Noor Sweid: Global Ventures Founder and UAE Investor

Introduction

Noor Sweid is a Syrian-British entrepreneur, investor and business leader based in the United Arab Emirates. She is best known as the founder and managing partner of Global Ventures, a UAE-based venture capital company that invests in technology businesses across emerging markets.

Her career is different from that of many traditional investors. Before entering venture capital, she worked as a business operator, helped a major company expand internationally, led an initial public offering and created her own wellness company.

As of July 2026, she continues to lead Global Ventures. She also serves on the board of the Global Private Capital Association and supports the development of the Middle East’s technology investment industry.

Noor Sweid Quick Facts

Fact	Verified Information
Full Name	Noor Sweid
Known For	Founding Global Ventures
Current Role	Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures
Profession	Venture capitalist, entrepreneur and author
Professional Base	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Nationality	Syrian-British
Main Industry	Venture capital and technology investment
Education	Boston College and MIT Sloan
Former Public Role	Chief Investment Officer at Dubai Future Foundation
Former Company	Depa
Business Founded	ZenYoga
Book	Coming of Age
Television Work	Investor on Shark Tank Dubai

Who Is Noor Sweid?

Noor Sweid is a business leader who has worked across company management, entrepreneurship and venture capital.

She founded Global Ventures in 2018. The firm invests in founders who are building technology companies in the Middle East, Africa and other emerging markets.

Its investments are designed to support companies that have the potential to solve important problems in areas such as financial services, healthcare, education, agriculture and business technology.

Global Ventures describes itself as a UAE-based venture capital firm investing in founders across emerging markets. Current professional profiles identify Sweid as its founder and managing partner.

Why Is Noor Sweid Famous?

She is mainly famous for three parts of her career:

1. Founding and leading Global Ventures.
2. Helping Depa grow into a large international business.
3. Supporting technology founders across the Middle East and Africa.

She has also become more widely recognised through her appearances as an investor on Shark Tank Dubai.

Forbes Middle East reported that she appeared in the first and second seasons of the programme. The same publication ranked her among its 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen in 2025.

Early Life and Education

Sweid has said that she was born in Boston and spent parts of her childhood in London, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Her family moved to Dubai when she was a teenager.

She later returned to the United States and studied finance and economics at Boston College.

Although her main subjects were related to business, she also learned BASIC programming and worked as a teaching assistant in computer engineering classes. This gave her early experience in both technology and finance.

After completing her undergraduate studies, she joined Accenture. She worked in biotechnology and pharmaceutical strategy consulting in the United States.

She later earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, graduating in 2005. These details were discussed by Sweid in a direct MIT Sloan interview.

Building Her Career at Depa

After completing her MBA, Sweid returned to the Middle East and joined Depa, an interior contracting company founded by her father.

Depa was already operating as a business, but it was much smaller than the international company it later became.

According to Sweid’s MIT Sloan interview, Depa had about $60 million in revenue and operated in six markets when she joined in 2005.

By 2008, the company had reached around $600 million in revenue and was working across 22 markets.

Her responsibilities included:

• Corporate governance
• Business expansion
• Private investment
• Cross-border acquisitions
• Investor relations
• Regulatory work
• Preparing the company for a public listing

In 2008, she helped lead Depa’s initial public offering on Nasdaq Dubai and the London Stock Exchange.

Sweid explained that working at Depa taught her how strong governance, access to capital and a clear business plan can help a company grow internationally.

Founding ZenYoga

While working at Depa, Sweid also created ZenYoga in 2006.

She founded the company because she wanted a professional place to practise yoga in Dubai. She believed other people in the city were looking for the same service.

ZenYoga became one of the region’s earliest professionally managed yoga and Pilates businesses.

According to her MIT Sloan interview, the company grew to serve about 6,000 individual students and worked with 72 teachers.

Sweid later sold ZenYoga to a private equity company in 2014.

The experience gave her direct knowledge of the problems founders face when they try to turn an idea into a stable and growing business.

Moving into Venture Capital

After her time at Depa, Sweid moved more deeply into investment and venture capital.

She became a managing partner at Leap Ventures, an investment firm connected to Dubai and Beirut.

She later served as chief investment officer at the Dubai Future Foundation. In that role, she worked within Dubai’s technology and innovation ecosystem.

These positions allowed her to study the challenges facing startup founders in the region. One major problem was limited access to capital for young technology companies.

Many founders had ideas, customers and growing businesses but could not find enough investment to expand into new countries.

This challenge helped shape her decision to create Global Ventures.

Founding Global Ventures

Noor Sweid founded Global Ventures in 2018.

The company focuses on technology businesses operating in emerging markets, especially across the Middle East and Africa.

Unlike investors that only support companies at the idea stage, Global Ventures often looks for businesses that already have customers, revenue and signs of market demand.

The firm then provides capital and support to help these companies expand.

Its work fits into the wider UAE startup ecosystem, where accelerators, investment firms and government-backed programmes are helping founders build new businesses.

As of July 2026, Global Ventures is deploying money from its third fund. Current profiles say the firm has a presence in markets including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

What Does Global Ventures Invest In?

Global Ventures invests in technology that can solve practical problems for people and companies.

Its areas of interest include:

• Financial technology
• Healthcare technology
• Education technology
• Agriculture technology
• Enterprise software
• Supply-chain technology
• Digital business services

Emerging markets often have large populations but fewer digital services than more developed economies.

This can create opportunities for technology companies to build services that are useful, affordable and able to grow quickly.

Sweid has explained that Dubai is an important base for this work because it connects the Middle East with Africa, Asia and Europe.

Her investment career is also part of a larger movement of businesses driving economic growth and innovation across the UAE.

Noor Sweid on Shark Tank Dubai

Sweid became known to a wider television audience after joining Shark Tank Dubai as an investor.

The programme allows entrepreneurs to present their companies to a group of business investors. The investors then decide whether they want to offer funding.

Forbes Middle East confirms that Sweid appeared as an investor in the first and second seasons.

Her role on the programme connects directly with her normal work. She studies business ideas, asks founders questions and decides whether a company has the potential to grow.

Coming of Age Book

In 2025, Sweid published Coming of Age: How Technology and Entrepreneurship Are Changing the Face of MENA.

The book examines the growth of technology and entrepreneurship across the Middle East and North Africa.

It looks at approximately 25 years of regional change and includes stories from founders working in areas such as fintech, health technology and agriculture technology.

The book also explains how new companies are helping the region create jobs, improve services and build new industries.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman wrote the foreword.

Awards and Industry Recognition

Sweid has received several forms of public recognition for her business and investment work.

Forbes included her in its World’s Top 50 Women in Tech selection in 2018.

In 2020, the World Economic Forum selected her for its Young Global Leaders community.

Forbes Middle East ranked her number 43 on its 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen list for 2025.

These recognitions relate mainly to her work in venture capital, technology investment and the growth of the Middle Eastern startup ecosystem.

Current Board Positions

As of July 2026, Sweid is a director of the Global Private Capital Association.

The organisation announced her appointment to its board in March 2026. She is also listed as a member of its Global Tech Council.

She was a founding chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association and remains listed on its board.

These roles allow her to support cooperation between investors and help improve professional standards in venture capital.

Publicly Confirmed Personal Life

Sweid has publicly said that she met her husband while studying at MIT Sloan.

They married shortly after she completed her MBA. She has also publicly confirmed that she has three sons.

She generally keeps the focus of her public work on entrepreneurship, investment, technology and company growth.

Noor Sweid’s Influence on UAE Entrepreneurship

Sweid’s importance comes from her experience on both sides of the investment process.

She has been:

• A consultant
• A company executive
• A founder
• An investor
• A public-sector investment leader
• A television investor
• An author

This range of experience helps her understand how a company moves from an early idea to an international business.

Her work also shows how venture capital is developing in the Middle East. In earlier years, many regional founders had to search outside the area for investment.

Today, firms such as Global Ventures are helping more companies raise capital closer to their home markets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Noor Sweid?

Noor Sweid is a Syrian-British entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author based in the UAE. She is the founder and managing partner of Global Ventures.

What is Noor Sweid known for?

She is known for founding Global Ventures, helping scale Depa, creating ZenYoga and appearing as an investor on Shark Tank Dubai.

What company did Noor Sweid found?

She founded Global Ventures in 2018. She also founded the ZenYoga wellness company in 2006.

What does Global Ventures do?

Global Ventures invests in technology companies across emerging markets, with a strong focus on the Middle East and Africa.

Where did Noor Sweid study?

She studied finance and economics at Boston College and later earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Did Noor Sweid work at Dubai Future Foundation?

Yes. She served as chief investment officer at the Dubai Future Foundation before establishing Global Ventures.

Is Noor Sweid on Shark Tank Dubai?

Yes. She appeared as an investor in the first and second seasons of Shark Tank Dubai.

What book did Noor Sweid write?

She wrote Coming of Age: How Technology and Entrepreneurship Are Changing the Face of MENA, published in 2025.

Conclusion

Noor Sweid is one of the best-known venture capital leaders working in the UAE and the wider Middle East.

Her career began in consulting before moving into company operations, entrepreneurship and investment. She helped Depa expand internationally, built and sold ZenYoga, worked at the Dubai Future Foundation and founded Global Ventures.

Today, her main role is helping technology founders gain the investment and support they need to grow across emerging markets.

Her work provides a clear example of how experienced business operators can become investors who understand the real challenges of building a company.