# Ghassan Halawa

> Ghassan Halawa is the Riyadh-based founder and CEO of parachute16, an entrepreneurship and innovation business working across the Middle East and North Africa. His work spans accelerators, mentoring, community programs and entrepreneurial storytelling. He also hosts the parachute16 podcast and has backed startups including MilkStraw AI and Omla.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at parachute16 | برشوت16
- **Organizations:** parachute16, enpact (2015 mentoring fellow), YouthActionNet Alumni Council (2020 cohort), MilkStraw AI (angel investor), Omla (investor and adviser)
- **Education:** Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education
- **Known for:** Selected for the inaugural ten-member YouthActionNet Alumni Council, launched in 2020., SPARK credits his work with helping accelerate more than 200 startups and entrepreneurs locally and regionally., Named among the angel investors in MilkStraw AI’s $600,000 pre-seed round announced in January 2025.

## Career timeline

- **2015** — Hosted the Maker Hackathon at Zain Innovation Campus in Amman; joined enpact’s international mentoring program.
- **2018** — Presented parachute16’s work during Queen Rania’s January 16 visit to the Grow Startups building in Amman.
- **2020** — Named to the inaugural YouthActionNet Alumni Council.
- **2021** — Listed as a Social Enterprise World Forum speaker; discussed parachute16’s origins in an April interview.
- **2025** — Named as an angel investor in MilkStraw AI’s January pre-seed announcement; Omla announced him as an investor and adviser in September.
- **2026** — Invited the startup community to the January 4 Ghiras Accelerator Demo Day at The Garage in Riyadh.

## Achievements

- Selected for the inaugural ten-member YouthActionNet Alumni Council, launched in 2020.
- SPARK credits his work with helping accelerate more than 200 startups and entrepreneurs locally and regionally.
- Named among the angel investors in MilkStraw AI’s $600,000 pre-seed round announced in January 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — The Ghiras Accelerator Demo Day was scheduled for January 4 at The Garage in Riyadh, with five startups, following Halawa’s public invitation.
- **2025-11** — At Biban, he discussed parachute16’s work helping entrepreneurs and growing companies expand in Saudi Arabia and other markets.
- **2025-09** — Omla announced Halawa as an investor and adviser, with parachute16’s backing.
- **2025-01** — MilkStraw AI’s pre-seed announcement named him among participating angel investors.

## Links

- Website: https://www.parachute16.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghassanhalawa/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/GhassanHalawa
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghassanhalawa/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/ghassan-halawa
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22