Huda Beauty co-founder and Global President Mona Kattan, Apparel Group founder and Vice Chairperson Sima Ved, and The Luxury Closet founder and CEO Kunal Kapoor will take the stage at the second edition of this year’s Dtec Forum series, powered by Entrepreneur Middle East.
The event is taking place on Tuesday June 25, 2019, at Dtec in Dubai Silicon Oasis, starting at 9.30am.
As a partnership between Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec) and Entrepreneur Middle East, this edition of Dtec Forum is the latest in a series of educational events for entrepreneurs that will be running through the course of this year.
With registration starting at 9.30am, this particular edition of Dtec Forum will kick off at 10:00am with an opening address by William Chappell, Chief Financial Officer and EVP Technology and Entrepreneurship, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA).
The highlight of the event will be an exclusive on-stage interview with Mona Kattan, one half of the Iraqi-American sister duo that has built Huda Beauty, a brand valued at over US$1 billion, out of Dubai.
From the humble beginnings when the Kattan sisters borrowed $6,000 to start their beauty line, Huda Beauty has grown to market its impressive line of products to its 37.2 million followers- that’s just on Instagram and just on the brand’s official account, while the sisters each have millions of followers on their private accounts as well.
Mona Kattan, co-founder and Global President, Huda Beauty.
Source: Huda Beauty
In an on-stage conversation titled “Building A Global Brand In The Digital Age”, Mona Kattan will open up on how the Kattan sisters harnessed the power of social media to develop an innovative and influential business that has made its mark on the region’s entrepreneurial scene, how they keep on challenging themselves by entering new product categories (for instance, the KAYALI fragrances range) and new media platforms (like the Huda Boss reality show on Facebook Watch).
Also speaking at the June edition of the Dtec Forum will be Sima Ved, founder and Vice Chairperson, Apparel Group. Having started off her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 23, Ved and her husband, Nilesh, today sit at the helm of a company that comprises of more than 75 international brands spread across 1750 stories in 14 countries. Ved’s successes have been lauded by several personalities and institutions over the years. “When you think about female empowerment, you have a vague figure of someone in your head,” said Hollywood actress Eva Longoria, in a speech at the Global Gift Gala in Dubai, where Ved was one of the beneficiaries. “But then you meet Sima and you go like, oh, wait a minute; that’s female empowerment, that’s what it looks like!”
Sima Ved, founder and Vice Chairperson, Apparel Group.
Source: Apparel Group.
The third speaker on the panel titled “Built To Win: Scaling Up From The Middle East”, will be Kunal Kapoor, founder and CEO, The Luxury Closet which has just completed a growth funding round totaling US$11 million and is embarking on the expansion into Hong Kong. Kapoor hopes to build “the world’s largest” pre-owned luxury marketplace.
Kunal Kapoor, founder and CEO, The Luxury Closet.
Source: The Luxury Closet
Kattan, Ved, and Kapoor will take the stage at Dtec Forum to participate in an honest conversation about how to map out a big vision for a business from the outset, how to build a strong team and a productive and positive company culture, and other such insights every startup founder needs to know.
With the organizers expecting an overwhelming response for the event, interested attendees are advised to secure their place at the forum by registering here.