Abdulla Elyas

Abdulla Elyas is Saudi Chairman and co-founder of Careem, the MENAP region's everyday Everything App which started off as a pioneer of the ride hailing economy and was acquired by Uber in 2020. Abdulla’s cloud-based mapping and delivery start-up he co-founded, enwani, was acquired by Careem in 2014. Abdulla is passionate about building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Middle East, focused on fast scaling businesses that leave significant impact on society. Abdulla is Saudi born and raised in Germany. He serves as board member at the Saudi Arabian SME Authority, at the Saudi Arabian SME Bank, at Bupa Arabia, at Endeavor KSA as well as at the EduTech start-up Noon. Abdulla is also chairing the governmental initiative to enable five Saudi unicorns by 2025 and is a regional angel investor. Previously, he led management consulting engagements in Europe, the US, South East Asia and the Middle East. He graduated with an MSc in Computer Science and holds a PhD in Business Administration from RWTH Aachen in Germany.