.
Join us at our Web3 Middle East Summit to explore what Web3 is, how it's changing the internet, and bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3.
We'll host sessions & Q+A's with experts and investors who are at the forefront of building and investing in the next wave of the web.
đ Monday, 21st February
â° 7:00 pm KSA Time
Stay tuned for the updates!
***All attendees will be entered to win free tickets to SG Global 22 on April 12- 13th in Redwood City.
Rain
Co-Founder and CEO
CoinMENA
CEO
BitOasis
SVP
Tribal Credit
Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer
NuqtahNFT
CEO and Founder
Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP)
Partner
Joseph is one of the co-founders and the CEO of Rain. He has spent the past ten years building tech companies with his Rain co-founder AJ.
Joseph has a keen eye for good design and has dedicated much of his life to creating high quality products and brands; in his early career he worked as a software engineer for companies including Survey Monkey and Rockwell Collins. At Rain he is the product architect and leads the engineering team, as well as having involvement with fundraising and strategy.
Joseph had an interest in software, technology and the web from an early age. After school he studied a bachelor in Computer Engineering at the University of Iowa, during which time he created his first start-up with Rain co-founder AJ. Pi was a EdTech company that focused on solving communication issues in the classroom; together they raised over $1MM from Lightbank (the co-founders of Groupon) and scaled it to 100k+ users. They ran the company for nearly four years before exiting and their success won them a place in the Under30CEO 2012 Rookies of the Year.
Both Joseph and AJ followed the Bitcoin revolution closely from the early days, and after university seized the opportunity to get involved directly with it. They knew from their experience with Pi it was crucial to really understand the industry inside out if they were to venture into it, so they immersed themselves within the industry - attending conferences, having meetings with other entrepreneurs in the space, and even taking full time jobs. Joseph spent two years working for the digital currency exchange Abra, before he and AJ met their other two partners and Rain was formed.
Joseph is a passionate serial entrepreneur who believes strongly in the âlong term value of digital currencyâ as a new asset class and form of money. He is dedicated to achieving this vision, along with his partners in Rain.
Talal Tabbaa is the CEO and Co-Founder of CoinMENA, a regulated cryptocurrency exchange under the Central Bank of Bahrain. He also serves on the Board of Middle East Payment Services (MEPS) in Amman, Jordan, and on the advisory board of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy. He also co-founded Jibrel Network, a blockchain development company based in Zug, Switzerland. Prior to crypto, Talal worked in financial and supply chain consulting services at PwC and managed a private investment fund in Saudi Arabia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering (Economics Minor) from Purdue University, IN, USA.
Mika has over 19 years of corporate experience acquired in London and Dubai. Her sector experience includes Technology, Media, Commodities, Security and Hospitality.
Exposure to global, multi billion dollar organizations and start-up environments has developed her strengths for change management, process improvement and implementation of effective internal controls.
Since joining BitOasis in 2018, she has worked with the CEO on raising capital with debt and equity instruments and driven significant changes in financial reporting, accounting policies & procedures, along with reporting improvements from the BitOasis platform. Prior to joining BitOasis, Mika spent 4 years at OSN, MENAâs premier pay TV network.
Mohamed Elkasstawi is the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Tribal Credit, where he leads the blockchain vision, strategy, and execution. From forming strategic partnerships with blockchain firms to building Tribalâs blockchain infrastructure, Mohamed focuses on harnessing the technology to give startups in emerging markets greater access to financial services. He co-founded ZK Capital, a research-focused blockchain investment firm that invests in and mentors startups using the technology. He co-invested with Sequoia, USV, Coinbase VC, and Pantera in pioneering blockchain projects. Mohamed was featured by Scene Arabia as one of â5 Middle Eastern entrepreneurs working with blockchain to transform the future.â He has a BS in Engineering Management from Northern Illinois University, and he studied Entrepreneurship at Stanford.
Art Enthusiast | Blockchain Advocate | Innovative Thinker | Community Builder Salwa is currently CEO of Nuqtah NFT, pioneering NFTs to the Saudi region to breed a new line of art investors & enabling creators towards the wildest opportunities. With a passion & vision to create a genuine community of art enthusiasts, blockchain advocates & passionate individuals, the end goal is to skyrocket the holistic creative economy in MENA at the pedestal it shouldnât be at with the power of tech!
Riyad Abou Jaoudeh is a partner at MEVP and has led several VC investments across foodtech, mobility tech, SaaS, marketplaces, crypto and fintech. He is and Ex-telecom media and technology consultant. Riyad holds an MBA from University of Pennsylvania the Wharton School.
Mo is holding a BA in Business Technology and Diplomas in E-Business, Digital Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. Mohamed has 5+ years of experience in the Digital Industry in Jordan and Egypt in addition to 8+ years of involvement in the Entrepreneurship ecosystem across the MENA region with Startup Grind, TechStars, Seedstars, and many local and international entities.
He has been recognized as a speaker at several events including Startup Grind Pakistan, RiseUp Summit, Startups Without Borders Summit, Digital Arabia Network, and Adobe World Tour. Mo has also been featured on various media channels like; Bloomberg, BBC World, BBC Arabic, Al Jazeera, Sky News, MBC, AJ+, Al Ghad TV, Roya TV, ONTV, BBC Radio, National Newspaper, and Inc. Magazine.
I am a person who believe that I can change the world, I am driven by an idealistic dreams but relaistic goals. I believe that entrepreneurship can be the answer to different questions but it need a unique prespective.
I had long experience in mentoring different kind of tech-enable startups and deep technology startups as well, supporting startups in different phases from the infrastructure level to the go to market and scalibility level as well. I had been a consultant in many investment talks between startups and investors. I have built different entrepreneurship programs and have implemented unique successful programs in the past 3 years with unique stake holders.
I have participated in many events in the Egyptian, Saudi, UAE & Tunisian eco-system during the past 5 years, my participation vary between judge/mentor/project manager/partner/consultant or even participant.
As an exapmle of these events: RiseUp Egypt, Social Media Day, Creative Industry day, Startup Cup, Startup Week End, Enpact, Injaz Egypt, MIT KSA, AIM Startup, IECompetition, Entrepreneurs Challenge, Arabnet, IOT Saudi, Franchise Saudi, Souq Okaz, UQU Entrepreneurship Camp, UQU Summer internship program, Startup Saudi, Haij Hackathon, Google developer groups, Blossom, startup turkey, startup Istanbul and i am one of the founding team for WadiMakkah Seed investment program Nomow and one of the founding team for Startup Saudi.
I had a solid knowladge supported by proffestional experience in business model generation, Marketing (especially digital marketing), investment plans, startup sales strategy, product design, networking techniques and resources allocation and this support me in startups mentoring or programs building to meet the exact KPIs needed.
Startup Grind Makkah
Co-director
Startup Grind
Community Manager, APAC & Middle East
ONE MEDIA AND EVENTS
Founder
See Bio
Born and brought up in Gibraltar her entrepreneurial journey started at the age of 22 launching the first company in PR and promotional work âDM Promotionsâ, since the early days her passion for running and creating her own business models was clear with a fiercely entrepreneurial family background.
Also involved in a landmark case at a young age for Gibraltar when she was denied the right to vote in the first European elections the case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights and was successful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthews_v_United_Kingdom
After taking time out to start a family and living abroad she returned to her hometown in 2017 and soon set up a new business One Media and Events. The application to become City Chapter Director for Gibraltar for the organisation Startup Grind powered by Google for Entrepreneurs was successful and the first event which sold out with over 100 attendees was launched in March 2017. In February 2018 Denise was given the âRookie of the Yearâ Award in San Francisco during the directorâs retreat organised at the SuG Global Conference for being the best new chapter in a city with a population of only thirty thousand.
During this time Gibraltar Government announced the regulatory framework for Distributed Ledger Technology also known as Blockchain. Because of her work in supporting startups, tech and creating a network they became actively involved by sponsoring her events. The platform that SuG together with this development locally has opened up multiple opportunities in this new tech industry and in the past 4 months she has been appointed to represent two globally well known blockchain related groups the GSX Groupâs Blockchain Innovation Centre and Coinsilium.
Riable.com
Chapter Director
View Profile
Gaza Innovation Center - Ma'an
Events Organizer
View Profile
