Founders

Fayez Jazmati grew up in a family of architects and founded DesignLink, his Abu Dhabi architecture and interior design studio, at a young age.

Rica Presentacion Hernandez built Blink Lash from a home beauty service into a licensed Abu Dhabi studio. The founder, in her own words.

Aigul spent seven formative years in Italy before launching Aigul Captures, a fine-art and portrait photography business in Abu Dhabi, in 2025.

Ameer Hamza built AH Chartered Accountants from nothing in Abu Dhabi, then began building PocketLedger to bring SME accounting onto WhatsApp.

Sean Barcoe spent 20 years as a US Army pilot before building BarCoe, an Abu Dhabi creative production studio now expanding onto a new site.

Hamid Al Ali moved from government and media into Dubai property, building Catch Estates to give investors honest relocation and Golden Visa advice.

Kalpesh Kinariwala built Pantheon from a Dubai residential developer into Pantheon ACR, and made HOP Events Lucky Ali's global touring partner.

Khalid Al Mutawaa opened Etihad Modern Art Gallery in Abu Dhabi in 2003. How an independent gallery became one of the capital's cultural anchors.

How Aneesh Mon AK turned nearly 30 years in UAE construction and engineering into Al Jibra Electricals — a business built on trust rather than shortcuts.

The founder story of Ronaldo Mouchawar, who built Souq.com into the Arab world's largest online marketplace and sold it to Amazon in 2017 for about $580 million.

In 2009, when a Saudi woman used Facebook to campaign against a retail labour regulation, the likelihood that it would change a decades-old national...

When Nayla Al Khaja decided to study film in Canada on a UAE government scholarship, cinema was not a profession that Emirati women were...