Entrepreneurs Today for Tomorrow’ conference

Delegates had the opportunity to listen to world class speakers at Gazelle Advisory Group’s ‘Entrepreneurs Today for Tomorrow’ conference with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa region at Said Business School, Oxford.

The inaugural conference featured a mixture of keynote speakers, panel sessions, a masterclass, workshop and live pitches.

The keynote speakers included the Moroccan Ambassador to the Court of St. James, His Excellency, Abdesselam Aboudrar; Mark Florman, CEO Time Partners; Houssam Nasrawin, CEO Gulf Development Company; Michel Massih, QC, Drystone Chambers,  Lubna Qassim, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, National Bank of Dubai; Dr. Radouane Oudrhiri, CEO, Evolvys.

The first panel session ‘Entrepreneurial Disruption’ included panellists, Houssam Nasrawin, CEO, Gulf Development Company; George Carivalis, Partner, Gazelle Advisory Group; Jason Purvor, Founder, Droplet Computing;  Rahul Shah, Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company; Faraz Khan, CEO & Co-Founder, Seed Ventures and Cansu Deniz Bayrak, COO, Startup Bootcamp as moderator.

the second panel session ‘Legal and Regulatory Considerations for Start-Ups’ included panellists Gavin Irwin, Barrister, Drystone Chambers; Michael Paulin, Barrister, 4-6 Grey’s Inn Square; Laura Berton, Director, Fieldfisher and Michel Massih, QC, Drystone Chambers as moderator.

the third panel session ‘Next Generation Female Entrepreneurs’ included Lubna Qassim, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, National Bank of Dubai; Clare Woodcraft, CEO, Emirates Foudation; Dr. Ruth Sacks, Consultant, Leadership and Strategy; May Khizam, CEO and Chief Strategist, The Grid and Manal Elattir, Founder and CEO, Assila Group.

The masterclass ‘Entrepreneurial Solutions – What Do you Need To Succeed’ was led by Jason Purvor, Founder, Droplet Computing.

The workshop ‘Nurturing a Culture of Innovation and Entrepreneurship’ was delivered by Dr. Radoune Oudrhiri.

The final session provided a platform for eight pitchers seeking investment from investors at the conference, and being streamed and televised, allowed for international exposure.

“Gazelle Advisory Group is a GCC-focused firm based in London that bridges the gap between a select number of investment opportunities and Arab family offices across the Gulf region. These are typically in Private Equity, Venture Capital, Real Estate and direct investments. Today’s conference sought to highlight the importance of entrepreneurship as we find that the appetite to invest in start-ups, by Arab family offices is increasing. Who doesn’t want to get in early and back the next Careem or Facebook?” said Dr. Najat Benchiba-Savenius, Director, Gazelle Advisory Group. Dr, Najat Benchiba-Savenius also added: “The conference also sought to provide an international platform for entrepreneurs, to champion the voice of the female entrepreneur and to bring investors and entrepreneurs together.”