Waleed Al Ballaa

Waleed Alballaa is Managing Partner of Sukna Ventures, a Riyadh-based early-stage VC firm backing tech companies across Saudi Arabia and MENA. A builder first, he spent eight years as a Silicon Valley engineer at Microsoft, Cadence, Conexant and Skyworks, then eight in operating roles at Elm.

One of the first movers in Saudi venture, he co-founded Riyadh Angel Investors, was a founding member of the Saudi Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, and co-hosted Thmanyah's "Assouq" podcast. He serves on several government committees shaping the Kingdom's innovation ecosystem.

He is an independent director at Tap Payments Saudi, sirar by stc, SAPTCO's Digital Mobility Solutions and GOSI's Masdr, and represents Sukna on Classera's board. He holds a BSc from King Saud University and an MSc from Oregon Health & Science University, both in Computer Science.