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​Spotlight

​Pitch. Connect. Build.

​A Day of Networking That Actually Works: Morning Connections, Evening Conversations.

What's included

​✅ Morning Virtual Speed Networking (meet 9 founders 1-on-1)
✅ Evening In-person meetup
✅ Chance to pitch live on stage (10 selected at random)
✅ Founders-Only WhatsApp Group
✅ Welcome Drink + Popcorn

​🌐 MORNING - 11:30 AM - 12:40 PM

​Warm up with a Virtual Speed Networking

​Meet 9 founders 1-on-1 in the morning. You'll walk into the evening meetup already knowing faces.

​🎲 10 founders will be randomly selected during the virtual session to pitch live on stage in the evening. (if you choose to pitch - For Tech Startups only)

​

​🍹 EVENING - 7:00 PM - 11:30PM

​In-Person Meetup

​Reconnect with morning matches and expand your network. The goal? Partners, collaborators, and warm investor intros.

​✨ The Spotlight: Watch the 10 selected founders pitch live. Rate them 1-10 and help reward the most promising founders.

​🏆 The Prizes: The Top 1 win 3 months of 100% OFF our Residency membership! You’ll join a group of 10 other founders to tackle challenges and scale together.
Learn more: www.founderconnects.com/residency

​🌟 Guest of the Month

​Ayham Gorani @ Pemo: Pulling SME spend out of spreadsheets and into one hub.

​Co-founded in 2022 by a team that's collectively launched or scaled more than eight ventures over the past 15 years, Pemo has raised $19M across two rounds and now moves over AED 1.4 billion a year in business spend for more than 4,000 companies across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Just weeks ago, Pemo became one of the first spend management platforms in the UAE to win in-principle approval from the Central Bank for a Stored Value Facilities licence, clearing the way for its own digital wallets.

​This is your chance to hear directly from Ayham on fixing a problem nearly every SME in the region has, spend scattered across spreadsheets, receipts, and disconnected tools, and how a young fintech earns a central bank's trust along the way.

​🎟️ RSVP

• ​Morning virtual speed networking.

• ​Evening in-person meetup at Paramount Hotel Midtown.

• ​Access to Dubai’s most curated founder crowd.

• ​A community that gets things done.

• ​Welcome Drink + Popcorn.

​Register now, spots vanish fast.

​Food & beverages can be purchased inside the venue.

​👔 Dress Code: Smart casual.
🚗 Parking: Free hotel valet parking - please validate your ticket.

​💔 Can't make it?

​Your share could connect two people who truly need it.

​🔷 FAQ

​Do I have to attend the virtual morning session if I'm interested only in the evening meetup?
Nope - but joining the morning makes the evening 10x better.

​Can I buy a spot at the door?
Yes, you can buy the "Same Day" ticket.

​Can I bring a guest?
Definitely, yes - Share with them the event page as your guest need to sign up for a ticket too.

​Can I refund?
Ofcourse, but we pay the hotel 72 hours before the meetup, refunds are only possible up to that point.