Venture Partner · Dubai
Rateb H. Rabi
Rateb H. Rabi is a venture partner at Zeytoon Ventures, based in Dubai. He is Founder and CEO of Al Wasl Ventures, a founder ecosystem platform across the GCC and Levant whose flagship, Founders Majlis, runs chapters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. For six years he founded and led Intersect Innovation Hub, backed by Bank of Palestine, where he structured the SAFE Palestine SPV and, with Rise Palestine, mobilized $5.4M into 29 startups. He co-founded the International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Palestine (ICEP), led the first Palestinian Pavilion at GITEX, and managed innovation grants at the EU Representative Office in Jerusalem. Earlier, at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, he received the State Department’s Superior Meritorious and Meritorious Honor Awards. Rateb is a MELA Fellow and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Al-Quds University, including a master’s in political science and diplomatic studies.
Why I’m here
I’ve spent my career on one question: what does it actually take for a Palestinian founder to scale? Talent was never the gap. Palestine has never been short of it. Founders need the right program at the right stage, capital that understands their context, and markets big enough for their ambition.
At Intersect I built that system and watched it work. Our founders went on to raise, hire, and expand into the UAE.
At Zeytoon, my role is the Gulf bridge. The UAE has the capital, corporates, and government partners to turn a strong startup into a regional one. I know those rooms, and how to get the right founders into them.
Palestine builds. The Gulf scales. I architect the path from one to the other.