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Interviews

Building, Water, Vacation

Six Senses sells 75% of branded Dubai units ahead of 2024 debut

The first Six Senses Residences in Dubai is planned for 2024 as the CEO of the global luxury hospitality brand reports demand from affluent and existing UAE residents. Neil Jacobs said the progressing construction of Six Senses Residences The Palm, alongside a 61-room hotel, represents a “new milestone for the brand”.  “The property price growth […]

Metaverse

‘The metaverse can change the way we school our children’

Some schools still rely on more traditional teaching methods but an Emirati entrepreneur believes the metaverse has the potential to extend the physical classroom experience. Using blended learning options such as augmented and virtual reality technologies, Amin Al Zarouni, CEO of UAE-based Web3 company Bedu, is aiming to give the Gulf’s education system an overhaul. […]

Person, Human, Appliance

UAE hybrid working leads to 90% rise in demand for home cleaners

The rise of hybrid working during the coronavirus pandemic has seen Gulf residents spending more time at home, leading to a surge in demand for domestic cleaning services. This has spurred growth in the wider on-demand home services industry, but investments in technology and manpower and rising business costs in the UAE has resulted in […]

Altibbi plans healthcare expansion in North Africa and Pakistan

Altibbi, the largest AI-based digital health provider in the Arab world, is looking to expand into North Africa and Pakistan after “turbocharging” growth in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, its CEO has told AGBI. Jalill Allabadi said the proceeds from Altibbi’s latest funding round of $44 million – the largest ever single financing round for a […]

Medhat Karam, ArpuPlus

Medhat Karam, ArpuPlus

Medhat Karam is CEO and managing director of ArpuPlus, a telecommunications service which provides entertainment and communication solutions across the Middle East and North Africa. ArpuPlus was set up in 2003 and is a subsidiary of A15, a Cairo-based venture capital firm. What does your company do? Entertainment-wise, we specialise in affordable music, video, gaming, […]

Person, Human, Clothing

Fernando Trocca, Masterchef

Argentinian-born restaurateur Fernando Trocca is masterchef at Sucre, an international restaurant chain. Known for its open-fire cooking, the Latino eatery has repeatedly made its way onto the world’s 50 Best Latin American restaurants. A second location opened in London in 2021, and its newest dining space has just launched in Dubai International Financial Centre.  What do you […]

Sara Chemmaa, founder, Citron

Founded in 2018, Dubai-based Citron creates sustainable lifestyle products for toddlers, children and adults. What do you look for when hiring talent?   Having built Citron from the ground up, I know just how important it is to surround yourself with the right “village” to help things progress. My first priority when hiring is to find people […]

The Bahrain World Trade Center

The Gulf island state’s vision for recovery and growth

From building new cities to upskilling nationals for digital transformation, Ali Murtaza, executive director, business development for tourism and real estate on the Bahrain Economic Development Board, answers a Q&A with AGBI on the state’s all-encompassing recovery strategy. Bahrain’s economic recovery plan was revised during the coronavirus pandemic. What are the details? The economic recovery […]

Female, Person, Human

Sonal Vara-Parmar, founder IAM Entertainment

What does your company do?  Based in Dubai, IAM works at the forefront of events and live shows across the Middle East, bringing together the biggest stars on the planet.  What do you look for when hiring talent?  We look for dynamic creators – innovative and versatile, trustworthy individuals willing to go the extra mile […]

Nisreen Kayyali, founder and lead architect

What does your company do? Nisreen Kayyali Consulting Engineers is a group of architects, engineers, and interior designers that specialises in the design and supervision of residential projects in the UAE. What inspired you to develop your idea? Ever since I graduated from university as an architect in 1997, I’ve dreamed about establishing a firm […]

Amin Magrabi, CEO

Vision giant Magrabi eyes IPO and global expansion

Magrabi Retail could be set for international expansion and an upcoming IPO, according to Amin Magrabi, CEO of the Middle Eastern ocular powerhouse.  With 142 stores, an estimated market share of 40 percent, 1,350 employees and revenue of $220 million a year, Riyadh-headquartered Magrabi Retail plans to double in size by 2025. “International expansion is […]

Nidhima Kohli, the founder of Beauty Tribe

Nidhima Kohli, CEO, Beauty Tribe

What does your company do?  Beauty Tribe is the first regional beauty pure play e-commerce site offering customers a curated shopping experience provided by beauty professionals – with a unique three-hour delivery time.  It improves on the experiences shoppers are having elsewhere online: struggling with many counterfeit products, long delivery times, or lacking information on […]

Ziad Bushnaq and Faisal Al Majali, Delektia founders

What does your company do? We are a UAE-based food product development company that produces frozen, fully-cooked, and ready-to-heat-and-eat meals that are healthy and free of preservatives. We like to think our product line gives consumers a taste of home.  How I got to the top: Erika Blazeviciute Doyle, Drink Dry How I got to […]

Make UK's Stephen Phipson hopes the UK-GCC trade talks reduce non-tariff barriers

UK manufacturers see non-tariff barriers as key to GCC trade

Make UK CEO Stephen Phipson advises the British government on behalf of 20,000 UK manufacturers. He talks to AGBI about trade with the GCC As negotiators begin to thrash out a UK-GCC free trade deal, there’s one thing above all else dominating the minds of British manufacturers as they seek growth opportunities in the region: […]

Sky Kurtz, co-founder and CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, a fast-growing agtech business

Pure Harvest aims to grow UAE’s next $1bn unicorn startup

“Why did such a promising young man leave Silicon Valley to grow tomatoes in the desert?”. It’s a question Stanford University business graduate and former private equity investor Sky Kurtz says he gets asked a lot, even by his own father-in-law.  “My wife’s father thought I’d lost my mind. He was literally like, ‘there’s something […]

Mamad Kashani Akhavan, CEO, Powerhouse Real Estate

What does your company do?  We’re aiming to reinvent real estate by educating brokers and expanding their knowledge in the field. We’ve implemented a simple training programme for each new joiner to ensure their quality of performance in the market. Once they’re released into what we call “the sales floor”, they’re ready to enter the […]

Heidi Shara, CEO and founder of Wear That

How I got to the top: Heidi Shara, CEO and founder of Wear That

What does your company do? Wear That is a digital platform that creates personalised looks for women to try on before they buy in the comfort of their own home, with a real-life personal stylist. What inspired you to develop your idea? Having styled thousands of women all over the world in both luxury and […]

Erika Blazeviciute Doyle, managing director at Drink Dry

How I got to the top: Erika Blazeviciute Doyle, Drink Dry

What does your company do? Drink Dry is the UAE’s first and only non-alcoholic drinks marketplace. We aspire to open the world to new and better ways of drinking. We sell and distribute premium non-alcoholic drinks in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. What inspired you to develop your idea? The business idea […]

How I got to the top: Aidan Christofferson, co-founder, Flashy

What does your company do? We are a 10 month old startup tech company, based in Dubai, which provides a platform for scalable photography solutions for GCC customers. Whether you’re a sole entrepreneur looking to capture images for your product, or a multinational enterprise looking for thousands of images a week, our platform takes care […]

Why Pyypl power will accelerate MENA fintech growth

The founder and CEO of Pyypl tells AGBI about ambitious expansion plans for the UAE-based company Already one of the fastest-growing fintechs in the Middle East and Africa region, UAE-based Pyypl is planning to “inject more petrol into the tank” in a new phase of expansion. Antti Arponen, founder and CEO, told AGBI that the […]