BIT-AMENA Roundtable on Hi-Technology Entrepreneurship

and Investment

Thursday, October 6, 2016,  6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Banatao Auditorium -Sutardja Dai Hall


MODERATOR:

zahediDariush Zahedi, Director of the BIT-AMENA Center
for Building Innovation Economies in the Middle East

Since 2001, he has taught a diverse array of courses for the Departments of Political Science, Political Economy, and Peace and Conflict Studies as well as the Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley. Zahedi has also taught for the College of Letters and Science’s Discovery Courses Program. Teaching in the program is by invitation only, with invitations issued solely to instructors whose teaching record is stellar.


PANELISTS:

sarafanLily Safaran, CEO of Home Care Assistance

Home Care Assistance is one of the fastest-growing companies in America with more than 6000 employees across 100 markets. She is also an investor, advisor and mentor for startups and accelerators, including 500 Startups and StartX. Lily serves on the boards of several high-impact organizations including the Stanford Alumni Association, the BerkeleyHaas Center for Entrepreneurship and Development in the Middle East and Pars Equality Center. Lily has been recognized as one of Silicon Valley’s 40 under 40; she also holds an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering and B.S. in Science Technology and Society with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies from Stanford.


Nikki Iravani, Inventor of EyeXam Appiravani

Dr. Nikki Iravani is a renowned optometrist and Founder and CEO of Global EyeVenturesis as well as the inventor of the EyeXam app – the first and only patented self-administered vision screening test for mobile devices. The EyeXam app is the eye care industry’s leading app which has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times from the iTunes App Store and Google Play. She has been recognized as one of the successful women in the optical industry and is a globally sought after industry speaker and ophthalmic consultant.


Bahram Bahrami, Executive Scientist Entrepreneurbahrami

An executive scientist entrepreneur, who has integrated engineering, biology, and clinical translation with business principles. His work helped launch and advance four bio-tech and bio-pharma companies, two of which obtained regulatory clearance and introduced products into market, while the other two are in human clinical trial phases.