Startups Arabia

The Arab startups scene is one of the hottest globally. The Startups Arabia podcast is the place to learn all about it. With a 420 million strong population that is young and tech-savvy, the Arab world is proving to be a great market to create a startup. This podcast interviews the best founders, investors and operators of the region. Listening to deep conversations with them, you will learn deep insights about the ecosystem. You will also be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Startups Arabia is a business podcast hosted by Ali Zewail, with 36 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Ali Zewail hosts Startups Arabia, a business show with 36 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Startups Arabia

  Yasmine El-Mehairy, Building Dija, Empowering Women & Navigating Uncertain Terrain – Ep.8, Season 3

  Nov 16, 20251h 27mS0

  <p>Yasmine El-Mehairy is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dija, a platform helping Muslim women invest with confidence in a way aligned with their faith and values. Yasmine is a serial entrepreneur, passionate about startups with purpose. Before launching Dija, she worked in global financial service organizations like City Ventures and Deloitte Digital, as well as founding and managing other startups in various fields, like digital media and e-commerce. She previously Co-Founded SuperMama, the one-stop shop for mothers in the Arab world, which was acquired by Mawdoo3. She's also an expert in entrepreneurship, serving as a lecturer and tutor at O...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #7

  Ramez El-Serafy, The 14 year Journey of F6 and an Evolving Region – Ep.7, Season 3

  Oct 5, 20251h 48mS3

  <p>Ramez El-Serafy is the General Partner and Co-Founder of F6 Ventures, bringing over 18 years of experience in technology, investments, entrepreneurship, and management. Before launching F6 Ventures, Ramez served as CEO of Flat6Labs from 2011 to 2025, where he led its transformation into one of the most active innovation platforms in the Middle East and Africa, expanding its footprint, scaling its operations, and investing in hundreds of high-growth startups.</p><p>Earlier in his career, Ramez was responsible for building and managing the mobile applications business at Sarmady – a Vodafone company – and served as a board member of the Global Accelerator Netw...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #6

  Karim Jouini, Pursuing a Second Successful Startup and Rethinking his Identity as a Global Entrepreneur – Ep.6, Season 3

  Sep 14, 20251h 34mS3

  <p>Born in Tunisia and “well-travelled”.</p><p>Geek, started my first software company at the age of 16.</p><p>Studied Software Engineering and AI at INSA Toulouse and University of Western Ontario.</p><p>Joined Microsoft, where I spent 7 years — from Software Engineer to Engineering Manager — and truly fell in love with testing and quality.</p><p>Then co-founded Expensya, an AI-powered expense management scale-up that grew across Europe and was acquired for over $100M.</p><p>Now building Thunders: a no-code, agentic AI testing solution that empowers both developers and non-technical teams to automate end-to-end testing at scale — without wr...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #5

  Jon Edward Santillan, Selling to Careem, Starting his Second Company, and Building OCTA in Public – Ep.5, Season 3

  Aug 24, 20251h 35mS3

  <p>Jon Santillan is the co-founder of OCTA, a platform automating financial operations for businesses — starting with accounts receivables and embedded financing. He’s a second-time founder, previously building and selling Denarii to Careem. Based in Dubai, Jon’s been operating in the region for over a decade, and he’s now focused on helping SMEs across the Middle East get paid faster, streamline workflows, and access capital when they need it.</p><p>—-----------------------------------------------------------</p><p>The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their succ...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #4

  Khaled Talhouni, Spotting and Supporting Great Founders and the Macro Trends Creating a Regional Golden Age – Ep.4, Season 3

  Jun 22, 20251h 15mS3

  <p>Khaled Talhouni is the Managing Partner and co-founder of Nuwa Capital, a VC firm investing in early-stage startups across the MENAPT region, based in Dubai and Riyadh. He has managed over 150 early-stage deals with a total AUM exceeding $300M and has successfully exited 15+. With deep expertise in venture investing and portfolio management, he plays a key role in shaping the region’s startup ecosystem.</p><p><br></p><p>—-----------------------------------------------------------</p><p>The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Startups Arabia. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.