Meet the team at Wamda Capital, dedicated to supporting and empowering entrepreneurs. With expertise in venture capital and entrepreneurship, we build long-term relationships, provide reliable support, and invest in exceptional companies to help them scale and succeed.
Fadi Ghandour is the Executive Chairman of Wamda Group, a platform that invests, nurtures and builds entrepreneurship ecosystems across the Middle East and North Africa.
Fadi was also the co-founder of Aramex, one of the leading global logistics companies based in Dubai. Fadi spent the first 30 years of his work life as CEO of Aramex, building the company, to become one of the leading emerging market logistics companies, and making it the first company from the Arab world to be listed on Nasdaq.
Passionate about impact and social entrepreneurship, Fadi founded and chairs Ruwwad for Development, a private-sector led community engagement platform that helps marginalized communities, across several countries in the MENA region, overcome marginalization through activism, civic engagement, education and financial inclusion.
Daniel dos Reis is the Investment Director of Wamda Capital. Before joining Wamda Capital, Daniel managed the early-stage venture capital fund of a Dubai Government entity. From 2012 to 2015, he set up and lead the corporate venture capital arm of a publicly listed Saudi telecoms company. Daniel started his career as a Management Consultant advising clients in the Telecommunication Media and Technology industry in Europe and the Middle East. He has earned a Diplom degree in Business Administration from the Universität
Hamburg
At Wamda, Varun is part of the Investment team, involved in making capital allocation decisions and supporting portfolio companies. This includes screening startups, market analysis and research, conducting due diligence and playing a role in the value creation of the Wamda community. He actively looks out for key market & industry trends, establishing investment thesis and networking with potential startups & up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
Varun started his career at Standard Chartered Bank, based in UAE. There he joined the
Private Wealth division which was responsible for advising ultra-high net worth and high net worth individuals on their investments across asset classes, fiduciary needs, and credit requirements. Varun left the organization in 2021 after spending three and a half years with them.
Curiosity in private markets, possibility to make a direct and tangible impact and supporting founder vision led him to pursue a career in Venture Capital and consequently, join the Wamda team.
Varun is a graduate from the American University of Sharjah where he majored in Finance and minored in Actuarial Math. He is also a CFA charter-holder.
In his free time, Varun enjoys traveling the world (18 countries and counting), playing various sports and constantly looking to learn new things.
Said Al Assaad has been part of the investment team at Wamda for the past four years. His role spans from conducting due diligence on potential new investments to portfolio management. Prior to his experience at Wamda, Said worked in private banking and holds a degree in Business Administration with a Finance concentration from the American University of Beirut. In his free time, Said is an avid horseback rider and enjoys outdoor activities such as alpine skiing, wakeboarding & kitesurfing
Triska Hamid is the editorial director at Wamda where she drives the platform's content agenda from features and research to events. She has covered the Mena telecoms and technology landscape for the past 13 years and has been published in MEED, The FT, The National and the Telegraph.
Micah has been part of the Wamda family for the past 7 years and is the office administrator as well as the first point of contact for visitors. She is in charge of administrative tasks, reception duties as well as assisting in the HR process.
Annelies has been part of the Wamda team for the past 4 years working closely with the Partners on various administrative and human resources tasks.
She was also the Operations Lead running the Wamda X fellowship program for two years prior to its discontinuation. Annelies moved to Dubai 10 years ago and has previous experience in event management and real estate.
Abdul Munam is Wamda's Accounting and Finance Controller with over 8 years of experience in accounting and financial management. Throughout his career, Abdul Munam has worked with a diverse range of clients, including small businesses and multinational corporations.
His expertise lies in financial reporting, budgeting, tax planning, and auditing.