Diala Daoud

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daoudiala/

For long, I had a special place for the tech space and startups in my heart. Little did I know that this will become a preoccupying passion with time. Welcome to my profile, I am Diala J. Daoud, a co-founder and a startup enthusiast, just like you.

Eight years back, I started my startup journey in Lebanon, when I entered the startup world as an ecosystem enabler. Throughout the following five years, I sat with 150+ startup teams, I ideated with them, I developed marketing plans, I advised business development initiatives and I suggested activations. I learned a lot from every single team I got to sit with.

Five years forward, I wanted to move to Dubai and join my husband there. First thing that came to my mind was building up on the experience I accumulated in Lebanon and impact the startup ecosystem in Dubai. I found a gap in the ecosystem, I wanted to help fill it up. I co-founded Launch DXB!

Launch DXB is a launchpad for startups, it is a platform that fosters a collaborative culture among aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage and growing startups, SMEs and independent professionals in the UAE. We connect them with learning resources, mentors, startup consultants, business opportunities, market players, and growth resources that they need to launch and grow their ventures. To date, I organized, was invited to speak at and/or moderated panels at 200+ events and workshops.

As for today, given my expertise in GCC ecosystems (Qatar, UAE & KSA), I mentor startups on GCC expansion, and I consult as an Accelerator Program Specialist at TASMU Smart Cities Accelerator. TASMU Accelerator is a Smart Cities specialized global acceleration program. It is an initiative of Smart Qatar (TASMU), operated and facilitated by Ooredoo Qatar, and held under the patronage of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Qatar. Our aim is to inspire and ignite pioneer early-stage startups to invent and nurture the innovation ecosystem in Qatar, across 5 main industries: health, logistics, transportation, environment, and sport.