Ayman Ismail is an international expert in entrepreneurship, venture capital, fintech and economic development. He is the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor at the American University in Cairo School of Business and the founding director of the AUC Venture Lab, AUC Angels and AUC Innovation Hub.

Education: 

Dr. Ismail is a former Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He received his PhD in International Economic Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and an MBA from the American University in Cairo, and a master’s degree in city planning and geographic information systems from MIT. He completed executive education programs at Harvard Kennedy School, Oxford University and Georgetown University.

Academia: 

Dr. Ismail is the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor at the American University in Cairo School of Business. His areas of research and expertise focus on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance in emerging markets, entrepreneurship and innovation policy, and economic development in the MENA region. He is the lead author of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports on Egypt and the MENA region. GEM is the largest global study of entrepreneurship conducted annually to assess entrepreneurial activities, aspirations and attitudes of individuals across more than 100 countries. He has designed several entrepreneurship education programs in the region and has introduced the first Arabic language Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on entrepreneurship with more than 100,000 registered students. He is also active in executive education for corporate and open enrollment programs targeting senior executives on issues of strategic and entrepreneurial management.

As the Founding Director of the AUC Venture Lab (V-Lab), Dr. Ismail led its vision and operations over the past 10 years. Today, V-Lab has accelerated more than 374 startups, including the first $1+ billion Middle East unicorn to list on Nasdaq. V-Lab startups collectively raised more than $356 million in investments from 76 global investors and created more than 12,000 jobs. V-Lab also established the first FinTech acceleration program in the region. Through partnerships with corporations and international organizations, V-Lab accelerates startups through their journey of growth and investments. V-Lab was recognized several times as the top accelerator in Africa and MENA.

Previously (2011-14), he led the School’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP), which contributed to the creation of an entrepreneurship ecosystem at AUC and Egypt and created 40+ community partnerships and impacted 6,000+ young entrepreneurs.

Professional: 

Dr. Ismail has a broad multidisciplinary experience in entrepreneurship, economic development, business strategy and technology based on professional practice and academic research. Previously, he was a co-founder and Managing Partner at Enovio Consulting, a US-based management & strategy consulting firm. Prior to that, he was a consultant in McKinsey & Company’s Business Technology Office based in New York. He has advised senior management in leading Fortune 100 companies, fast-growing startups, government agencies, and non-profits on key organization, operations and technology issues. He has also consulted and conducted research for international organizations such as the World Bank, IFC, UNDP, African Development Bank, UNCTAD, USAID, GIZ, as well as multiple US government agencies.

Ayman Ismail is an international expert in entrepreneurship, venture capital, fintech and economic development. He is the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor at the American University in Cairo School of Business and the founding director of the AUC Venture Lab, AUC Angels and AUC Innovation Hub.

Entrepreneurship: 

Dr. Ismail is a co-founder, angel investor or board member of several fast-growing startups, including: PayMob Solutions (fintech – acceptance and mobile payment infrastructure) and Klickit (fintech – education sector payments). He is the Chairman of the Board of Egypt Ventures. Previously, he was a board member at AbuDhabi Islamic Consumer Finance, Tamweely Microfinance, and CVentures, the corporate venture capital fund of CIB Bank. He has mentored and supported many entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs through AUC Venture Lab, Nahdet el Mahrousa, Endeavor and other support organizations. He is a member of the global advisory board for the Babson Collaborative for Entrepreneurship Education.

Recognitions:

 In 2012, Dr. Ismail was selected as a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Dr. Ismail was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Faculty Service Award by AUC (2018), the Excellence in Teaching Award (2015) and the Excellence in Service Award (2013, 2017) by the AUC School of Business. He was also recognized as a Digital Education Pioneer by the AUC Center for Learning and Teaching (2019).

Community Service: 

He is a co-founder and member the Board of Directors of Nahdet El-Mahrousa, a leading non-governmental/non-profit organization incubating social entrepreneurs and community initiatives targeting social, economic and cultural development in Egypt. He is also an advisory board member for the Egyptian FinTech Association and an active Endeavor mentor, advising high-impact entrepreneurs and their startup ventures in Egypt. Endeavor is a global non-profit supporting high-impact entrepreneurship as the leading force for sustainable economic development.