Noor Sweid
Noor is a member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. She is also a fellow of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute’s Finance Leaders Fellowship and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Noor holds bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Economics from Boston College as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Noor is a mother of 3 boys, Kinan, Jad and Karim, and loves to hike, wakesurf, and practice yoga.
Noor Sweid is the Founder of Global Ventures, a UAE-based, Series-A focused firm investing in entrepreneurs with a global mindset. Global Ventures is mission-driven and investor-focused with a global mindset. The firm seeks innovative growth-stage companies that are transforming emerging markets through disruptive enterprise technologies. Global Ventures has invested in 27 companies across the region, and is currently deploying from its second fund. The firm has 12 fintech investments driving financial inclusion, and is currently focused on digital health and healthcare inclusion.
Previously, Noor was the Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation, where she helped enable the technology and innovation ecosystem in Dubai, and a Managing Partner at Leap Ventures, a growth-stage venture capital firm based out of Dubai and Beirut.
Prior, Noor had joined her family business, Depa (NASDAQ: DEPA.DU), one of the world’s largest interior contractors. There, she developed and executed the growth strategy, achieving tenfold revenue growth and employee growth to 9500 employees, expanded from 6 to 22 countries, including four cross-border acquisitions. Noor led the region’s first listing on the NASDAQ Dubai and the London Stock Exchange reaching a billion+ dollar valuation and led all associated investor relations and regulatory compliance.
In parallel, Noor also founded ZenYoga, the first yoga studio in MENA, which grew to become the largest chain of wellness studios in the Middle East before successfully exiting to a private equity firm.
In her capacity as General Partner of Global Ventures, she is also a board director for Ogram, Munch:On, Tribal Credit, Proximie and Arrow Labs. Noor is an active board member as an independent chairwoman for Clue and an independent board director for The Grooming Company. She also serves on non-profit boards as Chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association, Board Director of MIT Sloan and TechWadi, and previously as founding board member of Endeavor UAE.
As a member of Class 26, Noor is serving her fellowship at Global Ventures under the mentorship of Hemant Taneja and Michael Brandmeyer.