Lateefa Alwaalan

Lateefa Alwaalan, is an inventor, a serial entrepreneur who started her first company at the age of 16. She earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science from King Saud university (2006) and later gained experience in information technology from working at different companies. In 2011, Lateefa earned a Technology management MBA from University of Washington. Her passion for Arabic coffee drove her to reinterpret how Arabic coffee drinkers consumed it. She started her first steps in (Yatooq) by manufacturing readymade Arabic coffee blends, and then released the first automated Arabic coffee machine. Yatooq sold thousands of coffee machines across the GCC countries and the world. She also recently co-founded Aroom a company focused on developing technology for coffee vending machines. Lateefa received Arabs Women Awards Entrepreneur of the year 2014, and in 2015 she received EY entrepreneur of the year for Saudi Arabia. Forbes magazine listed Lateefa in the Kingdom’s most innovative leaders for 2013/2014/2015. More recently, Harvard Business School published a case study about Yatooq in Nov 2018. Her passion for women empowerment drove her to co-found CellA+ in 2012. A Saudi professional women’s network, which has about 3000 members. Lateefa acted as president of the network during 2015. Currently, Lateefa is the managing director for Endeavour Saudi, which is part of Endeavor’s global network. Being an Endeavour entrepreneur herself since 2014, she is driven by her belief in how endeavor supports high-potential companies can impact local economies positively. Lateefa serves as a board member in multiple companies and has been appointed as board member to the Riyadh chamber of commerce.