Hub71, one of Abu Dhabi’s most popular tech startup accelerators on July 6 announced that they have appointed Hanan Harhara Al Yafei as its new chief executive officer. The announcement came via Twitter as,
Yafei will replace Ibrahim Ajami, head of ventures at Mubadala, who had served as the interim chief executive of Hub71 following its launch last year.
Hanan previously assumed various diverse roles at Mubadala since 2006, the latest of which was Executive Director of Human Capital in the alternative investments and infrastructure platform, Mubadala. She is also a seasoned human resource professional and previously served as head of human capital at the Advanced Technology Investment Company.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office on Twitter commented,
“the UAE capital’s position as a global hub for innovation. Hub71 was launched as part of Ghadan21 and is now home to over 50 global start-ups,”
Hub71, whose start-ups have collectively raised more than $139 million (Dh510.1m) to date, was set up in March 2019 by the Abu Dhabi government, Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Global Market, Microsoft, and SoftBank.
It is a flagship initiative of the Dh50 billion Ghadan 21 economic stimulus programme. In May, the government opened its Dh535 million Ghadan Ventures Fund. The fund specifically targets start-ups and is being managed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
