Dr. Alghamdi currently leads the innovation and entrepreneurship related initiatives at Taibh University. Prior to joining Taibh University, he was also leading some of the entrepreneurship initiatives at KFUPM in Dhahran.
He received his PhD in 2012 from the McGill University in Canada. His PhD research focuses on power management solutions for portable electronics.
He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees (with honors) in electrical engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia, in 2001 and 2004, respectively.
In 2001, Dr. Alghamdi joined the Electrical Engineering Department at KFUPM as a Graduate Assistant, where he is currently an Assistant Professor (as of July 2012). He was a teaching assistant in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University from Jan 2009 to Aug 2011.
Our mission is to simplify grocery shopping by offering fast, reliable, and convenient delivery services to your doorstep. From fresh produce to everyday essentials, we are here to make your life easier and Founded in 2016, GroceryApp was born out of a vision to revolutionize the way people shop for groceries. What started as a small operation has grown into a leading platform serving millions of households.
Rakan is an Entrepreneurship Development expert, and activist in Saudi Arabia since 2006. He has experiences in business developing, coaching and consulting. He recently joined 500 Startups as Venture Partner to the 500 Falcons micro fund for MENA.
Prior to that, he was the founding Managing Director of the Saudi Affiliate of Endeavor, a global nonprofit that’s leading a High-Impact Entrepreneurship movement around the world. In 3 years, Endeavor Saudi Arabia grew today to more than US$ 100M in revenue from US$ 47M when selected, and thus created more than 467 new quality jobs to the Kingdom.
Since 2013, Rakan has been heading the Investment Committee at Oqal Angel Investors Group, which attracted more than 150 deals to the group’s investors, 15 of which received investments with a total of US$ 4M. He is a board member of a government fund and has been a judge in many entrepreneurship and startup competitions, like Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, ArabNet and Startup Weekends.
Rakan holds an M.B.A. majoring in Entrepreneurship, an HRM from the University of Queensland, Australia and a BS in Industrial Systems Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia.
Thamer Shaker, a management professional with more than 20 years of experience, leading strategic plans in change management and talent identification. He is an organization development and business expert aiming to maximize the impact and accomplish challenging goals in different areas. Additionally, he worked in several fields including initiating, planning and leading programs to build and implement a significant organization learning development module followed by an accurate execution plan. In Jan 2014, he established his Managment consultancy firm #MysanConsulting, which is specialized in developing strategy, corporate governance, and change management
Thamer Shaker is a writer and a speaker through his newspaper column and an author of eight best-selling books. He was able to build a superior reputation in human capital and social development. He holds a Bachelor degree in Computer Science and a Masters Degree in Business - Situational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, United Statesيمتلك خبرة مهنية تزيد عن 20 سنة في مجال الإدارة وتطوير المنشئات والخطط والأهداف الاستراتيجية وتطوير الموارد البشرية بالقطاعين الحكومي والخاص، في مجالات متعددة، كما قاد عدة فرق لتنفيذ برامج تطويرية متعددة من خلال آلية التغيير الإداري. يمتلك ثامر خبرة مميزة في مجال الثقافة والاعلام تتجاوز الخمسة عشر عاماً، قدّم فيها سبعة كتب، والتي تعتبر من أكثر الكتب مبيعاً، كما شارك في الكثير من المناسبات، بالإضافة إلى كونه متحدثاً في العديد من المنتديات والمؤتمرات المحلية والإقليمية، بالإضافة إلى مساهماته المميزة في إنتاج وتقديم الصالون الثقافي الأول في منطقة مكة المكرمة، وبعض البرامج الثقافية المختلفة والتي استهدفت شريحة الشباب وكان لها قبول كبير. يحمل ثامر شهادة البكالوريوس في علوم الحاسوب، وشهادة الماجستير في إدارة الأعمال، تخصص "قيادة موقفية"، من جامعة نوفا، الولايات المتحدة، كما أنه عضو بالأكاديمية الأمريكية للإدارة المالية، وعضو بالمؤسسة الأمريكية للاستشارات الإدارية – IMC
An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Builder. A startups' consultant and an entrepreneurship specialist with vast experience in Finance and Accounting. He has provided entrepreneurial and financial coaching to multiple SME’s from different industries, such as manufacturing, High Tech Innovations, Information Technology, Platforms & Applications, and Information Security. In addition, he provided professional consultancy to multiple technology & manufacturing focused startups and new businesses concentrating on market research, new businesses development, financial analysis, strategic business planning, and other objectives.
Currently managing the Entrepreneurship Portfolio at King Salman Youth Center where he is developing and implementing various programs and initiatives promoting the Entrepreneurial Mindset among the youth of Saudi Arabia. During his latest period working as the Managing Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Saudi Arabia, he was involved in building the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Saudi Arabia in daily basis, Marwan Jamal has held the position of a Business Development Manager, at Qotuf AlRiyadah in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as well, where he was serving the cause of promoting and improving the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem for the startups in Saudi Arabia. In addition, he worked as the Accelerators Manager at Qotuf where he was responsible of managing Flat6Labs Jeddah accelerator. In this program, startups get to fast-track their growth and development through obtaining financial & professional support throughout the acceleration program
Marwan was involved in various consulting projects, throughout his experience, where he has contributed to numerous merger and acquisition operations and has helped in formulating many governmental infrastructure projects with the Saudi Ministry of Labor. Furthermore, he has audited the financials of multiple Saudi and international corporations in different industries during his time in one of the “Big Four”
Along with building healthy Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Marwan’s passion is to guide entrepreneurs, startups, and other SME’s in overcoming their challenges and achieving their objectives
Fahad Almousa holds a Master's degree in International Business and Risk Management from Bradford University, UK , and the
founding partner of INSPIRE VENTURES; a Saudi venture capital firm invests in seed and early stage startups in the MENA
region. He is the former CEO of Yamamah Hills Holding and he has more than 7 years of enriched experience in various
managerial and executive positions.
Fahad is chairman & founder of DRNEF chain hotels & resorts in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he is a member of board of
directors for several leading tech startups.
Export Credit Insurance and Guarantee Services are intended to support Saudi exporters by reducing their risk of not getting paid for their exports whether such default is due to commercial or political risk
Abdulaziz leads the finance department of one of the private colleges in Saudi Arabia. He's mainly responsible for ensuring the compliance of internal financial management policies and procedures, and conducts performance of reconciliation and accurate completion of the balance sheet. In addition, he manages the preparation of financial statements while giving advice on accounting system, budget, management information, cash flows and improvements of systems dealing with financial management and the payments pf staff and creditors. Abdulaziz is also well-versed in the recently announced VAT and has been advising SMEs on accounting related matter.
Hesham K. Rowaihy
Partner – Pure Consulting Group
Hesham is a Partner at Pure Consulting Group, leading the management consulting practice. He is responsible for delivering transformation projects at client’s organizations that require strategy development, organizational effectiveness, and operational excellence.
Prior to Pure Consulting, Hesham was the Director of western region at Badir Business Incubation Program where he established and managed the first Technology business incubator and the first government-supported angel investors network (Sirb) in Jeddah. He coached and mentored entrepreneurs on strategy development and business modeling, and participated as a coach and judge in several local and regional start-up competitions.
Earlier, Hesham was a Manager at PwC Consulting, delivering several transformation projects with private and public sector clients. He worked closely with a Saudi Minister to formulate recommendations for organizing the labor market, tackling unemployment, supporting entrepreneurship, and developing SME sector in Saudi Arabia.
Hesham started his career in 2002 at Procter & Gamble as a support engineer intern and later joined Eimar Real Estate (SEDCO Subsidiary) as an Internal Consultant of property management, where he redefined departmental strategy and developed organizational & operational plans that led to improved performance.
Hesham holds a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), and a master degree in business administration (MBA) from Indiana State University, USA.
Ziad Abdulaal is a Saudi venture capitalist and entrepreneur based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He currently serves as an investment manager at Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures (Wa’ed), a venture capital fund wholly owned by Saudi Aramco that focuses on innovative startups that aid economic development and diversification within the Kingdom. Abdulaal is also the co-founder of Mezmiz, Saudi Arabia’s premier online marketplace for healthy food. Abdulaal is passionate about entrepreneurship and has invested in several of the top Saudi startups working at Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures (Wa’ed)
Abdulaal joined Saudi Aramco as an investment analyst in 2014 and held various assignments within the company including Aramco’s portfolio management team, managing Saudi Aramco’s non-core portfolio and was part of the team that setup the Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company “Dussur”, a $2 billion fund focused on industrial investments within Saudi Arabia. Abdulaal holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from PMU and a Master of Science in Finance from Durham University
.jpg)
