Chrome Advisory – Accelerating Growth

Chrome Advisory Accelerating Growth

A specialized consulting firm offering services in the fields of finance, business strategy and technology, to accelerate economic growth clients from all segments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Who We Are

Chrome Advisory is a merger between BASE Consulting (founded in 1994) and EduNation (founded in 2015), both consulting firms founded by the senior partners, who came together to bridge a gap in financial advisory for non securities.

Collectively, the partners offer clients a wealth of experience in various realms, with a track record of 150+ successfully completed projects. Their unique proposition spans across the investing value chain. Together, they deliver holistic advisory services and understand the delicate art of scaling and monetizing businesses.

Our Vision

To become a leading regional investment advisor for institutional players in the venture capital asset class.

What Sets Us Apart

Chrome Advisory combines a depth of knowledge and expertise in both finance and information technology. Having this collective experience under one umbrella gives us an edge in accessing and assessing assets deeply rooted in these verticals. Moreover, being on the ground in the largest regional economy allows us to keep our fingers on the pulse of the emerging and highly promising Saudi startup scene.

What We Do

Chrome advisory is active throughout the venture capital value chain. This includes fund structuring and formation, asset selection, vetting and valuation, angel investing and business incubator/accelerator advisory services.

We provide investment advisory to strategic venture funds on an outsourced basis for local and regional authorized persons. We also provide a variety of retainer-based services to institutional clients seeking to leverage our expertise and network without committing to a rigid fund structure.

“Khalid is a very sharp and efficient business leader who knows how to get things done. He is also an innovative entrepreneur who always comes up with interesting solutions to the most demanding challenges. Moreover, he is a person that you know you can trust and will stick to his word, no matter what.”

Patrick El-Cheikh

Former trade commissioner at the Swedish trade council- Embassy of Sweden, Riyadh

“Your solutions have contributed to developing our company’s performance considerably. Your continued communication and support was a reserve of confidence and an incentive for continued cooperation and partnership ”

Dr. Mahmoud Nadrin

Former GM of Textile and ready Garments co Co (Saudi Thobe)

“Loulwa played a key leadership role in the landmark transaction of SADAFCO’s IPO. Loulwa demonstrated a high level of professionalism and her valuable networking ability was what helped the deal proceed smoothly.”

Brian Strong

CEO at Sahel Retail and former Director of Business Development, SADAFCO

5. “Loulwa is an inspiring problem solver, able to address intricate concerns with measurable tact and confidence. She is an inspiration to those working with her, and is not intimidated by challenges. Her in-depth knowledge about CMA, investments & banking was a great advantage to the IPO team. She placed her proficient skills to make our mission efficacious which brought “pride and poise” to all involved.”

Abdulillah Zahid

Chairman of United International Transportation Company (UNITRANS)

``Yasar is simply one of the best strategy advisors I have worked with in my career.``

HE Nabil Al Yousuf

Ex-Director General of the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashdi Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai

Chrome Advisory Team

Khalid Suleimani

Senior Partner

An accomplished venture capitalist, angel investor and serial entrepreneur, with over 20 years of experiences. Some of the highlights in his career includes successfully starting, growing and exiting 3 out of 6 companies, as well as structuring VC and Seed Funds. Khalid also restructured Sirb (the leading Saudi angel investor network backed by KACST), and served as its president since 2013. His career includes executing Digital transformation projects and Computer system implementations for over 50 Private, Public, military and government entities. Khalid is a board member at Wadi Makkah, a government-owned invesment a setup development company

Loulwa Bakr

Senior Partner

Loulwa Bakr lead a notable career in corporate finance and investment banking that spanned over 14 years and culminated with heading the investment banking division of Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia. In 2015, she founded EduNation, an advisory business that supports regional Education Technology (EdTech) startups. She has participated in various CMA committees that reviewed regulations at the inception of the CMA, and lead some of the landmark transactions in Saudi capital markets. Loulwa has advised and arranged the financing, restructuring, growth through mergers and acquisitions and most significantly, access to capital markets, for top tier corporations. In addition to being recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, she is currently an independent member of the Board of Directors of Reyl Finance (MEA) and a member of the advisory board of Columbia University’s Global Centers.
Loulwa holds an MBA in Finance and Economics from Columbia University in the City of New York, executive education certificates from Harvard and Insead and is certified by both CMA and MoCI.

Yasar Jarrar, PhD

Partner

Dr. Yasar is a Chairman at Open Data Institute of Dubai, Vice Chair of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government at the World Economic Forum. He is a Senior Advisor to Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Innovations in the UAE Government and to Harvard International Negotiations Program, USA.

Prior to 2015, Yasar was a Partner at Bain & Company and headed the Public Sector and Social Impact practice, and a Partner at PwC and led the Middle East Strategy Group, Global Education Group, and established the ME Public Sector Institute. He also served as the Strategy Advisor at The Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai for over 3 years and as a Senior Advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office (UAE Federal Government). Yasar is also a YGL by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Yasar published extensively in various academic and trade journals, and his insights have been quoted in global and regional media. Yasar is now working on his forthcoming book “The Sheikh CEO: Leadership Lessons from Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum”.

Diana Al-Khateeb

Communications Officer

Diana Al-Khateeb holds a degree of science in Business Administration/ Management Information Systems (MIS) from Dar Al-Hekma University, one of the leading private universities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Her excellent communication, leadership and analytical skills along with her commitment to success empowered her to hold positions in various business sectors such as services and hospitality.
Diana is currently the Communications Officer at Chrome Advisory, responsible for all communication mediums and market research.

Reem Aqeel

Graphic Designer

Reem holds a bachelor degree of Arts in Graphic Design (GDES) from Dar Al-Hekma University, one of the leading private universities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She has a non-conflict and friendly character, ability to confidently work both in a team or individually. She also has an excellent communication skills, strong with ethic and attention to details. Reem currently the Graphic Designer at Chrome Advisory, responsible for all design medium and marketing department.

Partners and Advisors

Dr. Sherif Hassan

Senior Advisor

Dr. Sherif Hassan is an accomplished economist with more than 30 years of diverse experience in Islamic banking, training and strategic planning, feasibility studies, real estate development and regional and urban economies.He started the first 15 years of his career as an Economist Researcher and Financial Analyst at the Economic Consultancy Center (ECC) in Egypt. Then, he worked at Islamic International Bank For Investment & Development (IBID) as a Deputy Manager, Economist and Economic Researcher. He has been holding the position of a Chief Economist since 2007. Dr. Sherif has conducted many feasibility studies for various projects; he also has published many research papers in Islamic investment forms, Islamic banking vs. conventional banking, financial markets. He received his doctorate degree of philosophy in economics as well as his master degree of science in economics from Ein Shams University, Cairo in 1997, and 2005 respectively. He had received his bachelor degree of science in accountancy in 1982 and his post graduate diploma in financial management in 1986 from Cairo University.

Waleed Albanawi

Senior Advisor

Founder and Chairman of JISR Venture Partners, an investment company focused on growth stage investments led by high impact entrepreneurs who provide cutting edge digital solutions that also contribute to positive social impact. As a former shareholder, Director and C-suite Executive of the Banawi Industrial Group, a diversified manufacturing corporation in KSA and MENA, Waleed has faced a variety of business challenges in the fast growing Middle East economy and chose to be proactive about delivering solutions to alleviate the gap between education and employment among Arab youth. He was a presidential delegate from Saudi Arabia to attend the U.S Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington 2010. Waleed is a graduate of Rice University in Texas in Managerial Studies and Political Science

Lama Abu Ghali

Senior Advisor

Prior to joining Abwab Capital, a private equity firm registered in the DIFC, Lama was head of advisory at Saffar Capital, where she was also involved in execution and completion of all MENA based advisory transactions. Additionally, she was part of the principal investments and post acquisitions teams, reviewing and implementing board strategies for several startup portfolio companies. She also worked at an operational level within companies in their growth phases, such as setting pre-operational strategies, seeding, turning around and successfully exiting multiple entities such as Zawya, Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia and Elaj Medical Services.
Lama holds an MBA from John Molson School of Business, Concordia University and a Finance BBA, University of Texas.

Our Clients

We at Chrome Advisory work with a variety of stakeholders in the startup ecosystem. Regional venture capitalists, asset managers and angel investor networks constitute our main client base, coupled with startups/SME’s seeking late seed to series A financing.

We also advise corporate venture capital funds, family offices and regulators on how to best position themselves in this emerging asset class.

Our Offerings

1. Venture Capital Structuring and advisory services

Chrome partners have experience in both structuring and forming pioneering projects such as angel investor networks and venture capital funds in Saudi Arabia. The partners co-founded and structured the first government sponsored angel group. In addition, They structured one of the first CMA regulated VC funds, and formed a DFSA regulated VC fund managed by a leading Authorized Person.

VC Structuring.
VC Fund Management.
Angel Group Management.
Due Diligence.
Valuations.

Chrome offers ongoing management services of portfolio investments, by actively occupying board seats as well as building relationships with complementary financial and strategic investors. We understand the needs of our investors and endeavor to provide them with deal ow tailored to t their investment strategy.

One of our core strengths is our technical expertise in the areas of information technology, apps, transactional platforms, and educational technology based on years of hands-on experience in the eld. This, coupled with our in-depth understanding of industry specific valuation methodologies, allows us to deliver to our clients the tools they need to make informed investment decisions.

2. Investment Banking Services for Startups

Advisory and placement services for startups/SMEs is at the heart of our offering. We place assets from acceleration stage onwards. This requires helping the entrepreneurs with restructuring, financial modeling, valuations, deal structuring and eventually exiting. Our portfolio of startups/SME clients provides targets for our extensive network of investors.

3 . Corporate and Government Advisory Services

Chrome advises corporates on their financial strategy and preparation for major financing events on their financial strategy and preparation for major financing events
( e.g. private placement, primary or secondary public issuance of debt or equity and REITS) reits, bank loans. This requires a deep dive into the business including but not limited to financial engineering, business process re-engineering, digital transformation, and organisational management restructuring. Chrome partners have a successful track record working with major conglomerates, listed, private, and government for the past 20+ years.