Areije Al Shakar

Areije Al Shakar is one of the most prominent figures in Bahrain's venture capital and startup ecosystem, with over two decades of experience in banking and VC. She began her career in international finance, holding treasury, investment management and advisory roles at Lehman Brothers (London and Dubai), and worked in senior positions at BNP Paribas, Citibank and Investcorp before moving into development finance and venture capital in Bahrain.

At Bahrain Development Bank (BDB), she served as Senior Vice President heading the Development Services Division and later as Head of Innovation. In these roles she helped build much of BDB's entrepreneur-support infrastructure, including the Rowad Program (a holistic entrepreneur support platform) and the SeedFuel-Rowad startup funding program. She was appointed Director and Fund Manager of the Al Waha Fund of Funds — a US$100 million venture capital fund of funds launched by BDB, which closed in June 2018 and is regarded as the first active VC fund of funds in the region.

In July/August 2024, Bapco Energies launched BeVentures, its corporate venture capital arm, and appointed Al Shakar as its founding Chief Executive Officer. BeVentures invests in transformative energy technologies to support Bahrain's low-carbon transition and economic diversification.

She is a Kauffman Fellow (Class 24) — the first from Bahrain and the first woman in the GCC to earn the fellowship — mentored during the program by Fadi Ghandour (Wamda) and Marc Benioff (Salesforce). She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from SOAS, University of London, and is a certified business coach and mentor (Chartered Management Institute, UK). She is a frequent media commentator and columnist for outlets including CNBC, Entrepreneur and Arabian Business, and was named among Bahrain's Most Influential Women (Business in Gulf, 2020).

• Fund-of-funds model: Al Waha deploys capital as a limited partner into established regional VC firms, which then back startups — "it's not just us investing into a regional venture capital fund…but that we can do much more for them."
• Believes VC is "the asset class of the future," arguing the region must shift from traditional real estate investing toward technology: "it's all about trust and belief… that technology will revolutionize whatever industry."
• Stage: Seed, Series A and Series B (through portfolio managers), with openness to later-stage.
• Geography: "Primary target are MENA-based startups," while the funds she backs are free to pursue opportunities abroad.
• Sector emphasis on fintech, citing Bahrain's regulatory sandbox and crypto/digital-asset framework as competitive advantages; at BeVentures, focus shifts to energy transition and low-carbon technology.
• Value beyond capital: emphasizes traction, deal-flow coordination, talent identification and connecting portfolio companies to expansion partners via Bahrain's Economic Development Board.