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Markaz Brings Investment Perspective to Women-Led Ventures Seeking to Scale
(MENAFN- TRACCS) Kuwait, 5 October 2026: Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz" concluded its participation in the Women Shaping Wealth Summit 2026, held on 28 and 29 September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Deena AlRefai, Executive Vice President and Head of Wealth Management and Business Development at Markaz, represented Markaz and served on the Demo Day judging panel.
The women delegates representing Markaz at the summit also included Rasha Othman, Executive Vice President, Investment Banking; Sondos Saad, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications; and Lisa Amin, Head of European Real Estate Business Development, International Real Estate.
The Summit’s two-day Live Demo Day connected women founders directly with angel investors, venture capital firms and investment decision-makers, giving participating ventures an opportunity to present their businesses, receive investor feedback and strengthen their understanding of what is required to attract capital.
Markaz contributed an institutional investment perspective to the evaluation process, drawing on its experience in wealth management and assessing investment opportunities. During the judging process, AlRefai focused on the clarity of each business model, its relevance to market needs, scalability, potential to create sustainable value and readiness to attract appropriate capital.
AlRefai said: “From an institutional investor’s perspective, innovation is only the starting point. Turning an idea into an investable proposition requires a clear business model, a strong understanding of the market, scalability and a credible path to sustainable value creation. Demo Day gave us the opportunity to engage directly with women-led ventures and assess how effectively their solutions address real needs across wealth, investment and financial services.”
She added: “Financial institutions and investors can help women-led ventures become better prepared to access capital by translating investment criteria into practical guidance. Clear feedback on business-model strength, scalability and investor expectations can help founders identify readiness gaps and focus on the capabilities required for their next stage of growth. Drawing on Markaz’s experience in wealth management and evaluating investment opportunities, we sought to make that contribution through the judging process.”
This engagement builds on Markaz’s contributions to regional platforms that bring together entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts. At MoneyTech 2025, Markaz served as Strategic Partner for the fourth consecutive year, with AlRefai joining a panel exploring the needs of the next generation of founders and investors and their evolving wealth management requirements. Markaz also supported GCC Connect: E2I – Kuwait 2026 as Gold Sponsor, contributing to discussions on startup financing, innovation ecosystem development and connecting entrepreneurs with capital and expertise.
Across these platforms, Markaz applies its investment expertise to advance professional dialogue and knowledge exchange, while helping promising ventures better understand the requirements of growth and institutional investment. This supports the development of innovative ideas into scalable businesses capable of creating long-term value
The women delegates representing Markaz at the summit also included Rasha Othman, Executive Vice President, Investment Banking; Sondos Saad, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications; and Lisa Amin, Head of European Real Estate Business Development, International Real Estate.
The Summit’s two-day Live Demo Day connected women founders directly with angel investors, venture capital firms and investment decision-makers, giving participating ventures an opportunity to present their businesses, receive investor feedback and strengthen their understanding of what is required to attract capital.
Markaz contributed an institutional investment perspective to the evaluation process, drawing on its experience in wealth management and assessing investment opportunities. During the judging process, AlRefai focused on the clarity of each business model, its relevance to market needs, scalability, potential to create sustainable value and readiness to attract appropriate capital.
AlRefai said: “From an institutional investor’s perspective, innovation is only the starting point. Turning an idea into an investable proposition requires a clear business model, a strong understanding of the market, scalability and a credible path to sustainable value creation. Demo Day gave us the opportunity to engage directly with women-led ventures and assess how effectively their solutions address real needs across wealth, investment and financial services.”
She added: “Financial institutions and investors can help women-led ventures become better prepared to access capital by translating investment criteria into practical guidance. Clear feedback on business-model strength, scalability and investor expectations can help founders identify readiness gaps and focus on the capabilities required for their next stage of growth. Drawing on Markaz’s experience in wealth management and evaluating investment opportunities, we sought to make that contribution through the judging process.”
This engagement builds on Markaz’s contributions to regional platforms that bring together entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts. At MoneyTech 2025, Markaz served as Strategic Partner for the fourth consecutive year, with AlRefai joining a panel exploring the needs of the next generation of founders and investors and their evolving wealth management requirements. Markaz also supported GCC Connect: E2I – Kuwait 2026 as Gold Sponsor, contributing to discussions on startup financing, innovation ecosystem development and connecting entrepreneurs with capital and expertise.
Across these platforms, Markaz applies its investment expertise to advance professional dialogue and knowledge exchange, while helping promising ventures better understand the requirements of growth and institutional investment. This supports the development of innovative ideas into scalable businesses capable of creating long-term value
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