Nada Shaheen

In a region where entrepreneurship and innovation are rapidly reshaping the business landscape, Nada Shaheen stands at the intersection of capital, corporate strategy, and the next generation of high-growth companies. As Managing Director of GB Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of GB Corp, she is helping redefine how established businesses engage with emerging technologies and startup ecosystems across Africa and the Middle East.

Shaheen’s position carries particular significance. She is the first Egyptian woman to lead and manage a corporate venture capital fund in Africa, a milestone that reflects both her individual trajectory and the changing face of leadership within the region’s investment ecosystem.

With more than a decade of experience spanning entrepreneurship, venture capital, and innovation strategy, Shaheen has built a career around one central idea: innovation becomes truly transformative when capital, strategy, and execution work together. Her experience has taken her beyond traditional investment models, giving her a perspective shaped equally by the demands of building businesses and the discipline of investing in them.

Before joining GB Ventures, Shaheen worked with major institutions including the Central Bank of Egypt and the European Union, contributing to initiatives connected to financial inclusion, innovation policy, and ecosystem development. These experiences gave her a broader understanding of the structural challenges and opportunities shaping emerging markets, while strengthening her conviction in the role that innovation can play in creating more inclusive and resilient economies.

Today, at GB Ventures, Shaheen leads strategic investments and partnerships across sectors including fintech, mobility, logistics, and industrial technology. Her mandate extends beyond identifying promising startups. She works at the intersection of corporate needs and entrepreneurial ambition, exploring how emerging companies, new technologies, and strategic capital can create long-term value for both investors and the wider economy.

Her approach is also informed by experience as a serial entrepreneur. Rather than viewing venture investing solely through financial metrics, Shaheen brings an operator’s perspective to the process, placing considerable emphasis on scalability, governance, execution, and the realities founders face while building companies. That combination of investor discipline and entrepreneurial understanding allows her to engage with startups not simply as portfolio companies, but as potential long-term strategic partners.

Yet her influence extends beyond investment decisions. Shaheen is deeply involved in mentoring entrepreneurs across Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa, supporting founders as they navigate the complexities of growth, leadership, fundraising, and market expansion. Her work reflects a broader commitment to strengthening the ecosystems that allow entrepreneurship to thrive.

As a member of Global Women in VC and a frequent speaker at international technology and investment forums, Shaheen has also emerged as an increasingly visible voice in conversations around venture capital, corporate innovation, and the future of entrepreneurship in emerging markets.

What makes her journey particularly compelling is the broader shift it represents. Africa’s startup ecosystem is becoming increasingly sophisticated, while corporations are recognizing that innovation can no longer exist solely within traditional organizational boundaries. The relationship between established businesses and entrepreneurial companies is evolving, and leaders such as Shaheen are helping build the structures through which that relationship can become mutually transformative.

For Shaheen, venture capital is therefore more than a mechanism for deploying capital. It is a platform for connecting ideas with institutions, founders with opportunities, and innovation with meaningful economic impact.

Through GB Ventures, her entrepreneurial background, and her continued engagement with founders and the wider investment community, Nada Shaheen is contributing to a new chapter in Africa’s innovation story: one defined not only by investment and growth, but by strategic collaboration, inclusion, and the ambition to build what comes next.