<p>Meet the minds behind the unicorns and get advice from people who’ve done it all before. Mentor Hours connects rising startups with established experts for 45-minute meetings.</p>
<p class="p1">Apply for our 2026 startup programme.</p>


Apply now

Attendees standing around a table in the Mentor Hours area of the event

<p>Mentor Hours is a series of pre-scheduled, 45-minute meetings between our high-level attendees and startups.</p>
<p>Mentor Hours has four distinct tracks: lead, engage, build and grow. Each track has a specific focus and mentors with relevant expertise to ensure you discuss the issues most important to your startup.</p>
<p>Mentors spend 45 minutes coaching startups in a group session. This mix of backgrounds means the session will be shaped by individual and collective experiences in the startup community.</p>


What is Mentor Hours?

<article class="FourColumn__FourColumnWrapper-sc-o6r1n4-1 dRabOn">
<div class="column_body">Master the art of leadership, strategy, entrepreneurship and hiring. Our attending CEOs and managing directors will share their experience on enhancing leadership capabilities while optimizing your team’s personal growth and company strategy.</div>
</article>


Lead

<article class="FourColumn__FourColumnWrapper-sc-o6r1n4-1 dRabOn">
<div class="column_body">Learn how to tell your story to the world. Our attending brand experts will share their personal experience of marketing, brand identity, social engagement and public relations. This is your chance to ask questions you can’t ask the media or your customers.</div>
</article>


Engage

<article class="FourColumn__FourColumnWrapper-sc-o6r1n4-1 dRabOn">
<div class="column_body">Learn more about product development, software, hardware, big data, UI, UX or front/back-end development. Our attending engineers, data scientists and product designers will share their extensive personal experience on all things tech.</div>
</article>


Build

<p>Raising capital or just need financial guidance? Quiz our attending investors and top-level fund managers on the dos and don’ts of financial management, or ask your burning questions about negotiating investment or applying for a business loan.</p>


Grow

Meet our 2025 mentors

Astronaut, Engineer, CEO & Founder

Sara Sabry

Managing Editor

Elena Poughia

Co-founder & Executive Chairman

Dan Gardner

Co-Founder

Bhawna Bhatnagar

Investor

Harshal Patil

Haytham El-Azaizy

Managing Director 

Husain Haji

Back Office Partner

Amira Swilam

Founder

Hanan El Basha

Managing Partner

Ambar Amleh

Co-Founder and CEO

Juan Pablo Ortega

Chief technology officer 

Nikita Gordeev

Watch the highlights from Web Summit Qatar

Mentor Hours | Startups | QAT25