Nadine Benchaffai

Partner at Desert Tech Ventures

Speaker

Nadine Benchaffai is the Venture Builder Director at DANA Global, managing the innovation pipeline and strategy for the cohort of desert tech startups in collaboration with design partners and corporate sponsors. Nadine is a strategic marketeer, investor, and entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience within the F&B verticals.

Nadine started her career in the world of FMCG at the likes of Kraft Foods, Nestle Purina and Yoplait. During that time, she covered a variety of roles from brand management, to strategy development and innovation. In 2006, she co-founded Tortilla Mexican Grills which today has over 50 stores in the UK and listed on the AIM LSE market in 2021. In Dubai, she co-founded and launched Taqado Mexican Kitchen and went on to build a family of homegrown brands under Abfab Foods which she exited in 2022.

More recently, Nadine’s focus has shifted focus to innovation in the agritech and foodtech sectors through advisory and investor roles in startups throughout the Middle East and Africa.