Maissa Ballout Shamshoum, globally recognised ecosystem builder, innovation strategist and deep technology investor, has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year at the Influencer Magazine Awards (E3) on October 25, 2026, honouring her work unlocking the potential of emerging innovation ecosystems and building sustainable pathways from talent to globally scalable companies.
Based in Nazareth, Israel, Maissa is the CEO of Hasoub, one of Israel’s leading organisations advancing Arab participation in technology, entrepreneurship, venture creation and innovation. She orchestrates collaborations across governments, corporations, investors, academia and founders to build sustainable pathways from talent to globally scalable companies. As CEO of Hasoub, she leads a non-profit tech ecosystem and community for Arab society that builds the journey from talent to founders, from campuses and community to accelerators, angel investment, policy and global connections.
Maissa serves as an International Partner of the World Business Angels Investment Forum and as an Advisory Board Member at Falcon Innovation Fund, a global deep tech investment fund based in Abu Dhabi, where she focuses on investments in Artificial Intelligence, Deep Tech, Physical AI and Frontier Engineering across sectors such as infrastructure, energy, logistics, medtech, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. She is an active global connector, bringing together founders, venture capital firms, family offices and strategic partners across the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Asia.
Before leading Hasoub, Maissa held senior executive finance and leadership roles, including serving as VP Finance, Procurement and IT and Board Member at Dollar Shave Club, a Unilever and Nexus LP owned company, where she led finance, procurement, IT, M&A support, risk management and operational efficiency at global scale during a period of rapid growth. Her leadership experience also includes senior roles at Golden Care Dushi Group, Tefron Ltd., Rivulis Irrigation (John Deere), Babcom Centers and EY’s High Tech Division.
Beyond executive roles, Maissa founded Lumena Capital Group, which supports startups as a strategic director, advisor, and strategic connector, helping founders with go-to-market strategy, raising capital, building financial resilience, and scaling globally.
She is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Economics from the University of Haifa and an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she initiated the Kellogg MENA group. With more than 20 years of experience across corporate finance, M&A, fundraising, investments, governance and impact-driven growth, her career sits at the intersection of capital, technology and purpose.
Blending operational leadership, venture investing and ecosystem strategy, Maissa is passionate about building institutions, not just startups, that generate founders, investors, technology leaders and sustainable economic impact across emerging innovation ecosystems.
Through her leadership of Hasoub, her investment work with Falcon Innovation Fund, her role at WBAF and her founding of Lumena Capital Group, Maissa Ballout Shamshoum has established herself as a global connector of people, capital, ideas and ecosystems across MENA, Europe, the United States and beyond. Her win as Entrepreneur of the Year at IMA 2026 celebrates not only her extraordinary achievements to date but her ongoing mission to build scalable ventures, unlock overlooked talent and create long-term value for economies and communities.
