Moghamra - مغامرة

Dr. Amr Awadallah is the CEO and Cofounder of Vectara, a company that is enabling organizations to leverage GenAI in business applications by reducing risks from hallucinations, bias, copyright infringement, and model weight pollution. Amr previously served as VP of Developer Relations for Google Cloud. Prior to joining Google in Nov 2019, Amr co-founded Cloudera in 2008 and as Global CTO, he spent 11 years working closely with enterprises around the world on how to ingest and extract value from big data (he famously coined the concept of “schema-on-read vs schema-on-write”). Cloudera went public in 2017 on the NYSE, and was acquired by KKR + CD&R in 2021 for $5.3b. He also served as vice president of product intelligence engineering at Yahoo! from 2000-2008. Amr joined Yahoo after they acquired his first startup, Aptivia, in mid-2000 which was a search engine for online product information. Amr received his PhD in EE from Stanford University, and his Bachelor and Master Degrees from Cairo University, Egypt. Amr is one of 10 luminary scientists and technologists that were granted honorary citizenship to Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Hossam Taher, a father, serial entrepreneur, and a doctor, leverages his expertise in product management and business strategy in venture building and business growth. As the former CEO of Orcas, which he successfully exited in 2023, he expanded the company's regional presence, built an international team, and secured over $4 million in funding. Hossam now offers consultancy and mentorship in venture building, digital transformation, product strategy, and business strategy, while exploring angel investing, with a preference for tech startups.

Wael Fakharany currently serves as the CEO of Edenred, leveraging his extensive leadership background. Before joining Edenred, Wael served as CEO of Omnix International and held the position of Vice President and General Manager of EMEA at Incorta. He also worked at Careem as Managing Director for Egypt and held the position of Global Senior VP for Government Relations. At Google, Wael served as Regional Business Lead at Google X and Head of Agencies for the Middle East and North Africa. His career spans over 25 years in the technology sector, including previous roles at 3Com, Oracle, and IBM. Wael holds a B.Sc. in Computer & Communications Engineering with Distinction from Ain Shams University in Egypt.

Aya is an Egyptian software engineer and entrepreneur who aims to bridge the gap between top tech talents and hiring companies. She is doing this through Talents Arena, the ultimate ‘talent marketplace’ for African job seekers and recruiters in tech. Talents Arena is re-inventing technical hiring by matching tech gurus with ideal hiring tech companies, thus cutting down time wasted in the hiring process. Aya has worked in the tech industry for over a decade, starting as a software engineer at IBM – Egypt. She later moved to lead many tech teams in regional startups, including 360 Imaging, Instabug, and others.

Ammar Kandil is the Co-Founder of Yes Theory. Originally from Sadat City, Egypt, located two hours outside Cairo, Ammar's journey began with a profound fascination for people. Yes Theory began in the summer of 2015 when Ammar, Thomas, Derin and Matt were four strangers in their early 20s who bonded over the idea that life's greatest moments and deepest connections exist outside your comfort zone. Today Yes Theory is a community of millions of people who act on the belief that seeking discomfort is the gateway to a fulfilling life.

Adel is the Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Aumet. Aumet automates the pharmaceutical procurement supply chain by providing enterprise resource planning services that provide real-time artificial intelligence-driven healthcare data to government entities and pharmaceutical manufacturers to monitor the demand and supply of medicine nationwide. Before joining Aumet, Adel worked in a spectrum of fields ranging from Transaction advisory, Investment banking to corporate banking. Adel holds an MSc and and MBA from top universities such as IE Business School. He led a number of senior positions in countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Spain and Canada. He currently also advises a Cleantech startup based out Spain.

In this episode, we sit down and have a conversation with Mohammed Elhorishy, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Taager, a leading e-commerce platform that is revolutionizing the industry in the Middle East. Founded in 2019, Taager is a B2B platform to supply a one-stop store for online retailers and suppliers. The platform supplies online retailers and suppliers with a set of backend and built-in providers, from operational and logistical infrastructure akin to storage and delivery to an internet market to host their merchandise, connecting sellers with wholesalers. Mohammed Elhorishy is an accomplished entrepreneur that holds a degree in Economics from The British University in Egypt. He previously worked in private equity at FEP Capital and as an Investment Analyst at Misr Company for Financial Investments.

In this episode, we're excited to share the journey of Farah and Omar Emara, the siblings behind FreshSource. Launched in 2018, FreshSource is a startup that's reshaping Egypt's agricultural sector by seamlessly integrating technology with supply chain logistics. Farah and Omar Emara are passionate Egyptian entrepreneurs who are dedicated to addressing inefficiencies in the agricultural value chain. In a country where producers face an average food loss of 45%, their work is making a real difference. They are not only reducing this loss but also increasing farmers' income. They have extended their vision to FreshSource Global, a venture aimed at managing the delivery of fresh produce from farms to businesses in the most efficient way possible. Collaborating with a diverse range of vendors, including farmers, FreshSource Global supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to a variety of businesses, from local restaurants and hotels to online retailers.

Shot back in October 2023, in this episode we sit down with Amr Shady (CEO of Tribal Credit). Amr spearheads a mission to help bring financial inclusion to startups in emerging markets. From ideation to fundraising, product development to operations, investor to board relations, Amr leads the overall execution of Tribal’s strategy and vision. He is a serial tech entrepreneur and data scientist with two decades of building and scaling startups. Amr co-founded Tribal Credit, a spin-off from his NYU research on using AI to predict startup success at inception. He started his first company (TA Telecom) at 22, bootstrapping it to a multimillion dollar business — dubbed “local hero” by the Financial Times and ranked by Deloitte as one of the fastest growing tech companies in EMEA. Amr is the Chairman of Endeavor Egypt and former board member of TechWadi, two non-profits advancing entrepreneurship in the MENA region and the world. He holds an MS in Business Analytics from NYU, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Dalhousie University.

Omar El Defrawy is the Founder and CEO of Sylndr, Egypt's leading used-cars marketplace. Before founding Sylndr in Q4 2021 where it raised Africa's largest pre-seed to date, he served as the CFO and Board Member at elmenus, Egypt's home-grown food delivery platform. Prior to that, Omar spent six years as part of EFG Hermes' Investment Banking team, where he handled significant transactions, including Fawry's IPO, Cleopatra Hospital Group's IPO, the capital increase of Eastern Tobacco Company, and the sale of Tokiomarine's insurance arm in Egypt. Chapters: 00:00-6:34 Intro 6:34-12:27 Largest Pre-Seed Fundraise in Africa 12:27-16:25 Scaling the Team 16:25-35:24 Sylndr Deep-dive 35:24-41:48 Business Model 41:48-52:09 Learnings 52:09-56:09 Organisational Structure 56:09-1:04:42 Outro

Khalid Abou Kassem is the Founder of AlGooru, a Saudi-based early-stage EdTech startup. AlGooru is the first licensed tutoring platform in Saudi, founded for the purpose of matching students with qualified private tutors through long-term curated lesson plans, and is one of the smallest companies to have joined Saudi's exclusive government-backed "Unicorns Program". Khalid has built a team of 70+ people since 2021 and raised more than $4 million in seed investments from various angel and institutional investors. He is renowned for tutoring early-stage founders about the 101s of entrepreneurship and is fuelled by a passion for breaking things and moving fast. His specialties include purpose-creation, culture-building, hiring, and fundraising.

Nadim Nagui is the CEO of Partment, a proptech platform simplifying real estate through co-ownership solutions. In 2022, he co-founded Partment with Ahmed el Raggal and Chinmaya Das, marking a new chapter in his entrepreneurial journey. Recognized with the Forbes 30 under 30 award in 2022, Nadim's strategic prowess and contributions stand out. Prior to Partment, he was the Head of Business Development DACH at Uber, helping expand global rides, meals, and deliveries. Nadim was also instrumental in Uber's Egypt launch and contributed significantly during his 7-year career, spanning Cairo and Amsterdam (Uber EMEA HQ), holding diverse leadership roles in Operations and Business Development. Starting his career in his family's laboratory and medical equipment business after graduating with an Industrial Engineering degree from Virginia Tech, Nadim now resides in Cairo, continuing to drive innovation in the proptech industry.

Mohamed Jawabri is the Co-Founder and COO of Lendo | ليندو. Lendo is a shariah-compliant debt crowdfunding marketplace. They have recently closed a $28 million Series B round led by Sanabil Investments. Lendo enables SMEs to digitally pre-finance their outstanding invoices. The platform also offers SMEs a limited option to borrow cash quickly and short-term options to gain higher returns for investors/lenders. Lendo has also recently crossed a significant milestone, facilitating more than 1 billion SAR in financing through over 2,500 transactions, all directed towards supporting Saudi Arabia's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). What does it take to go from an idea to these achievements?

Sharif El-Badawi is the CEO of Dubai Future District Fund, an evergreen venture fund of funds and direct investment vehicle of the emirate of Dubai. The fund is anchored by Dubai Future Foundation and the Dubai International Financial Centre to invest in the Future of Finance and Future Economies with the aim of bolstering economic development in Dubai, the UAE and the broader region. Previously, he co-founded and managed Plus Venture Capital (+VC), a leading seed stage investment firm in the Middle East and North Africa region, investing across sectors from seed to growth within the region and diaspora. Before that he was a founding managing partner of the first US-based venture capital firm with a dedicated fund for the MENA region and was the most active venture capital investor in MENA during its investment period from 2017-2020. In his role, he managed the 500 Startups MENA fund, 500 Falcons, which invested in over 180 startups across 15 countries. He joined Google through the $750m acquisition of AdMob, the world’s leading mobile advertising network. Before AdMob, Sharif was a technologist and serial entrepreneur having founded or co-founded several companies in the Consumer Internet and B2B space over a twelve-year period starting in 1998.

Sharif El-Badawi is the CEO of Dubai Future District Fund, an evergreen venture fund of funds and direct investment vehicle of the emirate of Dubai. The fund is anchored by Dubai Future Foundation and the Dubai International Financial Centre to invest in the Future of Finance and Future Economies with the aim of bolstering economic development in Dubai, the UAE and the broader region. Previously, he co-founded and managed Plus Venture Capital (+VC), a leading seed stage investment firm in the Middle East and North Africa region, investing across sectors from seed to growth within the region and diaspora. Before that he was a founding managing partner of the first US-based venture capital firm with a dedicated fund for the MENA region and was the most active venture capital investor in MENA during its investment period from 2017-2020. In his role, he managed the 500 Startups MENA fund, 500 Falcons, which invested in over 180 startups across 15 countries. He joined Google through the $750m acquisition of AdMob, the world’s leading mobile advertising network. Before AdMob, Sharif was a technologist and serial entrepreneur having founded or co-founded several companies in the Consumer Internet and B2B space over a twelve-year period starting in 1998.

In this episode, we speak to Abdel-Azim Osman, one of the leading marketing experts in the MENA region. He is the Co-Founder & CMO of Nawy and the Co-Founder of Lynkrs. Under his leadership, Nawy became Meta's most sophisticated real-estate client in the world! This led him to hold roles on Meta's EMEA Advisory Board Panel and Meta's MENA Advisory Board. Additionally, he has been selected as an Endeavour Entrepreneur. After graduating from MIT, he started his career as a Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, and he later joined the family business, Osman Group. There, he served on the Board of Directors and managed two building materials companies: Insumat, producing waterproofing membranes, and Technocrete, specializing in concrete interlocking paving stones and hard landscaping. With experience overseeing a team of over 800 employees, he ventured into entrepreneurship for a new professional challenge. Thank you to Nasser Mouti for helping us prep the questions for this episode. Chapters: 00:00 - Teaser 00:24 - Intro 02:27 - What is Nawy? 08:45 - What Differentiates Nawy? 11:39 - Going from 0 to Hero in Marketing 18:21 - Meta MENA Advisory Board 20:59 - Being Sophisticated & Data Driven 24:11 - Is Marketing a Science or an Art? 25:12 - Marketing KPIs 31:25 - How to Optimise the KPIS? 36:20 - Integrating CRM with Marketing 38:50 - Difference Between Meta & Google 43:32 - How Do I Start? 50:48 - Advice ________ Connect with Moghamra on: Website: https://moghamra.com Instagram: @moghamrapodcast Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moghamra

Entrepreneurs are storytellers and Taher is no different. Taher is a distinguished author, aspiring filmmaker and a former co-writer of El Da7ee7. In this episode, he offers a masterclass in the art of storytelling, taking us into the world of El Da7ee7 and his experience as a writer. During his 240-episode journey there, the show amassed nearly a billion views. Following this success, Taher pursued an MBA at Harvard Business School, where he co-authored a case study on Mohamed Salah. As the author of four books, including "El Da7ee7: Behind the Scenes" and insightful biographies like Einstein’s, Taher continues to demonstrate his mastery of storytelling. His El Da7ee7a audio book series on Storytel claimed the title of the platform's most-listened-to original series in 2022. Before fully focusing on his writing career, Taher worked as a petroleum engineer at BP and Baker Hughes. He studied Petroleum Engineering and Political Science at the American University in Cairo, where he served as the president of the Student Union in 2012/2013. Chapters: 00:00 - Free Palestine 21:10 - El Da7ee7's Success 29:03 - Storytelling for Entrepreneurs 36:20 - What Makes a Good Story 50:47 - El Da7ee7's Storytelling Formula 1:00:40 - Leaving El Da7ee7 1:07:15 - Moving Towards Cinema 1:20:30 - Why an MBA? 1:28:45 - Fear of Failure 1:36:50 - Mohamed Salah Case Study

Youssef Salem is Swvl’s Ex-CFO and current advisor. He currently serves as the CFO of both AIQ (ADNOC AI joint venture with G42) and ADNOC Drilling. ADNOC Group is one of the world’s leading energy producers based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. During his time at Swvl, the company got listed in Nasdaq through a SPAC merger, making Youssef the youngest CFO in Nasdaq’s history and Swvl “the Middle East’s first $1.5 billion unicorn to list on Nasdaq.” Since its all time high, Swvl faced many unfortunate events and saw a massive decrease to its stock price to approx $5 million. In this episode, Youssef answers many questions publicly for the first time.

In this episode, we sit down and have a conversation with Mohamed Khaled, the Founder and CEO of Hotdesk, a revolutionary co-working space solution. Hotdesk, the Airbnb of office spaces, has reshaped the corporate landscape by introducing the world’s first productivity app, which seamlessly connects entrepreneurs, freelancers and SMEs ready-to-use workspaces globally, offering unparalleled flexibility. Mohamed's journey into co-working spaces started during his six-year tenure at PwC, during a routine business trip to Doha that sparked the idea for Hotdesk. Seeing the consistency in PwC's global offices, from workspace layout to connectivity, inspired him to create Hotdesk, aiming to make plug-and-play workspaces accessible to the masses. Join us as we delve into Mohamed’s entrepreneurial journey and explore how Hotdesk is aspiring to become the region’s first decacron by pioneering a new era in flexible workspaces.

Kanzy El Defrawy, better known as The Flying Daf, is one of the Arab’s world’s most established and recognisable squash extraordinaries, boasting 220 professional accolades stretching across a 15-year career and culminating in a world ranking high of 21. Securing youth titles all over the world, Kanzy’s professional career took of Stateside when she won the USA National Squash Championships in 2016, securing the country’s top ranking. Kanzy launched The Flying Daf Squash Academy – the first of its kind in the UAE – to drive her ambitions for national and global development of the game. In this episode, we delve into Kanzy's journey in sports and business, and reveal the keys to how she built a business that was first of its kind in the UAE.