Feras Jalbout

Feras Jalbout is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of baraka, a financial technology investment platform based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Before launching the startup in 2020, he built a career in traditional finance, working across asset management, private banking, and venture capital. Under his leadership, baraka scaled to provide retail investors in the Middle East and North Africa region with commission-free access to more than 6,000 United States equities and exchange-traded funds. Jalbout successfully secured a $20 million Series A funding round for the company in August 2022, attracting capital from prominent global investment firms including Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and Global Founders Capital. Mentored by regional investor Fadi Ghandour, his current focus centers on expanding consumer finance accessibility and actively deploying capital as an angel investor within the Middle Eastern technology ecosystem.