In this series, we sit down with CEOs and entrepreneurs from startups and tech companies all around the world. Each episode features candid conversations with trailblazers who share their stories, challenges, and critical moments that shaped their companies. Understand how their mind works, how they turn ideas into reality, navigated startup life, and the lessons they learned.
10K to £150K in 6 Months: The Quiqup Playbook with Founder Bassel El-Koussa
How do you keep a startup alive when you're running out of cash, facing fierce competition, and questioning your business model? On this episode of Startup Spotlights, host Erica sits down with Bassel El Koussa, co-founder and CEO of Quiqup, to unpack the highs, lows, and defining decisions behind building a logistics business that evolved from London's on-demand delivery scene into Dubai's retail and e-commerce ecosystem. Bassel shares how he and his co-founders launched Quiqup in 2014, buil...
24 Jun 2026
How AI Agents Are Transforming Fintech Teams | Tarik Chebib, Capital.com MENA CEO
How is AI transforming fintech, leadership, and the future of work? In this episode, we speak with Tarik Chebib, CEO MENA at Capital.com, about AI innovation, fintech transformation, leadership, and building businesses in a rapidly changing world. Tarik shares his journey from overcoming career rejection to leading teams in the UAE’s fast-growing technology and financial sector. He discusses entrepreneurial leadership, personal branding, LinkedIn strategy, talent acquisition, and how companie...
20 May 2026
How Almosafer Became Saudi Arabia’s Leading AI-Powered Travel Platform
How is Almosafer competing with Booking.com and Expedia in one of the world’s fastest-growing tourism markets? In this episode, Muzzammil Ahussain, the CEO of Almosafer, explains how Almosafer transformed from a traditional Saudi travel agency into a leading AI-powered travel platform through hyper-localization, WhatsApp commerce, and digital transformation. We discuss: • Saudi Vision 2030 and the growth of tourism in Saudi Arabia • Competing with Booking.com and Expedia through hyper-l...
13 May 2026
Faisal Zaidi (Exscape): The Rise of Mobile Gaming, Attention Economy & the Future of Advertising
In this episode, Faisal Zaidi, President of Exscape, shares insights into the rapid growth of mobile gaming and its impact on user engagement, monetization, and advertising. We explore how gaming platforms are building highly engaged communities, the role of hyperlocalization in scaling globally, and how telcos are enabling access to unbanked populations through alternative payment and distribution models. The conversation also examines how gaming is reshaping the advertising landscape and wh...
1 May 2026
Omair Ansari (Abhi): Building an Earned Wage Access Fintech & Raising with Debt and Equity
In this episode, Omair Ansari, Co-Founder & CEO of Abhi, shares how he built one of the fastest-growing fintech platforms in emerging markets. We explore Abhi’s evolution from an earned wage access product into a broader financial platform offering payroll, SME financing, and invoice factoring. The conversation also covers Abhi’s unique capital strategy, including the use of both equity and debt financing, and what founders need to understand about structuring capital for scale. This epis...
26 Mar 2026
Rebuilding the Internet: Pierre Samaties on Web3, AI & Digital Sovereignty
In this episode, we’re joined by Pierre Samaties, Chief Business Officer at DFINITY Foundation, for an in-depth conversation on the future of Web3, blockchain, and artificial intelligence—and how these technologies are reshaping the internet as we know it. Pierre shares his personal journey from traditional tech into the world of Web3, including his move to the Middle East and why the region is quickly emerging as a global innovation hub. Drawing from his leadership role at DFINITY, he breaks...
17 Feb 2026
Alex Davis at Mavryk: How Real-World Tokenization Is Transforming Blockchain and Fundraising
In this episode, we sit down with Alex Davis, Founder & CEO of Mavryk, for a deep dive into building at the intersection of blockchain, capital, and real-world assets. Alex shares what it really takes to build and scale a business in Dubai — one of the world’s fastest-growing hubs for innovation and Web3 — and why the region is becoming a magnet for ambitious founders. We explore the bigger vision behind blockchain technology and the rise of real-world tokenization (RWT): what it means, w...
30 Dec 2025
Konstantin von Wedel at Platformance: Using Data and AI to Drive Demand Generation
This special Startup Spotlights episode was filmed live at Expand North Star (ENS) 2025, the world’s largest startup and investor event (October 2025). In this episode, we sit down with Konstantin von Wedel, Strategy Director at Platformance MENA, to unpack why advertising and marketing remain critical growth drivers — and how brands can balance long-term brand buildingwith short-term, performance-led results. Konstantin shares Platformance’s strategic approach to helping companies move beyon...
17 Dec 2025
Scott Chambers, Co-CEO of Seafood Souq: Using Data to Transform the Global Seafood Supply Chain
This special Startup Spotlights episode was filmed live at Expand North Star (ENS) 2025, the world’s largest startup and investor event (October 2025). In this conversation, Scott Chambers, Co-CEO of Seafood Souq, shares how he is building a data-driven seafood marketplace focused on transparency, traceability, and sustainability across the global seafood supply chain. Together with our host and Chief Content Officer of Lucidity Insights, Erika Welch, Scott explores what it takes to found and...
2 Dec 2025
Scaling Restaurant-Tech Globally — Supy CEO Dani El-Zein on Funding, AI & Building a High-Growth Foodtech Startup
This special Startup Spotlights episode was filmed live at Expand North Star (ENS) 2025, the world’s largest startup and investor event (October 2025). In this conversation, Dani El-Zein, Founder & CEO of Supy, breaks down how he scaled one of the region’s fastest-growing restaurant-tech platforms — from raising early capital to winning enterprise clients and evolving the product through multiple funding rounds. Together with our host and Chief Content Officer of Lucidity Insights, Erika ...
25 Nov 2025
Sky Kurtz, Pure Harvest CEO: How He Raised $300M to Build AgTech Farms in the UAE Desert
From private equity investor to agritech trailblazer, Sky Kurtz, Co-Founder & CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, joins a special episode of the Startup Spotlights Podcast by Lucidity Insights to unpack how he built one of the Middle East’s leading controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) companies. Host Erika Welch dives into Sky’s journey from Stanford and global finance to launching a high-tech farming conglomerate solving the region’s biggest challenges in food security, sustainable agri...
3 Mar 2025
Maaz Sheikh on the Rise of Starzplay, MENA's Streaming Soonicorn (Ep3)
In this episode of the Startup Spotlights Podcast Series by Lucidity Insights, we welcome Maaz Sheikh in the studio, the Co-Founder and CEO of StarzPlay. Known as the Netflix of the region, StarzPlay is a leading video-on-demand streaming service in the Middle East and Africa. Maaz shares his journey from ideation to raising tens of millions in funding, the importance of localization, and overcoming challenges in the highly competitive streaming industry. Discover the strategic moves that set...
18 Oct 2024
Lessons from Ultrahuman’s 2nd Time Founder about Pivots and Customers Becoming Investors (Ep2)
This was an interview conducted in February 2024 with Mohit Kumar, Founder & CEO at Ultrahuman, a healthspan company in wearable technology, that currently supplies both a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) and a wearable ring that tracks sleep, HRV, body temperature, and a number of other health markers. In this conversation, we speak into the journey that Mohit took to launch his second entrepreneurial venture, lessons learned, and fundraising approach. Check out more details about their ...
10 Jun 2024
The story of Shazam with Founding CEO Chris Barton (Ep1)
In this episode of Startup Spotlights, Chris Barton, Founder & former CEO of Shazam, shares the unbelievable story behind one of the world’s most iconic apps. Launched in 2000—years before smartphones, apps, or even iTunes—Shazam faced near-impossible technical challenges, repeated investor rejection, and nearly ran out of money multiple times. At one point, investors told Chris: “No one would ever use this.” And yet, Shazam went on to surpass 2 billion downloads and was acquired by App...
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