Women hold senior investment, finance and operational roles across Morocco’s venture capital industry. Some have founded investment firms, while others lead investment teams, support startups or manage the businesses behind the funds. Their careers span banking, entrepreneurship, technology and corporate finance.
This article introduces 24 women working across 17 organizations connected to Morocco’s startup investment market. Their responsibilities cover local and regional funds, corporate venture teams and programs serving Moroccan startups. The profiles appear alphabetically by first name.
Education and Earlier Careers of the 24 Women
International Education Extends Beyond Business Schools
The educational backgrounds in this selection span disciplines as well as countries. Hiba Mrani Alaoui graduated from HEC Paris, while Kenza Lahlou combined engineering studies at INSA Rouen with a master’s at ESSEC in Singapore, and Ghita Zniber completed Berkeley’s Le Bridge Fellows program. Scientific training also has a direct place in investment work: Ikram Labtaini’s engineering background and materials science doctorate underpin her assessment of technologies and intellectual property at UM6P Ventures. These paths show an ecosystem drawing on business, engineering and research expertise to evaluate both a startup’s commercial prospects and the technology behind them.
Experience in IPOs, Acquisitions and Buyouts Precedes Startup Investing
For several women in the selection, venture capital followed substantial careers financing and assessing established businesses. Salma Benaddou Idrissi worked on the IPOs of Risma and Sothema before co-founding Kalys Ventures; Jihad Maleh helped lead Amethis’ investment in CFG Bank through its exit; and Lamiaa El Amrani conducted transaction due diligence at PwC before joining UM6P Ventures. Dounia Boumehdi and Meriem Zairi similarly brought private-equity experience into startup investing. The common thread is not simply a finance background, but exposure to transactions that typically occur much later in a company’s development, connecting early-stage investment with experience in acquisitions, public listings and investor exits.
At Least a Quarter Have Built Businesses Outside Fund Management
At least six of the 24 women have built businesses outside fund management, and their entrepreneurial experience extends well beyond technology. Fatima-Zahra Bennani co-founded fintech and edtech ventures, Ghita Khaoulani co-founded marketplace Nebta, and Selma Ribica built and sold remittance business Lebara Money. Others took different routes: Nihal Grii co-founded food business Grimadiz, Meriem Zairi co-founded two agribusinesses, and Salma Benaddou Idrissi established advisory firm Burj Finance. Their careers challenge a neat division between founders and financiers. Within this group, investment experience overlaps with firsthand involvement in launching products, developing distribution, building service businesses and, in Ribica’s case, completing an entrepreneurial exit.
24 Women in Morocco’s Venture Investment Leadership
Dounia Boumehdi
Managing Director at MNF Ventures
Dounia Boumehdi has led MNF Ventures since 2013, drawing on more than 25 years in private equity and venture capital, including earlier roles at CDG Capital Private Equity and Upline Securities. Her work includes backing Moroccan technology companies through successive financing rounds, with retail technology startup z.systems among the businesses she has supported. She also chairs the seed investment commission of the Moroccan Private Equity Association, AMIC, and mentors entrepreneurs, extending her involvement beyond individual investments to the development of Morocco’s early-stage financing market.
Fatima-Zahra Bennani
Principal and Morocco Country Manager at Sawari Ventures
Fatima-Zahra Bennani helped launch CDG Invest’s 212 Founders program in 2019, leading its investment activity, managing more than 15 seed investments and supporting startups as they progressed toward Series A. Now responsible for Sawari Ventures’ Moroccan activity from Casablanca, she previously worked in private equity at Lazard in Paris and venture investing at Pentalabbs Ventures. She has also experienced entrepreneurship directly, co-founding Moroccan fintech Emabrouk and an education technology business before returning to institutional investing.
Ghita Khaoulani
Investment Director at BMCE Capital Investments
Ghita Khaoulani works on startup investments through BMCE Capital Investments’ Fonds Capital Venture, covering businesses from initial market traction through expansion. She represented the fund when it announced its investment in last-mile delivery company Cathedis in 2024, outlining an approach that combines capital with financial structuring, operational support and access to business networks. Khaoulani also co-founded Nebta, a Moroccan second-hand marketplace launched in 2023 with integrated delivery and buyer protection, giving her experience building a consumer technology business alongside her investment work.
Ghita Zniber
Co-founding Partner at Kalys Ventures
Ghita Zniber co-founded Kalys Ventures with Salma Benaddou Idrissi in 2021, investing in early-stage businesses across Francophone Africa and the Moroccan diaspora. Her portfolio work includes supporting logistics startup Logidoo on growth, product development and commercial strategy, while Kalys has also backed hotel software company Userguest and retail technology startup z.systems. Her experience also includes incorporating corporate social responsibility criteria into startup investment analysis at EDF and participating in Berkeley’s Le Bridge Fellows program.
Halima Zahzah
Country Director for Morocco at Plug and Play
Halima Zahzah took charge of Plug and Play’s Moroccan operations after four years with its Saudi Arabia business, where she worked with founders, investors and corporate partners. In Morocco, her responsibilities include connecting startups to Plug and Play’s international network and supporting the Morocco Accelerator alongside Technopark and the Ministry of Digital Transition. The program’s second cohort supported 19 technology startups over three months in 2026, spanning sectors including fintech, healthtech, agritech and robotics, with an emphasis on commercial validation, investor access and international growth.
Hiba Mrani Alaoui
Managing Partner at Alphavest Ventures
Hiba Mrani Alaoui co-founded Witamax before becoming Managing Partner at Alphavest Ventures, building an early-stage investment career that has included advising more than 200 startups. Her earlier experience covers leveraged buyouts in New York, financial and strategic advisory in Paris and Casablanca, and work with startup accelerators and corporate venture initiatives serving major French companies. She also serves on Endeavor Morocco’s board, supporting established entrepreneurs with scaling and international expansion, alongside her investment activity in technology businesses.
Ikram Labtaini
Development and Deeptech Director at UM6P Ventures
Ikram Labtaini evaluates the scientific foundations and intellectual property behind UM6P Ventures’ prospective deeptech investments, drawing on engineering training and a doctorate in materials science. Her responsibilities include technical due diligence and building scientific partnerships that help startups develop and commercialize their technologies. She represented the firm when it backed South African precision fermentation startup De Novo Dairy in 2022, highlighting the scientific and development support available alongside investment for businesses producing animal-free dairy proteins.
Imane Bennis
Program Manager at 212 Founders
Imane Bennis supports startup development at 212 Founders, where her responsibilities have included leading the Fintech Center, a venture-building program that takes financial technology businesses from concept toward market launch. The initiative combines technical resources, regulatory guidance and access to financing, rather than limiting support to mentoring. Her earlier work with France’s Finance Innovation cluster involved helping fintech entrepreneurs with market entry, pitching and partnerships; she now also works on connecting Morocco-linked startups with 212 Founders’ investment and expansion programs across Casablanca and Paris.
Jihad Maleh
Senior Investment Manager at INNOVX
Jihad Maleh works in investment at INNOVX, whose industrial and technology activities cover agriculture, water, energy and chemicals. Her earlier private-equity experience includes working at Amethis on CFG Bank, which the investor supported during the expansion of its commercial banking business. When Amethis exited the bank in 2022, it explicitly credited Maleh and partner Adnane Zerhouni as leaders of the investment team, giving her a documented track record in supporting an established financial business through growth and an investor exit.
Kenza Lahlou
Founder and Managing Partner at Outlierz Ventures
Kenza Lahlou founded Outlierz Ventures after co-founding StartupYourLife, a Moroccan community connecting technology entrepreneurs with investors and mentors. Her career began in software engineering in France, followed by private equity in Africa and advisory work in Silicon Valley helping emerging-market technology companies enter the United States. At Outlierz, she has built an Africa-focused seed investment firm whose portfolio includes payment operations platform PayTic, human resources software company Socium and energy management startup Wattnow, extending her work from ecosystem development into financing technology businesses across the continent.
Lamiaa El Amrani
Investment Director at UM6P Ventures
Lamiaa El Amrani helps shape UM6P Ventures’ investment thesis, evaluates prospective investments and presents opportunities to its investment committee. Before moving into venture capital, she worked in major accounting firms, including PwC, where she conducted transaction due diligence and seller-side financial reviews across healthcare, pharmaceuticals, food and industrial services. A qualified accountant, she applies her transaction due diligence experience to the financial assessment of digital and deeptech startups.
Maryam Guessous
Head of Domseeds
Maryam Guessous leads Domseeds, the agritech investment, venture-building and advisory platform established by Les Domaines Agricoles. By February 2026, the platform reported having supported roughly three dozen startups, with ventures already on the market including seasonal recruitment platform YADAG and agricultural equipment maintenance software DAGMAO. Guessous has also developed partnerships such as Domseeds’ collaboration with Apexagri, extending its work into agricultural investment assessment and transformation projects across Morocco, Africa and the Middle East.
Meriem Zairi
Managing Partner at EmergingTech Ventures
Meriem Zairi helped lead the 2022 management buyout of SEAF’s Moroccan investment business, establishing EmergingTech Ventures as an independent firm after heading SEAF’s local activity. She began her investment career at Montagu Private Equity in France before moving into African infrastructure investing, where she contributed to fundraising and investment activity at Infra Invest. Zairi also co-founded two agribusinesses in Morocco before returning to fund management, giving her experience on both sides of the investment relationship, from raising and deploying institutional capital to building operating businesses.
Meryam Khir
Investment Director at Attijariwafa Ventures
Meryam Khir moved into venture investing after holding group strategy and development roles at Attijariwafa bank, including responsibility for major cross-group projects. Her earlier career also included consulting and transformation work within BNP Paribas’ corporate and investment banking business. At Attijariwafa Ventures, she works within a strategic investment model focused on financial and insurance technologies, where backing startups is linked to opportunities for commercial collaboration with the banking group; the firm’s investments include property technology company Agenz and retail fintech WafR.
Ming S. Kwan
Head of Portfolio at First Circle Capital
Ming S. Kwan spent seven years at Lazada, helping build and scale its Southeast Asian marketplace operations from its early development through its acquisition by Alibaba. Her responsibilities covered operating functions, commercial strategy and partnerships, before she moved to Morocco and became CEO of a fintech business. At First Circle Capital, she heads portfolio management and participates in the investment team, applying experience gained inside technology companies to the operational challenges facing the fund’s fintech founders.
Narjisse Belmahi
CFO and COO at Al Mada Ventures
Narjisse Belmahi oversees finance and operations at Al Mada Ventures, following more than two decades of work in treasury, debt structuring and financial management. Her earlier experience includes treasury responsibilities at Royal Air Maroc, covering domestic and foreign-currency cash management, exchange-rate hedging, banking relationships and the modernization of treasury information systems. Her role at the venture firm draws on that combination of financial oversight and operational transformation, including experience redesigning processes and implementing systems to support business growth.
Nihal Grii
Senior Investment Ecosystem Development Manager for Morocco at Renew Capital
Nihal Grii works on investment sourcing, due diligence and ecosystem development for Renew Capital in Morocco, and has represented the firm in investments involving Agenz, Enakl and Talaty. She also co-founded Grimadiz, a Moroccan food business that developed a range of packaged nut products and expanded its distribution nationally. She has also been involved in Renew’s local expansion, including its establishment of a Casablanca headquarters for North and West Africa, linking startup investment with the development of the firm’s regional presence.
Salma Benaddou Idrissi
Founding Partner at Kalys Ventures
Salma Benaddou Idrissi co-founded Kalys Ventures after building a career in investment banking and establishing Burj Finance in 2011, later part of the Baker Tilly network. Previously, she rose to lead corporate finance at CFG, working on transactions including the IPOs of Risma and Sothema. At Burj Finance, she helped arrange Richbond’s acquisition of a 40% stake in Cash Plus in 2019 and advised Moroccan groups on acquisitions and fundraising, bringing transaction structuring and corporate relationships to her early-stage investment work.
Selma Ribica
Co-Founder and Managing Partner at First Circle Capital
Selma Ribica’s fintech career includes leading international remittances, interoperability and partnerships for Vodafone’s M-Pesa before building, scaling and selling remittance business Lebara Money. An investor since 2015, she backed companies including Qonto, Expensya and Bamboo, and helped establish the AfricInvest Cathay Innovation Fund before co-founding First Circle Capital. Based in Casablanca, she now invests in African fintech with experience spanning mobile money infrastructure, entrepreneurship, angel investing and institutional fund development.
Sofia Salomão
Investment Principal at Al Mada Ventures
Sofia Salomão entered venture investing after holding CFO positions in both startups and established companies, including Brazilian agritech group Rúmina and Amway Brazil. Her experience includes preparing startups for Series A fundraising, managing finance across growing businesses and working as a tax adviser at EY in São Paulo. At Al Mada Ventures, she draws on that operating background and relationships across Brazil’s and Latin America’s venture markets, adding experience of financing and managing companies in other emerging economies to the investment team.
Sofia Zine-Eddine
Chief Finance Officer at UM6P Ventures
Sofia Zine-Eddine’s role at UM6P Ventures extends beyond finance into hands-on support for digital and deeptech founders, including business development, organizational structure and go-to-market planning. Her earlier work involved restructuring assignments, strategic risk advisory and reviews of internal control systems for holding companies and corporate groups. This background gives her a practical focus on helping young companies establish the financial controls and operating foundations needed as they move from developing a product toward building a scalable business.
Zineb Benhamou
Head of Corporate Venture Capital at Domseeds
Zineb Benhamou joined Domseeds as Head of Corporate Venture Capital in September 2026, following more than four years supporting entrepreneurs at 212 Founders. As a program manager there, she worked on founder support, business strategy and access to seed financing, while helping connect Moroccan diaspora entrepreneurs with the program’s activities in Morocco and at Station F in Paris. Her move to Domseeds brings that startup development experience into agritech investing within Les Domaines Agricoles’ investment and venture-building platform.
Zineb Megzari
General Manager at BMCE Capital Investments
Zineb Megzari leads BMCE Capital Investments, overseeing an investment business that finances both startups and more established Moroccan companies. Its venture activity includes investments in Cathedis and payments technology company PTS, while Megzari was among the investment professionals acknowledged in the subsequent sale of Cathedis to Ora Technologies and Azur Innovation Management. Her responsibilities also extend to growth capital through Capital Croissance, which agreed to take a minority stake in electrical infrastructure company ELEC TRIMAROC in 2026.
Zineb Slaoui
Investment Director at Azur Innovation Management
Zineb Slaoui works on early-stage investment and startup development at Azur Innovation Management, with involvement extending beyond fundraising into strategic transactions. Ora Technologies founder Omar Alami specifically credited her support in the company’s acquisition of Cathedis alongside Azur, providing a concrete example of her role in connecting financing with business expansion. She also works on sourcing startups approaching pre-Series A and Series A, including Moroccan diaspora businesses using Morocco as a base for growth, and participates in partnerships intended to strengthen founders’ access to capital.
Methodology
This article draws on public information available through October 17, 2026, including company websites, regulatory disclosures, professional profiles, employer announcements and published interviews.
The selection focuses on women professionally based in Morocco or working across Moroccan and overseas offices in roles directly serving its startup investment ecosystem, regardless of nationality, working across venture investment, fund management, finance, operations and portfolio development. It also includes selected professionals involved in startup financing programs and ecosystem development.
Standalone investment-committee memberships, venture-partner, and operating-partner appointments were excluded, alongside private-equity-only firms and standalone venture studios.
The profiles are presented without ranking. The selection offers a view of women working across Morocco’s venture capital ecosystem and does not represent an exhaustive census or a measurement of the sector’s gender balance.
The breadth of these roles highlights how much venture capital depends on work beyond selecting investments. Scientific diligence, financial oversight, commercial partnerships and portfolio support help turn an investment into a business capable of growing and raising further capital. These profiles make that work more visible, alongside the women responsible for it.
For founders, this creates a more useful way to read the investment landscape. A firm’s mandate determines whether a startup fits its portfolio; the experience of its team helps explain the support it can provide. Understanding both offers a stronger starting point for building investor relationships.