Revealed: Top 18 rising stars in the GCC finance sector

In an era of rapid transformation and digital technology, a new generation of young leaders is reshaping the financial and commerce sectors across the Middle East. From pioneering fintech platforms to revolutionising digital banking, these under-35 innovators are challenging norms, unlocking new opportunities, and redefining the future of finance in the region. Their influence goes far beyond innovation; they are creating inclusive solutions, driving sustainable growth, and setting new benchmarks for excellence. We are proud to spotlight a dynamic group of rising stars whose bold ideas and relentless drive are powering the next wave of progress in the financial landscape.

Methodology

The Finance Middle East editorial team compiled this list through comprehensive data collection from direct nominations, industry insights, and publicly available information. Candidates were evaluated based on criteria including professional experience, career trajectory and tenure; the size, performance, and influence of their organisations; their impact on the commerce and finance sectors, innovation in business practices, and thought leadership; as well as notable achievements throughout their careers. This rigorous process ensures the list highlights the most influential and inspiring young leaders shaping the future of the region’s financial and commercial landscape.

Meet the rising stars in the GCC

Amira Sajwani is the Founder and CEO of PRYPCO, a proptech platform redefining real estate access in the region. PRYPCO offers innovative services such as Rent Now, Pay Later, digital mortgages, and fractional ownership, aiming to make property ownership more flexible and inclusive. The company has disbursed over $409 million in mortgages and works with more than 3,000 brokers, serving a growing base of over 2,000 customers.

In addition to her role at PRYPCO, Sajwani is the Managing Director of Sales and Development at DAMAC Properties, where she oversees the full property development cycle from design and construction to sales and global agent partnerships. Her leadership ensures DAMAC’s projects combine strong commercial value with architectural quality.

Image credit: PRYPCO

Abdulrahman Bin Nujayfan is a Saudi entrepreneur and the Co-founder and COO of Mthmr, a fintech platform reshaping how individuals across the MENA region engage with personal finance. As COO, Bin Nujayfan is instrumental in overseeing the platform’s operational strategy, user experience, and product development.

His role has been pivotal in driving Mthmr’s growth, culminating in a $1.6 million funding round in August 2025, led by prominent investors including Wa’ed Ventures. With a deep focus on efficiency, scale, and user-centric design, Bin Nujayfan is helping to build one of the region’s most promising financial wellness platforms for young professionals and families alike.

Image credit: Mthmr

Abdulrahman Qumsani, a Saudi entrepreneur, is the Co-founder and CEO of Mthmr, a personal finance management platform designed to help MENA residents better manage and grow their savings. Under his leadership, Mthmr secured $1.6 million in funding in August from investors including Wa’ed Ventures, Dahran Trading Group, and Le Augure, with total funding now reaching $2 million.

Qumsani is also the founder of Gharsa, a nonprofit focused on environmental protection, where he has spearheaded impactful campaigns in partnership with Emaar, The Economic City (EEC), and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture. Through his dual commitment to financial empowerment and sustainability, Qumsani exemplifies a new wave of socially driven leadership in the region’s fintech space.

Image credit: Mthmr

Alok Kumar, an entrepreneur based in the UAE, is the Co-founder and CEO of Zywa, a fintech startup revolutionising youth banking in the Middle East. Launched in 2021, Zywa offers a gamified, community-driven banking app and payment card tailored for users aged 10 to 25, aiming to build financial literacy and independence among Gen Z. Under Kumar’s leadership, Zywa has expanded operations across the UAE and Egypt, with plans to launch in Saudi Arabia, positioning itself as a leader in youth-focused financial services in the region. The company has raised over $4 million from prominent investors such as Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Rebel Fund, Dubai Future District Fund, and Hub71.

With over 130,000 signups and 40,000+ active accounts, Zywa’s rapid growth is supported by strategic partnerships with Mastercard, Saudi Awwal Bank, Alinma Bank, Banque Misr, and the Al Futtaim Group.

Image credit: Zwya

Amir Fardghassemi, a UAE-based entrepreneur, is the Co-founder and CEO of Jingle Pay, a rising fintech startup transforming financial accessibility across emerging markets. Under Fardghassemi’s leadership, Jingle Pay has developed a proprietary AI-powered platform that enables instant, low-cost global money transfers, positioning the company as a regional pioneer in digital finance.

In 2024 alone, Jingle Pay processed over two million transactions, facilitating more than $1 billion in international remittances and saving users over $6 million in fees. The platform continues to attract attention from both retail users and institutional partners, offering financial services that are borderless, multilingual, and designed for underserved populations across the MENA and South Asia regions.

Image credit: Jingle Pay

Hadi Mazen, an entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO of ēlancē, a design-driven furniture and fixtures company with operations across Egypt and the UAE. Since establishing the brand in 2017, Mazen has positioned ēlancē as a key player in the region’s design and interiors industry, offering bespoke indoor and outdoor products that blend functionality with aesthetic precision

With showrooms and design studios in both countries, ēlancē serves a diverse portfolio of B2C and B2B clients, including real estate developers, architects, contractors, and design consultants. Its e-commerce platform, catering to the wider GCC market, reached a gross merchandise value of $577,000 in 2023 and has delivered to over 3,000 B2C clients as of October 2024.

Under Mazen’s leadership, the company has secured strategic partnerships with global design brands such as Holo and Kvadrat, reinforcing its commitment to quality and innovation. Through a mix of digital retail, curated design, and commercial scalability, Mazen is redefining how the region approaches contemporary furniture and spatial solutions.

Image credit: ēlancē

Hasan Jaafar, a Lebanese entrepreneur, is the Co-founder and COO of YY ReGen, a pioneering venture focused on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and water resilience across underserved communities in the MENA region. 

In 2023, Jaafar has been instrumental in launching eight operational units under the company’s banner, including its flagship innovation—the ReGen-R8, a portable solar-powered energy solution tailored for smallholder farmers.

The ReGen-R8 functions as a rentable, mobile solar unit providing energy-as-a-service, reducing upfront costs for users while integrating IoT-powered remote monitoring systems to ensure efficient energy use. This scalable model not only improves agricultural productivity but also reduces over 120 tons of CO₂ emissions annually, reinforcing the company’s commitment to climate-conscious commerce.

Image credit: YY ReGen

Imad Gharazeddine is the Co-founder and CEO of Mamo, a fast-growing fintech company based in the UAE that provides SMEs with an all-in-one platform for managing digital payments, expenses, and corporate cards. Under his leadership, Mamo achieved a major milestone by becoming a Visa principal member, empowering the company to independently process global transactions and launch its own suite of corporate Visa cards. The platform is now a cornerstone in the UAE’s digital finance ecosystem, simplifying spend management for startups and SMEs alike.

In 2024, Mamo secured $3.4 million in new funding from prominent investors, including 4DX Ventures, Dubai Future District Fund, and Cyfr Capital, pushing its total raised capital to $13 million. This momentum continued into 2025, when Mamo partnered with Paymentology to expand its SME card offering. The upgraded product now features multi-currency cards and streamlined expense management workflows, a strategic leap toward enhancing financial flexibility and operational control for businesses across the GCC.

Image credit: Mamo

Mohamed Ehab, an Egyptian entrepreneur, is the Co-founder and CEO of Entlaq, a startup accelerator and consultancy platform supporting early-stage ventures across the MENA region. Under his leadership, Entlaq launched its first cohort in early 2023, providing four- to six-month acceleration programs and investment tickets of up to $50,000 per startup. Ehab has steered the company into a strategic role in the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, forging partnerships with the World Youth Forum, UNDP, ILO, and UNIDO to expand Entlaq’s impact.

Image credit: Entlaq

Menna Zaghloul is the Founder and PR/Public Affairs Director of Entlaq, an Egyptian startup accelerator and consultancy platform empowering early-stage ventures across the MENA region. Since co-founding Entlaq, Zaghloul has led its communications and public affairs strategy, positioning the firm as a trusted ecosystem enabler. 

Through her leadership, Entlaq has built high-impact partnerships with global organisations including the World Youth Forum, UNDP, ILO, and UNIDO. Zaghloul plays a pivotal role in driving Entlaq’s visibility and stakeholder engagement as it delivers four- to six-month acceleration programs and investment tickets of up to $50,000 per startup.

Image credit: Entlaq

Mahmoud Gharghar, a Libyan entrepreneur based in the UAE, is the CEO of Ghrghar Group, a diversified holding company with sixteen business interests spanning real estate, manufacturing, hospitality, and automotive sectors across three continents. Gharghar oversees the group’s global operations while also spearheading the Ghrghar Fund, a private equity initiative offering up to $2 million in funding for promising Libyan youth startups. Through this fund, he combines capital investment with mentorship, aiming to support the next generation of entrepreneurs from Libya.

Malek Gedeon, a Lebanese national based in the UAE, is the Co-founder of Gedeon Group, a regional leader in fashion distribution and franchising with a footprint across more than 30 countries in the Middle East and Africa. Gedeon plays a key role in shaping the group’s strategic direction, overseeing business development, operations, and cross-border expansion from the company’s headquarters in Dubai.

Founded in 2019 alongside his siblings Tara and Michel, Gedeon Group builds on a deep-rooted family legacy that began in 1949 with the establishment of Gedeon & Co. SARL in Lebanon. Under Malek’s leadership, the company has scaled rapidly to become the master franchise and distributor for some of the world’s most iconic fashion brands, including adidas, PUMA, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger.

Today, Gedeon Group manages a retail network of over 200 stores and maintains strong relationships with more than 100 B2B clients, such as Al Tayer Group, Chalhoub Group, and Al Musbah Group.

Image credit: Gedeon Group

Omar Rezk, an Egyptian innovator, is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Entlaq, where he drives the company’s strategic partnerships, operations, and cohort design. Rezk plays a key role in structuring Entlaq’s investment and mentorship programs, which focus on early-stage startups across Egypt and the broader MENA region.

Image credit: Entlaq

Reda Reda is a Saudi entrepreneur and is the Co-founder of Amwal Tech, a cutting-edge fintech company transforming e-commerce payments through biometric authentication. Reda has led the development of Amwal’s flagship solution, a biometric one-click checkout system that streamlines the purchasing process while combining identity verification, fraud prevention, and payment acceptance in a unified API.

Since its launch, Amwal Tech has onboarded over 30 clients, including La3eb, Paris Gallery, Baytonia, and Homzmart, and formed strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Unifonic, Tap Company, and Salla. With a growing user base of more than 150,000 registered users and a $2.5 million pre-seed funding round secured, Reda is positioning Amwal as a key innovator in the region’s e-commerce infrastructure.

Image credit: Amwal Tech

Malek Gedeon, a  Lebanese national based in the UAE, is the Co-founder of Gedeon Group, a regional leader in fashion distribution and franchising with a footprint across more than 30 countries in the Middle East and Africa. Gedeon plays a key role in shaping the group’s strategic direction, overseeing business development, operations, and cross-border expansion from the company’s headquarters in Dubai.

Founded in 2019 alongside his siblings Tara and Michel, Gedeon Group builds on a deep-rooted family legacy that began in 1949 with the establishment of Gedeon & Co. SARL in Lebanon. Under Malek’s leadership, the company has scaled rapidly to become the master franchise and distributor for some of the world’s most iconic fashion brands, including adidas, PUMA, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger.

Image credit: Gedeon Group

Tarannum Malik, an Indian entrepreneur based in the UAE, is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Al Aliyo Hydrofarms, a pioneering agritech company specialising in hydroponic fodder and produce. Under her leadership, the company operates a 12,000-square-foot facility across two industrial warehouses, cultivating a wide array of crops including garlic greens, spring onions, microgreens, pickles, and spices, in addition to high-yield livestock fodder.

Al Aliyo Hydrofarms is contributing to more sustainable and efficient food systems in the region. Malik is now steering the company toward international expansion, with plans underway to enter Kenya and Ethiopia, marking a significant step in scaling environmentally conscious agriculture across emerging markets.

Image credit: Al Aliyo Hydrofarms

Yara Alnamlah, a 25-year-old Saudi entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of When Minds Meet (WMM Holding), a multifaceted holding company spanning beauty, F&B, retail, and creative services. After gaining prominence as a social media influencer in 2016, AlNamlah leveraged her platform to collaborate with global luxury brands such as Dior, Hermès, CHANEL, Fendi, Rolls-Royce, and Audemars Piguet.

In 2024, she launched WMM Holding, which now oversees six companies: Yara Advertising and Publicity Establishment, Treat Salon, SoMatcha, Tinka, Treat products, and Moonglaze. Her F&B brand SoMatcha has made a mark through collaborations with Vacheron Constantin, Sephora, New Balance, and others. With the launch of Treat Luxury Spa expected by the end of 2024, AlNamlah continues to expand her influence as a dynamic force in Saudi Arabia’s evolving commerce landscape.

Image credit: Treat

Yara Ghouth is a pioneering Saudi entrepreneur and co-founder of Nqoodlet, a fintech startup transforming SME expense management and card issuance in the Kingdom. Since its launch, Nqoodlet has served over 400 businesses and processed more than $16 million in transactions as of October 2024. Under Ghouth’s leadership, the company has formed strategic partnerships with key players like Zid, EdfaPay, Classera, OptimizeApp, and Qanoniah. Nqoodlet secured $1.2 million in a pre-seed round and is finalising a $3.5 million seed round led by Waad Investment.

Beyond fintech, she is a driving force in Saudi Arabia’s innovation landscape. She led the development of Startup Saudi, an initiative dedicated to growing the nation’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. She is also the founder of Naseej, a platform designed to empower creative SMEs, reflecting her broader commitment to economic diversification and youth empowerment in the Kingdom.

Image credit: Nqoodlet