Hasan Haider
Founder and Managing Partner of Plus VC, Hasan Haider joined us to dive into venture‑capital strategy across the MENA region and how early‑stage investing is evolving in emerging tech ecosystems.
#40 - Hassan Haider : The MENA Golden Age is Here : From Angel Bets to Billion-dollar IPOs
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify & Youtube.
Hasan Haider has built a distinguished track record as a venture investor focused on tech and tech‑enabled companies in the Middle East and North Africa. According to Forbes Middle East, he is ranked among the region’s “Top Venture Capitalists 2024” after founding Plus VC in 2020; the firm now supports over 100 companies including Breadfast, Foodics, Harmonica and more, with Haider personally investing in more than 250 startups over the last five years.
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Biography
Haider began his career in investment banking and finance in the Gulf before transitioning into startup investing. He co‑founded Bahrain’s first angel‑investment network, Tenmou, and later served as Managing Partner for the MENA region at 500 Startups, where he helped the fund become one of the most active in early‑stage deals across the region.
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In creating Plus VC, Haider brought together his founder‑operating experience with investing, establishing a seed fund dedicated to backing frontier entrepreneurs in MENA and its diaspora. StartMENAUp+1
Thought Leadership
Haider frequently speaks on how early‑stage investing in emerging markets differs from Silicon Valley, emphasizing founder execution ability and the importance of regional context. In a recent Entrepreneur Middle East interview, he highlighted three fundamentals for founders raising their first rounds: studying the journey, building a clear story, and leveraging warm introductions. Entrepreneur
At Plus VC, his investment mantra underscores backing founders with a “bias toward execution”—those who demonstrate speed and hustle rather than just big visions. StartMENAUp+1
Haider is widely regarded as a key driver of the growing MENA tech ecosystem, advocating for broader capital access, more founder support, and raising regional visibility in the global startup‑investor landscape.