Abbas Kazmi

Abbas Kazmi is a multi award winning serial entrepreneur and investor who founded his first of several successful companies at 16. Abbas has been chosen as a Forbes 30Under30 Standout, as a Maserati 100, as one of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards Entrepreneurs' Champions of the Year, and as one of startups.co.uk’s Young Entrepreneurs of the Year and Business Growth Enablers of the Year, to name just a few amongst many other awards. He has been appointed as a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Fellow, focussing on youth entrepreneurship and empowerment in MENA, and as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Ex-BlackRock working across EMEA and the US, Abbas co-founded both the Oxford Accelerator and $100 million VC fund Collegiate Capital, and an IC member of, advisor to and LP investor in several funds in Europe including BlackWood Ventures. He is now co-founder of the first VC fund between MENA and Israel, off the back of the Abraham Accords.

Recently he was recognised and selected by the UAE's Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as an Arab Youth Pioneer. He is very passionate about web3, the metaverse and blockchain technology and has been in the space since 2014, investing in and building many exciting projects. He advises the UK Government as a co-founding Advisory Board Member of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Metaverse and Web 3.0. He is also a Helena Group Fellow and one of the youngest fellows at the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce: FRSA.

An academic scholar both at Westminster School and Oxford University and a VC Fellow at London Business School’s Newton Venture Program, Abbas is Chairman of the illustrious Oxford Guild, which he has built into the largest university society in the world and where he has hosted a wide range of high profile guests from multiple major CEOs and Nobel Prize winners, to the likes of Kanye West, Woody Harrelson and many more. He is also co-founder of the All In startup diversity pledge, the Global Fintech & Blockchain Conference, Europe2SiliconValley Trip and the Spirited Network Covid-19 relief non-profit platform. He regularly judges leading startup competitions such as MIT Innovators Under 35 and speaks at top universities and conferences globally such as the World Economic Forum Annual Summit at Davos, Forbes 30Under30 Summit, Milken Institute MENA Summit and many more.

Not an active LinkedIn user - to contact please email [email protected]