Summit DayTuesday, 21 October 2025 - GT (Gulf Time, GMT+04:00)

Where real innovation meets capital conviction across three different sectors shaping the region’s venture landscape.

Three visionary VC investors present their business strategies.

• Showcase 1: Fintech – as open banking gains ground and AI transforms everything from payments to underwriting, fintech continues to lead. But with early-stage noise high, how are investors identifying models with revenue and staying power?

• Showcase 2: Biotech – despite global headwinds, targeted biotech positions (from preclinical therapeutics to health tech) are regaining momentum. What does it take to build confidence and catalyse syndicates in this risk-sensitive space?

• Showcase 3: Deeptech – From artificial intelligence and quantum to energy and space, deeptech is fast becoming the region’s most ambitious investment frontier. Where is the smart capital flowing and what defines readiness in a long-horizon sector?

Three sectors. Three bold visions. One region rewriting the venture playbook.

8 mins presentations each followed by 6 mins Q&A

If AI is no longer a standalone vertical but the underlying layer of everything, how should investors rethink their frameworks for evaluating opportunities across sectors? Building vs. backing: do we see the region cultivating its own AI ecosystem or will long-term success come more from strategic global partnerships? What has and hasn’t worked, and what’s to come?

In a market demanding returns before reinvestment, how are VCs adapting their fundraising strategies to reassure LPs and stand out in a saturated landscape? Is the era of generalist VC coming to a close? How will the secondary market change the VC space? From seed to series C – how are investors navigating the ‘missing middle’ and what will unlock growth-stage momentum?

Liquidity for LPs: how can digital assets, fractional ownership and secondary trading of traditionally illiquid assets reshape how LPs manage, trade and exit their positions in private capital? Diving into some success stories. From promise to practice: what’s holding tokenisation back in the Middle East? And how are these challenges being addressed?