Microsoft for Startups Middle East
Highway to 100 Unicorns Virtual Conference
Helping founders gain insights on
how to scale their startups
in partnership with
Highway to 100 Unicorns: AI Edition Virtual Conference
Our virtual conferences feature daily sessions, fireside chats, panel discussions and workshops covering startup trends and the most pressing issues facing entrepreneurs.
As the UAE accelerates its journey towards AI transformation in 2024, our upcoming 5th season of the conference places a special emphasis on AI technology.
The sessions will explore vital AI themes, featuring experts and entrepreneurs sharing insights and stories, offering attendees invaluable knowledge and inspiration for navigating AI's dynamic landscape.
Check out the live Season 4 sessions
Opening - Keynote
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs - UAE Ministry of Economy
Sayed Hashish, UAE General Manager at Microsoft
Opening - Fire side chat
Roberto Croci, Managing Director for Microsoft for Startups MEA
H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General at Abu Dhabi Investment Office
Opening - Panel
Andrew Macadam, Global Field Lead at Microsoft for Startups
Courtney Powell , Chief Operating Officer at 500 Startups
Salvatore Lavallo, Head of FDI at Abu Dhabi Investment Office
Moderator: Triska Hamid, Editorial Director at Wamda
Opening - Workshop
Reem Al Jnaibi, Head of Technology & Data at Hub71
Opening - Workshop
Gordana Ilic, Microsoft GrowthX Program Lead
Ali Samir Oosman, Strategic Partnerships & Deal Flow Manager – MEA
VC Day - Keynote
Noor Sweid, General Partner at Global Ventures
VC Day - Fire side chat
Priya Rajan, Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank
Salvatore Lavallo, Head of FDI at Abu Dhabi Investment Office
Nader Museitif, Product & Business Development at Hub71
VC Day - Panel
Shane Shin, Founding Partner at Shorooq Ventures
Tamara Steffens, MD at M12
Sharif Al Badawi, Founding Managing Partner at Plus VC
Omar AlMajdouie, Partner at Raed Ventures
Moderator: Loulou Khazen-Baz, Founder at Nebbesh, Conversations with Loulou
VC Day - Workshop
Amal Dokhan, Partner, 500 Startups MENA at 500 Startups
Accessibility - Keynote
Ihsan Anabtawi, COO and CMO - Microsoft UAE
Accessibility - Fire side chat
Dona Sarkar, Director Of Technology - Accessibility at Microsoft
Accessibility - Panel
Paula Newby, CEO at Predixa
Dr. Sara Saeed, Khurram CEO at Sehat Kahani
Mohammad Kilany, CEO at MindRockets
Jose Rubinger, CCO & Co-founder at Key2enable
Moderator: Richie Santosdiaz, Head of Middle East and Africa at The Fintech Times
Tech Day - Keynote
Iba Masood, Co-founder and CEO at Tara.AI
Tech Day - Fire side chat
Bassem Asseh, Vice President, EMEA GitHub
Vinayak Hegde, CTO-in-Residence at Microsoft for Startups
Tech Day - Panel
Sergii Marchenko, Chief Information Officer at Securrency
Mossab Hussein, Co-founder & Chief Security Officer at spiderSilk
Gonca Gulcer, Co-founder & CTO at QuinAI
Moderator: Sania Kaddoura, Cloud Architect at Microsoft
Tech Day - Workshop
Sania Kaddoura, Cloud Architect at Microsoft
Founders Day - Keynote
Jonathan Labin, President at Unifonic
Founders Day - Fire side chat
Faisal Toukan, Co-Founder & CEO at Ziina
Zach Finkelstein, Managing Partner at Class 5 Global
Founders Day - Panel
Carolin-Carmen Neubauer, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder FERO.Ai
Shamsher Singh, Founder & CEO at BLUELIGHT SYSTEMS
Patrick Rogers, Co-Founder @ Clara Technologies + Support Legal
Reem Khouri, Co-Founder and CEO Whyise
Moderator: Eleanor Slinger, Regional Director, New Statesman Media Group & Lead Monitor
Founders Day - Workshop
Suraya Turk, Managing Partner at Legal Circle
Corporate Day - Keynote
Xavier Anglada, Managing Director - Strategy & Consulting lead, Innovation Lead - Middle East
Corporate Day - Fire side chat
Bakari Brock, Senior Director of Global Partnerships at Microsoft for Startups
Céline Brémaud, Sales, Marketing and Operations VP, Microsoft Middle East and Africa
Corporate Day - Panel
Maria Paula Oliveira, Chief Innovation Officer, MENA at EY
Asad ur Rehman, Director Media & Digital Transformation, North Africa & Middle East at Unilever
Suryanka Jatain, Director - Digital & Innovation @KPMG Management Consulting
Kai Ling Ting, Innovation Lead at Etihad
Moderator: Ali Samir Oosman, Strategic Partnerships & Dealflow Manager at Microsoft for Startups MEA
Corporate Day - Workshop
Gordon Suttie, EY Director | EY Consulting | Digital Transformation and Startup Coach
Alex Collins, EY Partner | EY Consulting | Transformation & Innovation
Go-to-Market Day - Keynote
Akhtar Badshah, Founder and Chief Catalyst at Catalytic Innovators Group.
Go-to-Market Day - Fire side chat
Elie Habib, Anghami Co-Founder
Hosam Arab, Co-Founder and CEO at Tabby
Go-to-Market Day - Panel
Rami Khoury, CEO at Auxi
Anuscha Iqbal, Chief Executive Officer at Spotii.me
Suna Zoabi - Othman, Founder & CEO – Tawazon
Alaa Bakhit, Founder of B12 for Digital Services and Professor of Practice at HTU
Philipp Pabst - Moderator, Strategic Partnerships & Dealflow Manager at Microsoft for Startups MEA
Go-to-Market Day - Workshop
Ghadah Alawami, Enterprise Account Director for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn
Government Day - Keynote
Juma Alhamli , Senior Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)
Government Day - Fire side chat
Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta, Associate Director - Financial Centre Development at ADGM
Miriam Kiwan, Executive Chairman's Office at ADGM
Government Day - Panel
Government Day - Workshop
Gordana Ilic, Microsoft GrowthX Program Lead
Ali Samir Oosman, Strategic Partnerships & Deal Flow Manager – MEA
Ecosystem Building Day – FC
Jeff Ma, VP, Startups at Microsoft
Lynn Chouman, News Editor at LinkedIn
Best Practices for B2B Startups working with Corporates
Elodie Robin, Aerospace and defence start up accelerator - Hub 71 - Gothams
Shereen Abdulla, Podcast Host and Producer at Spark! With Shereen
Mia Jafari, Managing Director, Intelak Hub & Programmes Manager
Accelerating & Building the Future of Venture
Marie-Therese Fam, Managing Partner at Flat6Labs
Babak Ahmadzadeh, Managing Director, Plug and Play Abu Dhabi
Kareem Elsirafy, Managing Partner at Modus Capital
Hana Barakat, Associate Director at startAD
Selma BAHÇİVANOĞLU, Manager, Incubation and Acceleration Programs at İTÜ ARI Teknokent A.Ş.
Mehvish Arifeen, CEO at I2I Accelerator
Moderator: Noor Salama, Community & Program Manager at Microsoft for Startups MEA
Ecosystem Building Day - Workshop
Hussam Mohsineh, Program Manager | Microsoft Reactor
Sallyann Della Casa, Chief Identity Hacker and Founder - Gleac
Roberto Croci, Managing Director - Microsoft for Startups
Melda Akin, CEO/ Founder - D14.AI
Joy Ajlouny, Former, CMO & Founder of Fetchr and Former COO & founder of Bonfaire - fetchr and Bonfaire
Sarah Toukan, Chief Product Officer - Ziina
Mark Chahwan, Co-founder & CEO - Sarwa
Yehia Badawy, Co-Founder - Rain
Brian Habibi, Chief Marketing Officer - Bayzat
Hamdi Tabbaa, Co-founder & CEO - Abwaab
Dany El Zein, Sr. Enterprise Account Director - Tech & Telco - LinkedIn
Sonali Goila, Head of Venture Capital & Private Equity at Panthera Capital Investments
Tammer Qaddumi, Partner at VentureSouq
Peter Abou Hachem, Product & Business Development at Hub71
Gabrielle Inzirillo, Head of Market Development, Financial Technology, FSRA
Noor Salama, Community & Program Manager
Sania Kaddoura, Cloud Solution Architect
Asad-Sheikh, Marketing Manager
Roberto Croci, Managing Director
Laura Mansour, Program Manager
Sarah Al Saleh, Partner at Outliers VC
Irina Albanese, Head of Innovation at DHL Middle East & Africa
Prolonging cash runway to cope with the unforseen
Hasan Haider, Founder & Managing Partner - Plus Venture Capital
Cloud 101 - Getting more of your startup and less of your head in the clouds
Sania Kaddoura, Partner Development Manager - Microsoft Gulf
Elevating your recruitment strategy
Nazam Akram, Talent Practice Manager - AstroLabs
Fostering Abu Dhabi's startup ecosystem
Michael Schroeck & Serene Shalan, Strategic Partnerships Lead - Microsoft for Startups & Head of Strategic Partnerships - ADIO
Empowering startups through artificial intelligence
Nadine Hajj & Ayser Yousef, PhD, Artificial Intelligence Expert & Consultant, Azure Data & AI Solution Lead - FSI & Aviation - Microsoft Gulf
Building a relationship beyond term sheets
Mahmoud Adi, Founding Partner - Shorooq Partners
Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub 201 & Microsoft for Startups GrowthX 201
Michael Schroeck, Noga Tal & Cameron Collins, Strategic Partnerships Lead - Microsoft for Startups, Managing Director - Microsoft for Startups & CEO and Founder - Workfam
The startup growth marketing playbook
Asad Sheikh & Nelio Leone, Marketing Manager - Microsoft for Startups & Founder - Urbanmonks
Opening Remarks: COP28 and Sustainability in the UAE
Rona Shedid, Senior Specialist, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, COP28 Presidency
Sherif Tawfik, Chief Sustainability Commercial Officer - Central Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Microsoft
Startups in Abu Dhabi: Setting Up and Success
Brittany McDonough, Head of Innovation and Ecosystem, Abu Dhabi Investment Office
Startup Stories: Microsoft’s GrowthX Alumni Journeys
Jay Sadiq, CEO, FortyGuard
Lincoln Payne, International Sales Director and Consultancy, Splitch
Olga Habre, Microsoft
AI Climate Futures: Using AI, Climate Data and Predictive Modeling
Jonathan Dotan, Founder, EQTY Lab
How Sustainability Startups are Reshaping the Future of Banking Landscape
Shargiil Bashir, Chief Sustainability Officer and EVP, First Abu Dhabi Bank
Skywards Sustainability: The Transformative Role of Startups in Aviation
Dr. Adam Durant, CEO, Satavia
Essentials for Fundraising Across Economic Cycles
Kushal Shah, General Manager, Corporate Venture Capital, e&
Strategies and Stories: How to Effectively Communicate about Sustainabilitys
Gihan Hyde, Founder and CEO, CommUnique
Sherif Tawfik, Chief Sustainability Commercial Officer - Central Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Microsoft
Catalyze Your Azure Deployment and Adoption: An Azure Marketplace Solution
Khaled Dassouki, CEO and Co-Founder, Ubility
Sania Kaddoura, Senior Partner Development Manager, Microsoft
5 Reasons to Apply to GrowthX: COP28 Edition
Tony Verb, Founding Partner, Carbonless Asia
Maitha Alsuwaidi, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft UAE
Sara Albarguthi, Partner GTM Manager and Startup Engagement Lead,Microsoft
From Founders Hub to Digital Native: A Startup's Journey of Success
Wassim Merheby, CEO and Co-Founder, Verofax
Elham Parsayan, Marketing Manager at Microsoft UAE
Azure Open AI Lab
Andrew Mackay, Data, AI and Apps Leader for Customer Success, Microsoft
Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund: Accelerating Climate Tech Solutions
James Lockyer, Director, Portfolio Management, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund
GrowthX Accelerator: Cohort 5
GrowthX Accelerator : AI Edition
Our 8-week, equity-free accelerator program is designed for AI startups! With the support of Microsoft and Abu Dhabi Investment Office, learn from global experts, startups connect with the right corporate and investment network, and access opportunities to scale your solution to the next level.
Applications are now Open
Apply nowProgram Components
- AI based technology solutions.
- Virtual capacity building workshops and training covering Business, Abu Dhabi, AI and Tech.
- Unique curated mentor panels are dedicated specifically to each startup.
- 1:1 Technical support and guidance from Microsoft specialists.
- In-person Demo Day and opportunities at UAE.
- Access to investors and corporate partners
- Up to $150,000 in Azure credits and benefits on Founders Hub
Startup Criteria:
- Tech startups
- AI solutions
- Revenue Generating Scale-Ups or Growth Stage Innovators
Timeline
Application Last Date
September 2nd
Program Duration
September 16 – November 8
Demo Day
First week of December
We are proudly partnering with our founding partners, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, to transform the region as a global tech & startup hub.
Founding Partner
Conference Partner
