Our Story
An Impact Engine. Built with Purpose.
Al Wasl Ventures is a values-driven platform built to serve founders wherever they are. Rooted in the UAE, connected to the world, and driven by the belief that access to opportunity should know no borders.
What We Mean by Impact Engine
We do not use the word impact lightly. At Al Wasl Ventures, impact is measurable, intentional, and structural. Our five programs each serve a distinct need, and together they form a complete ecosystem for founders and tech talent.
Community
Building networks that give founders real access to each other, to knowledge, and to markets. Free. Open. Without gatekeeping.
Venture Building
Co-investing in startups, building programs, and creating bridges that allow entire ecosystems to grow — not just individual companies.
Talent
Connecting exceptional tech talent with global opportunities, keeping skills and value creation within the communities that need it most.
Capital
Deploying founder-friendly impact capital into high-growth startups across MENA. Built on the same SAFE-based model that protected 365 jobs and backed 29 startups during Palestine's darkest hours.
What We Stand For
Our Values
Founder First
Every product, program, and investment decision starts with one question: does this serve the founder?
Impact Over Optics
We measure success in jobs created, startups funded, and founders who made it — not press coverage.
Access as a Right
Geography should not determine opportunity. We build bridges and deploy capital so founders do not have to wait.
Values Before Valuation
We back people and purpose, not just pitch decks. The why matters as much as the what.
Rooted and Proud
UAE-born. Arab identity at the core. Globally connected in reach and ambition.
Our Story
Al Wasl means the connection.
Al Wasl Ventures was built on the back of years of ecosystem building, from the hills of Ramallah to the towers of Dubai. Our founder has spent his career proving that Palestinian founders, MENA talent, and underserved ecosystems can compete at the highest global level — if they are given real access, real infrastructure, and real capital.
Al Wasl means the connection. It is our name and our mission in one word. We connect founders with community, startups with capital, talent with opportunity, and the Gulf with the world.
The Team
Rateb H. Rabi
Founder and CEO
Rateb is a serial ecosystem builder, entrepreneur, and impact investor with over a decade of experience building innovation infrastructure across Palestine, MENA, and the UAE.
He is the Co-Founder of ICEP (the International Conference on Entrepreneurship Palestine), which he helped grow from a Bethlehem-based gathering into a global platform — bringing Palestinian founders face to face with over 450 investors and venture capital firms at the Museum of the Future in Dubai and the DIFC Fintech Hive.
As Founder and CEO of Intersect Innovation Hub — the first fintech and cybersecurity hub in Palestine powered by Bank of Palestine — Rateb built a full-circle ecosystem support model from scratch. This included:
- Early-stage programs: STEP and Startups in Residence
- A global talent pipeline through LINK
- Market access initiatives: the first-ever UAE-Palestine Business Matching event at Dubai Chambers
- Three consecutive years at Expand North Star
- Participation at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival and COP28
When war hit Palestine in October 2023, Rateb led the design and launch of RISE Palestine — an umbrella impact initiative backed by Bank of Palestine to provide emergency support to the Palestinian tech ecosystem. Under RISE, he structured and led SAFE Palestine: the first bridge financing facility of its kind in the country, raising $2.4 million including a commitment from Google, backed by Paul Graham of Y Combinator and Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit.
The SAFE Palestine vehicle deployed capital into 29 high-growth Palestinian startups through Simple Agreements for Future Equity, preserving over 365 jobs at a moment when the ecosystem was under existential pressure.
That experience — structuring a first-of-its-kind SAFE-based investment vehicle under crisis conditions, attracting capital from Silicon Valley to Dubai, and deploying it fast and responsibly into high-growth startups — is the exact foundation that WASL VC is built on. The model works. The team has proven it. Now it scales.
Beyond Intersect, Rateb is the Founding Curator of the Global Shapers East Jerusalem Community, a World Economic Forum initiative active across 439 cities worldwide. He previously served at the Office of the European Commission Representative and the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, and is an active member of the Middle East Leadership Academy.
Hassan Al Sadi
Chief Innovation Officer
Hassan is a program architect and ecosystem builder whose work has taken Palestinian startups from Ramallah to the GCC, Türkiye, and beyond.
At Intersect Innovation Hub, Hassan designed and led STIR, the Startups in Residence program — one of the most structured and impactful incubation offerings in the Palestinian tech ecosystem. STIR gave early-stage startups dedicated office space, hands-on mentorship, and a clear runway from idea to investment-ready company, operating across Ramallah, Nablus, and Hebron.
Alongside program design, Hassan led partnerships that put Palestinian startups on global stages, from Gulf accelerators to institutional partners in Türkiye and across MENA. He has a rare ability to open doors that matter and build relationships that last beyond the handshake.
After Intersect, Hassan joined Redz before bringing his expertise and network to Al Wasl Ventures as Chief Innovation Officer, where he leads program strategy and ecosystem partnerships across the UAE and MENA.
Rand Salloum
Global Talent Manager
Rand brings hands-on experience building the bridge between companies and tech talent across borders, with a track record spanning regional and global markets.
At Intersect Innovation Hub, she managed the LINK program — a staff augmentation platform that connected regional and global companies with skilled Palestinian tech professionals, handling everything from candidate sourcing and evaluation to onboarding, HR administration, and account management.
That experience gave her a deep understanding of what companies actually need when hiring across geographies, and what talent needs to succeed in remote and cross-border environments. She knows both sides of the equation intimately.
At Al Wasl Ventures, Rand leads Tech Talent at WaslX, our global talent platform, bringing that same end-to-end approach to the UAE and MENA. From sourcing and vetting to placement and ongoing support, she is the person who makes the connection work.