Our Pillars
The team behind Palm Ventures
Our Team
Manaf Asfour is a General Partner at Palm Ventures. Since beginning his venture capital career in 2017, he has built experience across fundraising, investment execution, portfolio support, and exits.
Over the course of his venture capital career, Manaf has raised and managed two venture capital funds and led investments in 37 early-stage technology companies across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Egypt, the UK, and the US. He has worked closely with founders from investment through scale, supporting portfolio companies across strategy, fundraising, governance, and growth.
Prior to venture capital, Manaf founded an IoT analytics startup in Madrid, where he gained firsthand experience building a technology company. Earlier in his career, he worked in corporate finance at Royal Jordanian Airlines, where he advised on aircraft acquisition transactions and a US$100 million capital raise. He also worked as an investment banker at AB Invest, advising on landmark IPOs, bond issuances, and mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value of several hundred million dollars.
Manaf holds an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid.
Manaf Asfour
General Partner
Dr. Talal Aljedaibi
Investment Committee
Redwan Abudawood
General Partner
Eng. Redwan Abudawood is a Co-Founder and General Partner of Palm Ventures. He is an experienced Fund Manager and Board Member with a deep track record across venture capital and entrepreneurship. Active in the Saudi tech ecosystem since 2012, he has operated across multiple market cycles as a two-time founder, establishing MyMajor101 in 2012 and SmartBooking in 2016.
Across his venture career, Redwan has led two national multi-million SAR commercialization projects and advised over 25 startups, building strong pattern recognition around founder performance and execution risk. In collaboration with Dr. Yassir Nasief, he established Palm Ventures, successfully raising millions of dollars and backing 25 startups across MENA and North America while supporting portfolio companies in securing additional millions in follow-on capital.
Prior to Palm Ventures, his industrial career included a six-year tenure at YANPET, a SABIC and ExxonMobil JV, where he managed one of its largest olefins production facilities.
Redwan holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with minors in Chemistry and Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, completed on a SABIC Scholarship.
Ben Stein
Investment Committee
Asjid Hayat
Investment Director
