Emirates Angels Investors Association

Emirates Angels Investors Association

The Emirates Angels Investors Association launched in 2020 as a formal investment network designed to mobilize angel capital from UAE-based high-net-worth individuals and family offices. The association's founding chairman, Masaood Rahma Al Masaood, is also Vice Chairman of Al Masaood Oil & Gas, linking the organization to one of Abu Dhabi's established industrial families. Founding board member Ali Sajwani serves as Managing Director of DAMAC Properties, bringing a real estate and hospitality perspective to the group's deal evaluation. The association operates under the regulatory umbrella of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and maintains its physical presence within Hub71, the technology accelerator anchored on Al Maryah Island. The association deploys capital primarily through direct angel investments into early-stage technology companies, with a geographic mandate covering the UAE, the broader MENA region, and select African markets through its partnership with the African Business Angel Network (ABAN). Sector coverage spans FinTech, enterprise software, AI/ML, digital health, and proptech — categories that align with the UAE's national economic diversification strategy and Hub71's own accelerator focus. The association's status as a member of the Hub71 Angel Investor Support Package provides preferential access to startups graduating from the Abu Dhabi ecosystem. The network structure allows individual members to syndicate deals, sharing due-diligence burdens and portfolio diversification across a larger pool of angel investors than any single family office could typically access alone. The association's board reflects a cross-section of UAE private-sector leadership. Vice Chairman H.E. Sameh Al Qubaisi and Secretary Tarek Al Saman bring institutional governance experience, while board members Mohammed Al Nowais, Yousif Al Mulla, and Mohammed Al Owais extend the network's reach within Emirati business circles. The Emirates Family Office Association maintains a collaborative relationship with the group, providing a bridge to larger, single-family allocators who may co-invest alongside the angel network on larger rounds. The association's alignment with Hub71 gives its members visibility into the Abu Dhabi Investment Office's broader startup-attraction pipeline, effectively subsidizing origination. The structural differentiator is the association's position at the intersection of a sovereign-backed technology ecosystem and a private angel network — a configuration that is rare outside the Gulf. Unlike standalone angel groups in London or Silicon Valley that must build university and accelerator relationships organically, the Emirates Angels Investors Association benefits from Hub71's institutional mandate to attract founders to Abu Dhabi, effectively converting government-sponsored startup-relocation incentives into proprietary deal flow for its members. This hybrid model — private capital deployed through a state-adjacent accelerator — sets the association apart from both conventional venture funds and unaffiliated angel syndicates elsewhere in the Middle East.