BIOGRAPHY
Mona Al-Mukhaizeem is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Sirdab Lab, an accelerator program and co-working space. She is also the co-founder of ArabBusinessReview.com, a website offering content on business practices and trends specific to the Middle East.She has an MBA from Hult International Business School, San Francisco and a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Kuwait University.
Mona worked in Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young and as an Investment Manager at Global Investment House. In 2012, she helped launch Alchemist Accelerator, a venture-backed business incubator in Silicon Valley, and was a consultant at Naxuri Capital, a seed fund investing firm. Her wide-ranging experience makes her an authority on seed fund investing, private equity and venture capital.
Mona is an advisor at TechWadi and Ahead of the Fashion, an accelerator program for technology start-ups in the consumer, fashion, and retail industries, and an organizer of StartupQ8 and Startup Weekend Kuwait. In 2014, TechWadi selected her as one of their Top 100 Mentors.
Sirdab Lab
Sirdab Lab is the first startup hub of its kind in Kuwait to provide a platform to educate and help aspiring entrepreneurs master the ups and downs of building a startup. Sirdab Lab is a Kuwait-based accelerator, co-working space, and entrepreneurial network.
We focus on tech startups that have the potential to grow internationally and support them through a cohesive ecosystem of a mentorship program and access to seed investment, co-working space and events, thereby fostering an environment in which entrepreneurs can learn and thrive.
Started by a group of individuals to fill the void in terms of a dedicated support system for startups in Kuwait, each member of the founding team has worked either in or with a startup and is well-versed with the impediments that stand in the way of establishing a business and the appropriate actions to be taken in successfully overcoming them.
Since Sirdab Lab’s launch in Q1 2014, we have:
- Rolled out Kuwait’s first entrepreneurial co-working space at our headquarters in Dasman Building in Sharq,
- Engaged and cultivated a membership of 150+ local Kuwait-based entrepreneurs/forward-thinking innovators,
- Developed an “industrial-grade” network of 35+ local, regional and international mentors/founders, and
- Organized and hosted 100+ entrepreneurial events (networking and educational meet-ups/workshops).
Building off of these successes, Sirdab Lab is now seeking to expand its support for the local entrepreneurial community by working with leading local and regional corporate partners to set up Kuwait’s first world-class seed-stage accelerator program.