Team

Nicolas Rouhana

General Manager

Dr. Nicolas Rouhana is currently the General Manager of IM Capital, a $20M program funded under USAID MENA Investment Initiative, providing Matching Capital, Equity Guarantee and Technical Assistance to early-stage businesses and investors in Lebanon.
Between 2002 & 2015, Dr. Rouhana was the Executive Director of Berytech Technological Pole, a leading Technology Business Innovation & Incubation Center in Lebanon. He was also Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of Saint-Joseph University Beirut, and the administrator of Beirut Internet Exchange till 2015.
He is currently Vice-President of Internet Society-Lebanon Chapter, board member of Berytech, and the current Chairman of Speed@BDD the first tech accelerator in Lebanon.
Nicolas has a Telecommunications Engineering degree from Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, a PhD in Networking Systems from Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, and an EDP graduate from INSEAD, France.

Abdallah Hitti

Serial entrepreneur / Investor / Angel

Abdallah is a Partner at Result Venture Knowledge International. He founded the first European Electronic Money issuer Bank in Europe Hipay.
Abdallah started his professional career as a Chief Technology Officer at L’Oréal. Later he was a co-founder of Euromodas, Blue Line International, Eurodata, Hi-Comm, Tel2Get, and M.I.T. He has been part of the management team of KleLine/Paribas, Mepax, and Res-Hotel. As an interim manager, he worked for STS, Cap-Invest, Ingot Brokers, Paynova, Eccox, ProjectPlace, Letsbuyit, Netlog, and Kyube. He has helped ProjectPlace, Appgate, Zoom, eSafeTransfer, Aura Eventos, DMS, and Cyber Spectrum to roll-out internationally.
As an investor, he is or has been involved in Blueline, Nutrimate, Mepax, Res-Hotel, Hi-Comm, Tel2Get, NTSys, and Xylux. He serves as a Member on the boards of HiPay Porte Monnaie Electronic, Hi-Comm, Medef, CCBF, CCSF, AFPI, Berytech.
Abdallah is an Engineer in Data Processing from ENSIIE – ENST (Paris) and MBA at Insead.

Corine Kiame

Investment Manager

Corine is the Investment Manager at IM Capital since April 2015. She supervises the matching and insurance capital process and manages the work of the analytical team. Corine is responsible for IM Capital operations, including deal sourcing, investment project evaluation and valuation, business models validation, value creation, mentoring, and supervision of exits from investments.
Prior to joining IM Capital, Corine was a Director at SHUAA, UAE, where her responsibilities included Product Development, Project Management, and Operations. In 2006 and 2007, Corine worked as an assistant fund manager on several regional funds representing $1 Billion in AUMs. Corine holds a Masters from Paris IX Dauphine, an Executive Certification from HBS with emphasis on PEVC, an Executive Certification from MIT, through IM Capital, with emphasis on Venture Mentorship, is a member of LLWB, a member Seeders LWAF Angel group and RTE3.

Mohamad A. Jaroudi

Deputy Country Manager - Arab Bank Lebanon

Mohammad holds the position of Deputy Country Manager at Arab Bank. Previously, he was Head of Private Banking Strategy at Arab Bank. His career path encompassed the positions of Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, Relationship Manager - Private Banking at Banque Audi, Relationship Manager - Corporate and Investment Banking at Saudi Investment Bank, as well as Relationship Manager - Commercial Lending at Bank Audi.
Mohammad is the Chairman of the Board of Arab Investment Bank since 2011 and he serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of Berytech since 2012.
Mohammad received a Master in Business and Finance from the Lebanese American University in 1998.

Alain Bejjani

CEO, Majid El Futaim Holding

Alain has built a distinguished career at Majid Al Futtaim. He was formerly the Chief Corporate Development and Brand Officer at Majid Al Futtaim Holding, and Vice President (Legal) and Head of Business Development at Majid Al Futtaim Properties.
Prior to that, Alain served as Executive Vice Chairman of the Investment & Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) and a founding partner of the Bejjani - Melkane - Rached law offices. He is a board member of the Lebanese Chapter of the Young Arab Leaders and the Lebanese Economic Forum, a member of the Beirut Bar Association, and an executive committee member of the Lebanese International Business Council.
Alain holds a Bachelor’s Degree in civil law and a Master’s in Civil and Corporate Law from Université Paris XII.

Sami Beydoun

Compliance & Advisory

Sami is currently the co-founder and managing partner of Berytech fund, and the co-founder and vice chairman of Berytech fund II. He spent most of his career with major US investment banks, namely Merrill Lynch, EF Hutton, Shearson American Express and Lehman Brothers, in Beirut, New York, and London.
He has a diploma in Law & Economics from Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut.

Sami Saad

Investment Associate

Prior to joining IM Capital, Sami worked for more than 9 years in the Lebanese Banking Sector. The last position he held was Corporate Relationship Manager at Bank Audi. He managed a portfolio of 30+ Lebanese corporations operating in diverse economic sectors.

Sami is also a part-time Instructor at the American University of Beirut. He handles the recitation sessions of a Microeconomics Course at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.

He holds an MA in Financial Economics from the American University of Beirut and a BA in Economics from Saint Joseph University Beirut.

Ghida Makarem

Administrative Officer

Ghida currently holds the position of Administrative Officer at IM Capital. She has four years of professional experience in business management & administration.
Prior to joining IM Capital, she was a Senior Collaborative Provider at the Modern University for Business and Science.
She holds a Master's Degree in Project Management from Cardiff Metropolitan University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations from the American University of Science and Technology.

Nourdine Khalifeh

Senior Program Executive

Nourdine currently holds the position of Senior Program Executive at IM Capital.
Prior to joining IM Capital, Nourdine worked closely with regional corporates and government entities at ArabNet, to create platforms and programs for sourcing innovation and creating commercial opportunities for new technologies. Furthermore, Nourdine was responsible for business development and acquiring sponsors and partners for ArabNet's annual conferences in Beirut, Dubai, Kuwait and Riyadh. Nourdine’s portfolio includes partnering with (and not limited to) Central Bank of Lebanon, Saudi SME Authority, Smart Dubai, OMD, Pepsi, Thomson Reuters, STC, Touch, and Bank Audi.

Nourdine has extensive experience in social business and capacity development as he was part of the PPD Program launch by Loyac, Horsh Beirut Advocacy campaigns by Nahnoo, and was a volunteer in Red Cross Youth Club.

Antoun Mouawad

Investment Associate

Antoun currently holds the position of Investment Associate at IM Capital.
Prior to joining the fund, Antoun was a corporate banker for more than 10 years dealing with a diversified portfolio of companies and working on projects covering a wide range of industries and sectors including project finance, real estate, media.

Antoun is also an active member in his community through Rise Up, a Lebanese NGO, where he acts as a business advisor for affected MSMEs.
He holds an MBA from ESA Business School, ESCP Europe and a BA in Banking & Finance from Notre Dame University.

Randa Chebaro Safah

Manager | Office of Group CEO, Bank Audi sal

A seasoned banker, Randa is the Manager at the Office of the Group Chief Executive Officer at Bank Audi. Prior to that, she handled the positions of Group Coordinator at the Office of the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Corporate Finance Analyst at the Corporate Finance Department.

Anais-Amber Samaha

In-House Legal Counsel

Anais holds the position of In-House Legal Counsel at IM Capital.
Prior to joining IM Capital, Anais acquired more than 3 years of work experience in a variety of sectors. She began at a practice specializing in startup and tech law, where she worked closely with entrepreneurs, investors and other stakeholders of the ecosystem. She advised startups on the optimal legal structure that fit their model and vision, conducted complex due diligences and participated in investment negotiations with social funds. Finally, she worked closely with an accelerator towards the creation of a social fund in Lebanon. She went on to join another leading Lebanese law firm, where she worked primarily on cyber-security joint ventures.

Anais is passionate about social work and has extensive experience working with various NGOs and social initiatives aiming to make a positive impact. She holds a double degree in Law and Political Science from Saint Joseph University.

Raya Boutros

Senior Communication & Outreach Executive

Holder of a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Raya Boutros is a Communication & PR professional with more than 7 years of experience in the Communication industry.

Raya has worked on several accounts, developing communication strategies, building a strong reputation for corporate and consumer clients, planning offline and digital campaigns, handling media relations, managing digital communication and influencer marketing, creating social media content strategies. Her client portfolio was diversified covering different industries including pharmaceuticals, healthcare innovation, environment, banking and finance, education, hospitality, electronics.

For Raya, Passion, Determination and Commitment are the 3 keys to success.