• Co-Founder & Investment Director

    Shahzaib is a UK qualified solicitor has and practised with a Magic Circle Law firm. Assisting the Hayaat Group team on their journey into the Pakistan VC ecosystem, Shahzaib was instrumental in consolidating the Group’s position and exploring the development of the platform for greater involvement in emerging and frontier ecosystems.

  • Principal Sponsor
    Chairman, Investment Committee

    Ikhlaq’s ability to consistently identify and conceive new enterprises, involve relevant stakeholders and energise a team has been matched by a prudent approach to risk management. As an entrepreneur, Ikhlaq started by disrupting traditional businesses, before moving to innovative projects (e.g. urban regeneration in the UK, modern logistics centres in East Africa), and investing in emerging startups.

    Ikhlaq also co-founded Zayn BitRate Fund with Faisal Aftab (Managing Partner). A leading VC fund active in Pakistan, BitRate gives shape to their combined vision of funding, supporting, and developing the new, inspired generation of entrepreneurs that will drive Pakistan’s growth story. Given the success of the fund and its impact on the ecosystem, Hayaat plans to launch a venture-focused division which will support promising VC managers in other emerging and frontier markets as well.

    This entrepreneurial zeal has been built atop sound academic and professional credentials. British born and educated, after qualifying as a chartered Chemical Engineer and publishing in leading academic journals), Ikhlaq started his career with the UK Atomic Energy Authority. He built on this with roles in the Oil & Gas industry, most notably with Kvaerner Process Systems and then lead the takeover of Projenco (rebranded to Projenco Al Khaleej), a preeminent Oil & Gas advisory platform serving blue-chip clients and partners in the MENA region and beyond.

  • Independent IC Member

    Asher is a General Partner at Sukna Ventures - a MENA focused early stage VC Fund.

    Asher also works with several VC funds and startups, typically on the Advisory Board and/or IC as a coach or mentor, including:

    Race Capital, Palo Alto, USA
    - prominent formation stage enterprise infrastructure deep tech VC fund led by Alfred Chuang (founder & CEO of BEA Systems, which he sold to Oracle for ~$8.6bn), Edith Yeung & Chris McCann.

    Merus Capital, Menlo Park, USA
    - top quartile early stage enterprise deep tech VC fund led by former Google and Microsoft corporate development executives.

    Lumikai Fund, India
    - leading gaming and interactive media focused VC fund, led by seasoned gaming & media executives.

    Zayn VC, Pakistan
    - leading early stage VC fund led by a seasoned GP.

    Asher was previously part of the global leadership team (Partner & member of the Investment Committee) at 500 Startups (now 500 Global), dividing time between San Francisco and Dubai, where he raised significant capital and was a partner on flagship fund(s).

    Prior to 500, Asher was Vice President and Global Head of M&A and CVC at Etisalat Group (now e&). During his 10 year tenure, he led and closed deals valued at ~$15bn and was a member of the Investment Committee of Mobily Ventures (while seconded as Head of Corporate Development at Mobily) and a founding Board Member and Chairman of the Investment Committee at iMENA Group.

    Asher started his career as an entrepreneur in the late 1990’s and was part of the early founding teams at several startups, including: Instantreg.com (co-founded event registration b2b SaaS business in Santa Clara), Asite.com (CommerceOne powered enterprise e-procurement portal in London), and the pre-launch team of CNBC Africa (pan-African business news channel based in Johannesburg).

    You can learn more about Asher at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashersiddiqui