TiE Dubai appoints new board and launches programmes to boost MENA founders

TiE Dubai, the regional chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs, announced the appointment of its 2026‑2027 board. The new leadership includes Bashar Kilani as President, Shameema Parveen as President‑Elect, Prashant (PK) Gulati as President Emeritus, Bianca Gracias as Event Director, Deepak Padmanabhan as Director of Finance, Kushal Shah as Membership Director, Ramit Harisinghani as Marketing Director, Piero Ricotti as Mentorship Director and Anastasiya Golovatenko as Partnerships & Sponsorship Director. Youth and women initiatives will be co‑chaired by Sashikanth Ramakrishnan, Carlina Marani and Shameema Parveen.

The board outlined new programmes such as TiE Fellows, expanded mentorship, and revamped youth entrepreneurship support aimed at UAE and wider MENA founders. Citing OECD research that networks improve SME access to finance, TiE Dubai emphasised the need for practical support to help the region’s 1.33 million SMEs – which account for about 95 % of companies and over 85 % of private‑sector jobs – scale their businesses.

Founded in 2003 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and supported by Dubai Internet City, TiE Dubai is part of a global network of more than 20,000 members across 65 chapters in 15 countries, aiming to provide mentors, investors and long‑term resources to emerging entrepreneurs.