Startup Bazaar Abu Dhabi, scheduled to be held on January 31, brings together a dynamic mix of innovation and investment.
The event will feature more than a dozen U.S. investors, along with government officials, GCC and Indian investors, senior executives, innovators, and high-potential founders from across regions.
Focused on AI, DeepTech, and frontier innovations in Energy, HealthTech, and Pharma, Startup Bazaar Abu Dhabi will highlight the UAE’s growing role as a global hub for next-generation technologies and high-impact entrepreneurship.
Ghobash Trading & Investment Co. Ltd.
Nadeem Ahmed is an Advisor at Ghobash Trading & Investment Co. Ltd., based in the UAE. He began his career in the banking sector before moving into advisory roles, where he led assignments spanning equity flotations, private placements of equity and debt products, project finance, and mergers and acquisitions.
In 1999, he relocated to Abu Dhabi to join ADIC (now Invest AD), where he evaluated a range of private investment opportunities, several of which were ultimately executed.
In 2003, Ahmed joined HSBC’s private equity business in Dubai, where he led multiple transactions. He also served on the Investment Committee and acted as a board member of both the fund’s management company and several portfolio companies. By the time he exited HSBC, the firm’s first GCC fund was fully invested with several successful exits, while its second fund was partially deployed. The first fund achieved an internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 25 percent.
In 2008, Ahmed joined BNP Paribas in Bahrain as a founding partner of its GCC private equity business. He successfully closed the fund at approximately $75 million in November 2009 and led investments across several transactions. As a board and executive member of portfolio companies, he managed the fund through to its final exit in 2016. Despite market constraints, the fund delivered a net IRR of approximately 10 percent.
In 2012, Ahmed joined the Ghobash Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate, as Group Investment Director. Serving on the Investment Committee, he oversaw the group’s global investment activities. During his 12-year tenure as Chief Investment Officer, the portfolio evolved into a diversified, multi-asset global platform with significant growth in assets under management. The group now invests across nearly a dozen asset classes, spanning both listed and private investments, guided by a structured framework of investment policies and governance. During this period, Ahmed also led several M&A transactions.
In addition, he served on the Human Resources, Audit, and Strategy & Business Development committees and acted as a director on the boards of several joint ventures, including United Fidelity Insurance (UFIC), an ADX-listed company.
After leading the investment business for 12 years, Ahmed retired from his executive role at Ghobash in March 2025 and transitioned into an advisory position. He continues to serve on the group’s Strategy & Business Development Committee and remains on the board of UFIC, where he is a member of the Investment Committee and chairs the Audit Committee.
SilverFern Digital
Chetna Chadha is the Founder and CEO of SilverFern Digital, based in Duba. She brings global experience across the US, UK, Thailand, New Zealand, and Dubai, leading the delivery of innovative platforms and applications for enterprise clients worldwide.
Her portfolio includes work with Xero, Australasia’s leading accounting software, collaborating with Silicon Valley firms to build a Microsoft white-label product, and driving large-scale digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 companies across finance, retail, and technology.
She leads a diverse, high-performing team delivering scalable, enterprise-grade digital solutions that connect businesses with their users and accelerate growth.
A renowned regional speaker and panelist, she has been featured in Gulf Business and regularly speaks at leading technology conferences across Dubai.
SilverFern Digital has partnered with prominent brands including Lulu, Sobha, flydubai, Omniyat, Modon, Rixos, and many more.
Veristyle
Ria Chakraborti is the founder and CEO of Veristyle, an AI-powered personal styling platform she launched in 2023 to democratize expert fashion advice through data and computer vision. A computer science and management graduate of the University of St. Andrews, Chakraborti began her career in advanced computer vision research before working as a software engineer at the London Stock Exchange Group. Inspired by her own experience with body-aware styling, she built Veristyle to deliver highly personalized recommendations based on individual physical traits—bringing the intuition of a human stylist to scale. The platform has grown rapidly, reaching nearly 100,000 users globally and attracting interest from leading fashion brands. Born and raised in the Washington, D.C., area and educated internationally, Chakraborti brings a global, inclusive perspective to fashion technology, with a focus on empowerment, accessibility, and responsible AI innovation.
READ: Ria Chakraborti's AI startup Veristyle is quietly changing how fashion brands personalize shopping (June 18, 2025)
Sandrine Capital
Kesav Dama is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and former wealth manager with investments spanning India, South America, and other international markets. His portfolio focuses on high-growth sectors including technology, real estate, and financial services.
Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments
Danny Gaekwad is an entrepreneur and investor with a diversified portfolio valued at over half a billion dollars, spanning technology, real estate, hospitality, and lifestyle ventures. His Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments holdings include multiple hotels, luxury resorts in St. Thomas, and apartment complexes across the United States.
In the technology sector, Gaekwad's company delivers enterprise-level IT architecture services to small and medium-sized businesses, and ISOCORP, a leading provider of network security solutions that safeguard confidential data for clients across North America.
Elevate Capital
Tariq Khan is a Venture Partner at the Oregon-based Elevate Capital. As an angel investor, he is known for backing contrarian ideas that anticipate market shifts. He is a co-founder of Games24x7, which went on to become one of India’s largest online gaming companies. He helped scale the business from concept to category leader. His investment portfolio spans healthcare, artificial intelligence, gaming, and consumer tech, including Buddi-Health and parenting platform Convosight. Before becoming an active angel investor, Khan spent two decades at global financial institutions such as Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup Private Bank, and GM Asset Management. A former president of TiE New York, he is deeply involved in mentoring early-stage founders.
Krystle Klear Communications
Krystle Veda Kaul is an international policy professional, strategic communications, federal business development, investor relations, educator, and advisor with 20+ years of experience. As a defense and intelligence expert, Ms. Kaul proudly spoke on climate security at the Climate Action Forum run by Indiaspora during COP28 in Dubai. Currently, Ms. Kaul is the Founder and CEO of Krystle Klear Communications LLC advising several high-profile technology and defense hardware clients with business development and strategic messaging to the Department of Defense ranging from startups to mega corporations, including Intel Corporation and Bank of New York Mellon. The business concentrates on federal business development, strategic messaging on cybersecurity and IT-related issues, and stakeholder analysis. Expertise in strategic communications in government agencies encompassing strategic messaging, stakeholder engagement, web design and development, congressional affairs, public affairs/relations, campaign building, social media strategy, improvement of agency intranet and public website, proposal development, lobbying, marketing and branding. Experience marketing integrated ISR solutions, aircraft design, sensor and mission systems, cybersecurity, space mission systems, unmanned systems, eHealth remote monitoring, AI/ML, IoT, 5G and much more. Krystle is also the Head Facilitator at MIT Sloan School of Management for an MBA Executive Management communication course through 2U. She was the first ever Director of Strategic Communications (GS-15) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Krystle recently ran for US Congress in Virginia’s 10th district. Earlier in her career, Krystle served as the Director of Strategic Communications to the Air Force through General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). She has worked in several technology topic areas to include AI/ML, smart cities, IoT, 5G, cloud computing, big data analytics, cybersecurity etc. Before joining the government, Ms. Kaul was the Strategic Communications Lead for the National Counterproliferation Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) through Booz Allen Hamilton. Prior, she worked at Deloitte supporting several clients in the DoD and the Intelligence Community, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency. Ms. Kaul has experience at the RAND Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Center for Strategic and International Studies South Asia Center and United Nations Women. She holds eleven competitive fellowships and participation in elite overseas delegations which include the “Indian American Leaders Delegation to Israel” and the Washington Leadership Program’s delegation to meet with several senior officials in India. She has experience in sixty-eight countries and speaks eight languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Punjabi and Dari. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in international studies and women in politics from American University's School of International Service, a Master of Arts in international relations with a focus on South Asian security from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Master of Arts in political science from Brown University where she has a PhD in progress.
Mu Gamma Consultants
Manish Kumar is the Chairperson of Mu Gamma Consultants, comprising a team of experts deeply interested in the sustainable social and economic development of India. He provides strategic guidance and technical support on environment, skill development, education and application of AI to these thematic areas across India, UAE and North America.
He has a Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, a PhD in Institutional and Regulatory Economics of Public Private Partnerships from The George Washington University, and an Engineering degree from IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, India.
Dr. Kumar was a consultant to The World Bank Group from 2022 to mid-2025. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director and CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation, where he led the implementation of various skill development initiatives and programs in India, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including the government, the private sector, and the civil society.
He earlier worked as a Senior Institution Development Economist at The World Bank for over four years, where he contributed to the design and evaluation of institutional and regulatory frameworks for public-private partnerships in various sectors, such as water, energy, transport, and urban development.
myAIcademy
Malika Malik is the CEO and Founder of myAIcademy, an adaptive AI learning platform designed to make artificial intelligence accessible, practical, and personalized for learners across ages and backgrounds. Through myAIcademy, she is reimagining how people learn AI by creating experiences that adapt to individual goals, pace, and context.
Malika brings deep industry experience from working at leading global technology companies, including Google and Microsoft. At Google, she was among the early Gen AI Black Belts, contributing to the development of generative AI systems and working closely on Gemini. Her work focused on translating cutting-edge research into real-world, production-grade AI solutions.
She is an alumna of the London School of Economics and has a strong academic and teaching background. Malika has taught and lectured on artificial intelligence at institutions such as Oxford University and London Business School, and she is deeply passionate about demystifying AI and empowering learners to confidently build and work with it.
Talrop
Mishana Mohammed is a technology and startup operations leader with hands-on experience in building, scaling, and managing high-growth innovation initiatives across global markets. She currently serves as Director of International Operations & Startups at Talrop, where she leads strategic expansion efforts, oversees startup programs, and supports founders in translating ideas into scalable ventures.
With a background in computer science and deep expertise in project management, Mishana has worked closely with cross-functional teams to drive operational efficiency, technology implementation, and ecosystem development. Her career spans leadership roles across startups and tech-driven organizations, giving her a practical, execution-focused perspective on growth and innovation.
Mishana is passionate about enabling founders and innovators to navigate growth challenges, scale ideas globally, and build sustainable technology solutions. Her work reflects a commitment to operational excellence, entrepreneurial support, and enabling ecosystems where startups can thrive.
Zeblok Computational
As a technologist, entrepreneur, and innovator for over three decades, Mouli Narayanan has started companies, raised capital, and developed strategic customers/ markets in AI Platform, Digital Health, and Data Center Technologies, and successfully delivered on Enterprise Transforms. In various Senior Technology and Innovator roles at JPMorgan and Bear Stearns, Mr. Narayanan has delivered the most extensive grid computing system on Wall Street for quant, an award-winning brokerage workstation technology, a global order and execution management (OMS/EMS) platform, and a market-leading clearing platform.
As Founder and CEO of Zeblok Computational, he is the product visionary behind bringing the most comprehensive AI stack to data to meet the critical needs of enterprise customers who wish to do more with On-premise and Edge environments while maintaining an AI-Cloud feel like that experienced in public cloud environments. The Intel Distruptor Program, Microsoft Founders Hub, and Edge Computing World have recognized Zeblok Computational.
He is an advisory board member in the National Science Foundation CVDI program. He collaborates deeply with CEWIT (Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology) at Stony Brook. Mr. Narayanan holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Penn State University.
CEO, ISG, Inc.
Ravi Puli is a self-made, first-generation entrepreneur and the Founder, President, and CEO of International Solutions Group, (ISG) an award-winning technology services firm. He has over 30 years of experience in the tech space. Ravi is passionate about seeking resources and opportunities to empower businesses and individuals in reaching their full potential.
Born in India, Ravi embarked on his journey as a first generation immigrant with a deep desire to make a difference. Fueled by hard work and determination, he is a serial entrepreneur, has played a pivotal role in helping businesses flourish, as evidenced by the heartfelt testimonials from satisfied customers. At ISG, Ravi leads a dedicated team professionals who share his vision of creating value for clients through innovation and hard work. The growth structure at ISG ensures that employees have ample opportunities to develop and enhance their skills, contributing to their professional growth.
Founder, AutoNebula
Sanjay is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of founding multiple companies and achieving successful exits. He is the Founder & Chairman of AutoNebula, an investment firm specializing in connected transport startups that foster collaboration between the United States and India, the Co-Founder of ACEL360, a prominent accelerator dedicated to enhancing the growth and enterprise value of small and mid-sized Federal contractors.
Beyond his business ventures, Sanjay is a popular host, leading conversations on two popular podcasts. In the "Indianness Podcast," he delves into insightful discussions with high-performing Indians and Indian Americans. In "Regulating AI," Sanjay tackles complex questions surrounding the regulation of artificial intelligence, engaging with world leaders to explore strategies that balance innovation and regulatory oversight effectively.
Sanjay is also the founder of USINPAC, an influential organization dedicated to advancing the interests of the Indian American community.
IntraIntel.AI
Dev Roy is CEO of both RoarTech Inc. and IntraIntel.ai. He leads two dynamic teams committed to pushing the boundaries of AI, cloud computing, and enterprise solutions. RoarTech, a minority-owned, women-led, small disadvantaged business, specializes in delivering cutting-edge cloud architecture, cloud migration, and enterprise governance solutions using emerging technologies through ATO support. IntraIntel.ai is an early-stage startup with a vision to democratize access to AI-driven insights. With an agent-based platform designed to seamlessly connect and process information from various data storage systems, IntraIntel.ai reduces search time by 40%, saving businesses up to $10,000 annually in employee productivity costs.
Angel investor
Rajiv Shah is a Rank holder Chartered Accountant with over 29 years of professional experience with Deloitte, and senior financial and management positions with Emirates National Holdings, GIC, BMS Masaood Insurance. Rajiv is currently a Board Member and Group CFO with the Eros Entertainment Group.
Rajiv has served as the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Rajiv is currently the President of the Indian Business & Professional Group, Abu Dhabi.
Rajiv actively invests in Start-Ups.
Rajiv is an author two fiction novels – FOREVER and FORBIDDEN. He has also produced an OTT Series. An avid squash player, Rajiv likes to balance his life between work and play.
GroMore Portfolio Management
Sandesh Sharda is an investor and serial entrepreneur based in the Washington, D.C., area. He successfully exited his U.S. federal government IT business, Miracle Systems, in March 2023, after founding and leading it for 19 years. Under his leadership, Miracle won more than $2.6 billion in federal government contracts.
He has backed and scaled ventures across technology, real estate, and lifestyle sectors — from software firms to golf courses.
Sharda holds an MBA from London and is a graduate of Mumbai University. He is also a judge on the popular Zee TV startup show Ideabaaz.
We invite startups from the UAE, GCC region, and India to register and pitch before more than a dozen investors from the United States and around the world. Both early-stage and growth-stage startups are welcome, with dedicated pitching sessions for each category.
Get ready to hear from investors, successful startup founders, industry leaders, and innovation experts who have built and scaled groundbreaking ventures.
The event offers a vibrant platform where startup founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, and early-stage innovators can engage with industry leaders who have forged remarkable success in the entrepreneurial landscape. Join us to gain invaluable insights, network with seasoned professionals, and ignite your entrepreneurial journey.
Are you an entrepreneur with an innovative startup? Here’s your chance to showcase your venture at the Startup Showcase! If you want your startup to be featured, reach out to us with your details. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain visibility, connect with investors, and engage with industry leaders. Our email ID is events@americanbazaaronline.com
Name: Anil Prayag
Phone: 301-343-7610
Email: anil@americanbazaaronline.com