Walied Albasheer

Venture Investor · Serial Entrepreneur · Board Advisor · Startup Ecosystem Builder

Walied Albasheer is a Dubai-based venture investor and technology entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience founding, scaling and investing in technology companies across the UAE, GCC, Europe and Africa. He is Founder and Managing Partner of Intuitio Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in AI, data science, Industry 4.0 and Web3, and Founder and CEO of Inbound LLC, a Dubai-headquartered intelligent-mobility company whose edge AI platform runs across more than one hundred enterprise deployments in the region. He was a registered delegate across eight meetings of the ITU-T Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving between 2020 and 2022, sits on the UAE side of the UAE-Estonia and UAE-Finland business councils, and was named among the Global 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators (World CSR Congress, 2016) and Top 100 Sustainable CEOs (2017).

Walied Albasheer's entrepreneurial journey began in 1996, when he co-founded City Cyber Cafe in Pune, India. Three decades later, he is Founder and Managing Partner of Intuitio Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in AI, data science, Industry 4.0 and Web3, and Founder and CEO of Inbound LLC, a Dubai-headquartered intelligent-mobility and telematics company serving large fleet operators and public-sector institutions across the region.

Across the UAE, GCC, Europe and Africa, Walied Albasheer has built startup ecosystems, held board and governance roles inside multi-billion-dollar organizations, and mentored startups in the UAE continuously since 2011. Alongside the venture work runs a fifteen-year applied-AI record in mobility: computer vision for vehicle inspection and driver monitoring, an autonomous vehicle exhibited at the Roads and Transport Authority's own congress, and eight meetings of the ITU-T Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving as a registered delegate for a UAE company.

Current roles and recognition

Founder and Managing Partner, Intuitio Ventures
Founder and CEO, Inbound LLC, edge AI for intelligent mobility across the GCC
Board Advisor, Emirates Investment Group, a US$2B private equity group
Member, UAE side of the UAE-Estonia and UAE-Finland business councils
Registered delegate, ITU-T Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving, eight meetings 2020-2022
Venture Advisor, Founder Institute GCC
30+ years founding, scaling and investing in technology companies
Startup mentor in the UAE continuously since 2011
Global 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators, World CSR Congress (2016)
Top 100 Sustainable CEOs (2017)

Track record

2026 — Inbound Mobility Intelligence Platform. Edge AI for the GCC across seven modules — Connect, Pulse, Flow, Inspect, Vision, Commute and Telemetry — with fifteen years of operation and more than one hundred enterprise deployments across transport, aviation services and healthcare logistics.
2026 — Ethiopia Startup Ecosystem Enhancement Project. Named invitee to the Ecosystem Maturity Assessment Workshop for the Startup Ecosystem Enhancement Project in March 2026, convened by Boston Consulting Group for the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology and JICA, and subsequently to the stakeholder consultation on Ethiopia’s draft master plan. Investor mentor on the GIZ Kudu Acceleration Programme.
2025 — Intuitio Baseera launched at Biban 2025. Announced as CEO and board member of Intuitio Baseera, a joint venture with Baseera Smart Tech launched at Biban 2025 in Riyadh to support 10,000 innovators and digitise 4,000 factories. Source: Reported across six Arabic outlets, November 2025
2024 — UAE-Estonia Business Council. Member of the UAE-Estonia Business Council delegation from September 2024, attending the Council’s bi-annual meeting in Estonia on 30 and 31 October 2024. The Council was established at Expo 2020 Dubai. Source: Invest in Estonia — on the Council’s founding
2024 — UAE-Finland Joint Business Council and economic delegation. Represents Intuitio Ventures on the UAE side of the UAE-Finland Joint Business Council, convened under the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, whose first meeting was held in Helsinki in November 2024. Named to the Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Space Subcommittee of the UAE-Finland Joint Committee, and included in the UAE economic delegation to Finland of 21 and 22 November 2024. Source: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry
2024–2025 — Joint doctoral supervisory committee. Seated member of a joint PhD supervisory committee on autonomous vehicles spanning KU Leuven, United Arab Emirates University and Zayed University, from the committee’s formation in 2024 through the doctoral written report in December 2025.
2022 — Innovation programme, Sudan Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai. Managed the Innovation section of the Sudan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai from 5 January to 31 March 2022, across eleven recorded sessions covering digital transformation, the innovation and digital economy, a national hackathon and a startup accelerator showcase. Source: His own recording, Sudan Pavilion innovation programme
2022–2026 — Mentor, Founder Institute. Listed mentor across Founder Institute UAE, Dubai/GCC and Qatar cohorts from 2022 to 2026, and a named speaker on startup funding in the GCC in February 2024. Source: Founder Institute mentor profile · FI GCC 2026 cohort · FI Qatar Fall 2022 cohort · Startup Funding in GCC, Feb 2024
2021 — VC Lab, Cohort 4. Completed Cohort 4 of VC Lab, the fund-formation programme run by Decile Group.
2021–2025 — 32 venture jury sessions. Jury member across 32 Unicorn Battle, Unicorn Pitches and Unicorn CUP sessions with Startup.Network between April 2021 and July 2025, eleven of which have live public event pages. Additional jury roles at the Entrepreneurship World Cup and the Climate Tech World Cup at the DIFC Innovation Hub, and startup reviewer and mentor at Gitex North Star and the Sharjah Investor Lounge. Source: Unicorn Battle Asia, Jul 2021 · Unicorn Battle MENA, Jun 2022 · Crypto+NFT Unicorn Battle, Sep 2022 · Unicorn Battle Silicon Valley, Oct 2024
2020 — AI driver monitoring exhibited at UMEX and SimTEX. Inbound LLC exhibited its AI-based driver monitoring system at UMEX and SimTEX 2020 at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi, from 23 to 25 February 2020, within the pavilion of the Supreme Council for National Security. The exhibition was organised in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Defence under the theme "Manned-Unmanned Teaming in the Age of Smart Systems".
2020–2022 — Registered delegate, ITU-T Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving. Registered delegate across eight meetings of the ITU-T Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving, spanning the group’s full lifespan from May 2020 to its concluding session in September 2022, representing a UAE company. Participation extended across five ITU-T bodies. Not a chair, editor or author of a published deliverable. Source: ITU — FG-AI4AD (group page) · ITU-T Delegate Registration Service confirmations
2019 — Corporate staff transfer solution, 90 million passengers a year. Presented Inbound’s corporate staff transfer solution, serving 90 million passengers annually, at Telematics Dubai 2019. Source: Wialon (Gurtam)
2019 — Self-driving vehicle exhibited at the RTA congress. Exhibited a self-driving vehicle built on a Baidu Apollo development kit at the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, held at Dubai World Trade Centre on 15 and 16 October 2019 and convened by the Roads and Transport Authority.
2019 — Rapporteur and speaker, 7th Diaspora International Conference. Rapporteur for Session 2A and speaker in Session 7A, "Smart mobility for the mass", at the 7th Diaspora International Conference in Khartoum on 28 and 29 December 2019, convened by the World Association for Sustainable Development. Source: WASD programme · Recording of the session
2018 — AI vehicle inspection corridor. Designed and delivered an AI-based vehicle inspection corridor for a Dubai taxi operator, integrating automatic number plate recognition, 360-degree vehicle capture and third-party under-vehicle scanning into a single automated system. The corridor identifies each vehicle on entry and compares its condition against its own previous visit. Inbound LLC designed the corridor as a system and held integration, operation and maintenance responsibility; the under-vehicle scanner was supplied by a third party as a security product.
2018 — Tracking partner, EVRT Middle East. Inbound LLC provided real-time tracking for all participants in EVRT Middle East, a 2,000 km electric vehicle convoy across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman. Source: Wialon (Gurtam)
2018 — Smart mobility panel with Dubai RTA. Panellist on the opening panel, "Smart Mobility and Transportation: New Initiatives and Trends", at the Telematics Conference Middle East and Africa in Dubai on 22 March 2018, alongside Dr Ismail Zohdy, Chief Specialist and Programme Manager for Self-Driving Transport at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority. Source: Zawya
2018 — Second place, Dubai Smartpreneur 3.0. Second place in the third Dubai Smartpreneur Competition with an AI-based mobility venture, announced at the Arabnet Digital Summit on 1 May 2018. Source: Dubai Chamber release, carried by Zawya and MENA Herald
2017 — comma.ai openpilot — early adopter and community contributor. Early adopter and community contributor to openpilot, the open-source neural-network autonomous driving stack. Authored issue #112 in the openpilot repository and commented on issue #19 in the neo repository, both answered by the project maintainer, and ran openpilot road tests in Dubai in November 2017. Source: GitHub — commaai/openpilot #112 · GitHub — commaai/neo #19
2017 — Speaker, Machine Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles Summit. Twenty-minute presentation with Q&A at the RE·WORK Machine Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles Summit in Amsterdam on 28 June 2017, representing Inbound LLC. Source: RE·WORK speaker pass and event correspondence
2013 — Early UAE partner for Baltic telematics manufacturers. Early United Arab Emirates partner from 2013 for the Lithuanian telematics manufacturers Teltonika and Ruptela, for Baltic Car Equipment, and for UAB Gurtam, developer of the Wialon platform. Independent market research now identifies Teltonika and Ruptela among the leading providers in the UAE commercial vehicle telematics market.
2012 — Radical Innovation, MIT. Completed the Radical Innovation programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2011– — Continuous startup mentoring in the UAE since 2011. Fifteen years of continuous startup mentoring in the UAE, beginning in 2011 with Startup Weekend and continuing through accelerator, incubator and coaching programmes across the GCC.

Selected press

Dubai Civility Committee, 21 July 2026. Feature on Dubai’s autonomous taxi service, in which he speaks on camera about the city’s record of innovation. On-camera interview contributor.
Entrepreneur Middle East, 27 September 2025. Coverage of the Tech Innovation Forum 2025 in Dubai, where he was a panellist on "AI at the Centre of Regional Transformation". Named and quoted at length.
Al Dafrah TV, 21 October 2025. Interview segment within "مساء الإمارات" (Evening UAE), the channel's full daily episode — his segment starts around the 34-minute mark. Interview subject, timestamp confirmed by him.
VC React Podcast (VCpreneur), 13 February 2025. Episode 25, on new funds and the state of MENA venture capital. Listed guest.
Erdinc Ekinci, 17 July 2025. Featured conversation on venture capital trends and insights from early-stage-focus MENA VCs. Named and thanked as Founder and Managing Partner, Intuitio Ventures.
Fujairah TV, Undated broadcast. Interview segment on innovation and artificial intelligence. Named in the broadcaster’s own title as an innovation and AI expert.
Dubai TV, Undated broadcast. Interview segment on Intuitio Ventures. Interview subject · recording from his own archive.
Dubai Plus (Dubai Media Incorporated), 10 February 2022. Appearance on "مع إكسبو" (With Expo), a segment on Dubai Media Incorporated's official streaming platform during Expo 2020 Dubai. Programme appearance · recording from his own archive.
Dubai Chambers — Dubai Startup Hub, 2020. Filmed soundbite at Dubai Startup Hub Market Access 2020, published on the Dubai Chambers channel. Named in the title as Founder of Intuitio.
Al Emarat TV, February 2020. Live broadcast from the Inbound stand at UMEX 2020, in which the AI driver monitoring system was demonstrated and explained on air. Live broadcast from the stand.
Wialon (Gurtam), 29 November 2019. Recap of Telematics Dubai 2019, describing his presentation of a corporate staff transfer solution serving 90 million passengers a year. Named presenter, with photograph.
Sudan Knowledge, 28–29 December 2019. Recording of his Session 7A talk, "Smart mobility for the mass", at the 7th Diaspora International Conference in Khartoum. Speaker, published on the platform's own channel.
Dubai TV, Undated broadcast. Live interview presenting the Tesla Model X around the time of the vehicle’s GCC introduction. Named on screen · recording from his own archive.
Teslarati, 15 February 2017. Coverage of the Tesla UAE launch in Dubai, built around footage he recorded and published. The article names him and embeds his recording of Elon Musk’s keynote at the Armani Hotel. Credited as the video source.
The National, 13 January 2014. Profile of Stationery.ae and its founding team. Named and profiled as co-founder and CEO.
Wamda, 2 January 2014. Coverage of Stationery.ae bringing office supplies online in Dubai. Named as co-founder and CEO.
Be Efficient TV (Ahmed Al Kiremli), c. 2014–2015. Episode 44, a long-form interview on building a startup in Dubai — co-founders, licensing, capital and accelerators — drawing on his ventures since 1996. Interview subject.
Al Bayan, 19–20 December 2013. Report that Stationery.ae took first place in the Investment Pitch competition at the Abu Dhabi SME Conference. Named as founder and CEO, and quoted.
Gulf Business, 27 November 2013. Live coverage of the day Dubai won the Expo 2020 bid. Quoted as CEO of Inbound LLC.
Gulf News, November 2013. Business leaders on Dubai’s Expo 2020 award. Published under the spelling "Walied Al Basheer". Quoted at length as CEO of Inbound.

Recognition

Asian HR Leadership Award — Asian Leadership Awards (2016) Source: 2016 winners list
50 Most Impactful Social Innovators — World CSR Congress, presented at the Blue Dart World CSR Day, 5th Edition, Mumbai (2016)
Top 100 Sustainable CEOs — World CSR Congress (2017)
Second place, Dubai Smartpreneur 3.0 — Dubai Chamber, artificial intelligence category (2018)
Outstanding Leadership Award — Money 2.0 Conference (2022)
First place, Investment Pitch competition — Abu Dhabi SME Conference (2013) Source: Al Bayan

Areas of expertise

Venture Capital and Early-Stage Investment
Applied AI and Autonomous Systems
Startup Incubation and Acceleration
Board Governance and Advisory
Innovation and Emerging Technology (AI, IoT, V2X)
Intelligent Mobility and Telematics
Cross-Border Ecosystem Building (UAE, GCC, Europe, Africa)

Speaking topics

Venture Capital and Fund Formation for Emerging Markets
Building Startup Ecosystems and Pre-Seed Accelerators
AI in Mobility, Autonomous Driving and IoT
Startup to Scale-Up, Lessons from Seven Founded Companies
Cross-Border Entrepreneurship Across the UAE, GCC, Europe and Africa

Speaking record

Emergence 2025, Dubai, 6 May 2025 — Panellist. Venture capital and private equity panel. Source: Wholesale Investor (Instagram)
Tech Innovation Forum 2025, Dubai, 25 September 2025 — Panellist. "AI at the Centre of Regional Transformation". Source: Entrepreneur Middle East
GAICA — Global AI Congress Africa, Sousse, Tunisia, 17–19 November 2025 — Panellist. "Startup Growth and Fundraising: Strategies to Go from Startup to Scale-up", moderated by Moustapha Barro of Seedstars. Source: Global AI Congress (LinkedIn)
AIM Congress 2025, ADNEC, Abu Dhabi, 2025 — Moderator. Moderator, "High Tech Startups — The Technological Leap".
Venture 2028, In5, Dubai, 12 February 2025 — Organizer. Organizer, host and panellist.
Dubai Rising, In5, Dubai, 13 February 2025 — Organizer. Organizer, host and panellist.
Glamorous Afterwork Talkshow, Light Room, DIFC, Dubai, 16 August 2025 — Speaker. "30 Years of Innovation, Investment & Impact."
Startup Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 5–28 April 2024 — Speaker.
Innobiz-K Ethiopia Incubation Center, inauguration, ICT Park, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2024 — Speaker. KOICA-backed incubation centre, opening ceremony.
Dubai Sustainability Week, DIFC, Dubai, Undated — Speaker.
From Idea to Market, Ajman, Undated — Speaker.
Startup Funding in GCC: How to Raise Money, Founder Institute GCC, 6 February 2024 — Speaker. Source: Founder Institute
KUA Africa Forum, Park Hyatt, Zanzibar, Tanzania, 18–19 May 2024 — Panellist.
Founder Roadmap, Türkiye, Undated — Speaker.
AIM Congress, Abu Dhabi, Listed speaker since 2023 — Speaker. Distinguished Speakers circulation, 15th edition, March 2026.
Telematics Vilnius 2022, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2022 — Speaker.
VC Lab — Meet the Managers, Virtual, 3 August 2022 — Speaker. Presented Intuitio Ventures as part of the Meet the Managers series of the VC Lab fund manager cohort. Source: VC Lab
Telematics Dubai 2021, Dubai, 16 October 2021 — Speaker. Mobility in the post-pandemic world: autonomous last-mile delivery, MaaS and public transport trust. Source: Wialon (Gurtam)
UMEX and SimTEX, ADNEC, Abu Dhabi, 23–25 February 2020 — Exhibitor. AI driver monitoring, exhibited in the Supreme Council for National Security pavilion.
Smarter Mobility World LIVE, Online, 24 March 2020 — Speaker. Livestream session billed as Speaker, carrying footage from The Sustainable City in Dubai and a global Q&A. Source: LinkedIn
Telematics Dubai 2020, Dubai, 2020 — Panellist. "Adaptive telematics: overcoming challenges and finding opportunities in the new realities". Source: Wialon (Gurtam)
Emirates Post telematics bootcamp, United Arab Emirates, Undated — Speaker.
Telematics Dubai 2019, Dubai, November 2019 — Speaker. Corporate staff transfer solution serving 90 million passengers a year. Source: Wialon (Gurtam)
7th Diaspora International Conference, Khartoum, 28–29 December 2019 — Speaker. Session 2A rapporteur and speaker on "Smart mobility for the mass". Source: WASD
Telematics Conference Middle East and Africa, Dubai, 22 March 2018 — Panellist. Opening panel on smart mobility, with the Dubai RTA Self-Driving Transport programme lead. Source: Zawya
Belarusian television interview at TelematiX, Minsk, Belarus, 2018 — Speaker. Interviewed on camera in the conference hall.
RE·WORK Machine Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles Summit, Amsterdam, 28 June 2017 — Speaker. Twenty-minute presentation with Q&A, representing Inbound LLC.

Frequently asked questions

What speaking formats does Walied Albasheer offer?

Walied delivers keynote speeches (30-90 min), fireside chats, moderated panel discussions, corporate innovation workshops, startup bootcamps, and executive masterclasses. Recent engagements include the Global AI Congress Africa, the Tech Innovation Forum Dubai and AIM Congress Abu Dhabi. He tailors every engagement to the audience, whether startup founders, C-suite executives, or government ministers.

How do I book Walied for a keynote or workshop?

The easiest way is to email speaking@waliedalbasheer.com or use the contact form on this site. You can also schedule a discovery call directly via Calendly. For the best availability, reach out 3-6 weeks in advance. Walied is available for in-person engagements globally and virtual sessions in any timezone.

What is Walied's coaching approach and who is it for?

Walied works with startup founders at pre-seed through Series A, corporate intrapreneurs, and senior leaders navigating governance and innovation strategy. His methodology is hands-on and outcome-driven, drawing on mentoring startups in the UAE continuously since 2011 and on cohorts at Founder Institute UAE, Dubai/GCC and Qatar since 2022. Sessions are available 1-on-1, in small cohorts, or as intensive workshops.

What sectors and stages does Intuitio Ventures invest in?

As Founder and Managing Partner of Intuitio Ventures, Walied focuses on early-stage startups in AI, data science, Industry 4.0 and Web3, primarily serving the UAE and wider GCC market. Beyond capital, portfolio founders benefit from Walied's global network, strategic guidance, and ecosystem connections built through Founder Institute GCC.

Where is Walied Albasheer based, and which markets does he work in?

Walied Albasheer is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is active across the UAE, the wider GCC, Europe (including Estonia and Finland) and Africa. He sits on the UAE side of the UAE-Estonia Business Council and the UAE-Finland Joint Business Council, the latter convened under the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and was part of the UAE economic delegation to Finland in November 2024.

What are Walied's most notable achievements and awards?

Walied has been named one of the Global 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators (World CSR Congress, 2016) and one of the Top 100 Sustainable CEOs (2017), and is listed on the Asian Leadership Awards 2016 winners page. He took second place in Dubai Smartpreneur 3.0 with an AI mobility venture in 2018, and first place in the Investment Pitch competition at the Abu Dhabi SME Conference in 2013. He is Founder and Managing Partner at Intuitio Ventures and Founder and CEO of Inbound LLC, and completed the Radical Innovation programme at MIT in 2012 and VC Lab Cohort 4, the fund-formation programme run by Decile Group, in 2021.

How does Walied help founders become investor-ready?

Walied guides founders through the fundraising journey, including narrative and pitch deck development, business model review, and preparing for investor conversations. Drawing on his work as Managing Partner of Intuitio Ventures and on 32 venture jury sessions with Startup.Network between 2021 and 2025, he helps founders avoid common pitfalls and show up to investor meetings with confidence.

Does Walied Albasheer serve on boards or provide governance advisory?

Yes. Walied Albasheer has held board-level roles including Group CIO and Board Advisor at Enshaa PSC and Board Advisor to Emirates Investment Group, a US$2B private equity group. He is also a founding board member of Intuitio OÜ and a board member of Inbound LLC, and applies that governance experience, alongside 30 years of operating and investing, to his coaching and advisory work.

What is Walied Albasheer's background in applied AI and autonomous vehicles?

It runs to about fifteen years. He designed an AI vehicle inspection corridor for a Dubai taxi operator, combining automatic number plate recognition with 360-degree vehicle capture. He was an early adopter and community contributor to comma.ai's open-source openpilot autonomous driving stack in 2017, authoring issue #112 in the openpilot repository and running openpilot road tests in Dubai that November. He spoke at the RE·WORK Machine Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles Summit in Amsterdam in June 2017, shared a 2018 Dubai panel on smart mobility with the Roads and Transport Authority's Self-Driving Transport programme lead, exhibited a self-driving vehicle at the RTA's Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport in 2019, and exhibited an AI driver monitoring system at UMEX and SimTEX in Abu Dhabi in 2020. Today Inbound LLC runs the Inbound Mobility Intelligence Platform, seven edge AI modules deployed across more than one hundred enterprise sites.

Has Walied Albasheer taken part in international AI standards work?

Yes. He was a registered delegate across eight meetings of the ITU-T Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving, spanning the group's entire lifespan from May 2020 to its concluding session in September 2022, representing a UAE company. His participation extended across five ITU-T bodies. He was not a chair, editor or author of a published deliverable, and does not claim to have been.

Which business councils and government delegations does he serve on?

He represents Intuitio Ventures on the UAE side of the UAE-Finland Joint Business Council, convened under the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, whose first meeting was held in Helsinki in November 2024. He was named to the Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Space Subcommittee of the UAE-Finland Joint Committee, and was included in the UAE economic delegation to Finland of 21 and 22 November 2024. He has also been a member of the UAE-Estonia Business Council delegation since September 2024.

Contact

Dubai, United Arab Emirates · speaking@waliedalbasheer.com · LinkedIn