Issa Aghabi has been focused on finance and investments, especially Venture Capital, since 2004. He began his career in investment banking and transitioned to the MENA Venture Capital space in 2006 as a founding member of Accelerator Technologies, one of the first venture funds in the Arab world. He has since held numerous roles, including M&A consultant at Yahoo!, Head of Investment at N2V (a regional Venture Builder), and Head of Investments and Venture Capital at twofour54.Before founding Access Bridge Ventures, Issa headed IFC’s Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, and Europe’s venture investments from both a Direct and Indirect (accelerators and fund of fund) perspective. He also supported the World Bank with key programs with various governments in the Middle East, including Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt.Issa's track record before launching Access Bridge Ventures includes: investing in 75+ direct and indirect investment deals (from $100K to $25M per transaction), managing over $150M in MENA Venture funds, launching the UAE’s first Accelerator, exiting 6+ MENA-based deals (e.g Souq, Mumzworld, Jawaker, Vezeeta, Intaj, SAE), supporting 2 IPOs, and much more.Currently, Issa is the founder and managing partner of Access Bridge Ventures, a leading early-stage MEPAP-focused Venture Fund based in the UAE, with a mandate to invest in Pre-Series A transactions across the region. The fund has invested in over 25 companies to date and is growing.