Emirates Entrepreneurship Association Excellerator Event Series
Scaling Smart: Finance, Global Expansion & Founder Mindset for UAE SMEs
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July 23, 2026
This is the second event as part of the Emirates Entrepreneurship Association (EEA) Excellerator Series. This is designed to enable you to help learn actionable skills along with meeting other Association members, Enterprise Leaders and Government Officials. This particular session provided the opportunity for you to learn from Finance Experts, Enterprise Leaders and Founders.
Registration and Networking
Introduction to event
The Next Growth Phase for UAE SMEs: Discipline, Direction & Global Vision
Financial Strategy for Scale in the UAE
Panel: Expanding Beyond Borders – From UAE to Global
Entrepreneurship Showcase
Coffee Break & Networking
How Capital Reads a Company
Ask the Experts
Thamer Alqasami
Executive Manager, Emirates Entrepreneurship Association
H.E. Eng. Thamer AlQasimi is a transformative C-Suite leader with over two decades of experience building government agencies and shaping national ecosystems. He uniquely merges strategic vision with technological execution, currently serving as CEO of both the Emirates Bio Research Center, where he pioneers AI-driven analytics for public security, and the Emirates Entrepreneurship Association, where he empowers the UAE's SME and startup landscape. An engineer by training and a strategist by practice, he focuses on leveraging AI and digital innovation to create measurable, large-scale impact.
Ayman Al Awadhi
Group Managing Director, The Corporate Group
Ayman Al Awadhi is an inspirational leadership speaker and visionary business leader dedicated to empowering startups, individuals, and organizations with the knowledge, skills, and motivation needed to excel in an ever-evolving world. He is committed to fostering leadership excellence, corporate governance, and transformational projects, embodying the spirit of an Emirati family business with a global perspective. As the Co-Founder of The Corporate Group (TCG), with subsidiaries in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and London, Ayman plays a key role in attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs), enabling corporates and startups to establish and expand their presence in the UAE and the wider GCC region.
David Daly
Partner, Gulf Tax Accounting Group
David is a UK Qualified Accountant and a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. With over two decades of global experience in transformational settings across diverse industries, David has spent fourteen of those years at an executive level, with the last nine being rooted in the Middle East. He’s an established author, penning a series of articles on VAT for the UAE published in The National and contributing to international platforms like Bloomberg and The Telegraph. David’s expertise encompasses VAT, finance, project management, business turnaround, treasury, audit, IT systems & ERP, business process re-engineering, and contract negotiations.
Berdia Qamarauli
Founder & CEO, Centigen
Berdia Qamarauli is a technology entrepreneur and AI strategist, and the founder of Centigen and Artisio, two companies at the intersection of artificial intelligence and enterprise software. With a background spanning fintech, and auction technology, Berdia previously served as CTO of Spink in London, where he led technology operations across the UK, US, Europe, and Asia. Today, he focuses on building AI-native platforms and deploying intelligent agents that transform how businesses operate, sell, and scale. His work centres on practical AI adoption, governance, and the development of multi-agent systems that deliver measurable commercial impact.
Holly Garforth
Director of Strategic Business Development, RAKEZ
Holly is the Director of Strategic Business Development, at RAKEZ, working alongside a team of expert Country Managers who bring FDI into Ras Al Khaimah through the anchoring of large scale industrial and manufacturing projects. Previously building 15 years experience in the UK banking sector in various sales, investment and leadership roles.
Khaleefa AlHosani
SVP & Head of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at Emirates Development Bank
Khaleefa AlHosani, SVP & Head of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at Emirates Development Bank, with a focus on identifying investment opportunities and overseeing key projects. playing a crucial role in supporting efforts to increase the UAE's GDP and diversify its economy through informed decisions on international investments