This January, we hosted the 2026 edition of the BECO Founders Retreat, the first of many more annual gatherings bringing together startup leaders from across the BECO portfolio.
Founders from across all funds gathered in Ras Al Khaimah to discuss a few practical topics and, most importantly, have fun and build bonds through shared learning.
Focus Areas and Conversations
Inspired by the many deep one-to-one conversations we have with founders throughout the year about their businesses, and the trends we’re seeing as investors, the content sessions focused on:
- The Capital Efficiency Mindset
Three founders, Mohammad Al Zaben (ClearGrid), Edward Sabbagh (Trofee), and Mohamad Ballout (Kitopi) candidly shared their real-world experiences and learnings on building resilient businesses with disciplined use of capital, leveraging AI and ruthless focus. - AI in Sales and Go-To-Market
Practical discussions explored how the portfolio is applying AI today across sales and GTM. The focus was on implementation, adoption challenges, and measurable impact, with insights from Sherif Bichara (FlapKap), Hamdi Tabbaa (Abwaab), and Dani El-Zein (Supy). - Be the CEO of Your Own Health
Dr. Darshan Shah, a board-certified surgeon, published author, and Founder and CEO of Next Health, led a session on treating personal health with the same intentionality as company building. He provided practical KPIs that high performers can easily track and hold themselves accountable to.
Connecting Beyond ‘Work’
The most important aspect of the retreat was building strong connections amongst this amazing, high-performing group of leaders. We took a night walk in the desert under the planets, reinforcing that having the patience and humility to ‘wander’ as a leader is critical to expand one’s perspective, followed by a zero-waste locally sourced BBQ in a private villa.
For a bit of fun and competition – and what turned out to be the highlight of the retreat – we did a Vibe-Coding Hackathon, where teams of founders used Replit to build a wellness app in under an hour.
Congratulations to the winning team on their ‘wellness’ app “Be Like Dany” (try it here: https://belikedany.com): Magnus Olsson, Ibrahim Manna, Edward Sabbagh, Sloan Stutz, and Dani El-Zein.
Top marks for originality and flattering the judges never hurts!
Thank you to all of our founders for contributing to a meaningful and productive exchange. What a way to start 2026.