News

Dubai Investors Join “The Final Pitch” In Reality Show’s Middle East Debut

Asia’s longest-running business reality show will air in Dubai with a powerhouse panel of judges to fund and mentor local entrepreneurs.

Published

1 year ago

May 16, 2025

Nour Nasir

top dubai investors join the final pitch in reality show's middle east debut

Dubai will become the new stage for entrepreneurial ambition as four of its top business leaders are confirmed as investor-judges for the Middle East debut of The Final Pitch, Asia’s longest-running business reality series.

With a background in industries including digital transformation, real estate, clean tech, fintech, and venture capital, the newly named investor panel includes Cypher Capital Founding Partner and Phoenix Group Co-Founder Bijan Alizadeh; renowned real estate figure Dr. Mohanad Alwadiya, also known as “The Wolf of Real Estate”; Incubayt Investments Founding Partner Sami Khoreibi, and Jigar Sagar, Founder of Triliv Holdings and a strategic advisor to regional governments.

The Final Pitch will keep its established format, giving selected entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their businesses directly to the experienced judges. As well as access to capital, the show promises mentorship, exposure to new networks, and insight into real-world business operations. Founders will receive strategic guidance from the judges, who will open the doors of their companies to support startup development.

John Aguilar, creator and host of The Final Pitch and founder of Dragon’s Nest, called Dubai “one of the most exciting places in the world to build and grow a business right now,” adding that the UAE edition is about connecting founders with meaningful investment, mentorship, and opportunities that support the country’s vision for a knowledge-based economy.

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The series, produced by Dragon’s Nest in collaboration with Ti22 Films, will begin filming in June 2025 across well-known Dubai locations. Applications are now open to startup founders both within the UAE and internationally, offering them the chance to appear on the show and accelerate their growth.

Entrepreneurs interested in applying can submit their pitches through the show’s official website. The application window closes on May 27, 2025.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 days ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.