step-conference
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Step
Step is a new-media and events company that runs one of the largest technology festivals in the Middle East and North Africa. Founded by Ray Dargham in 2011, it stages the annual Step Conference in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, publishes tech newsletters and social platforms like StepFeed, and connects founders, investors and builders. From a first edition of roughly 100 people, it has grown to draw more than 8,000 attendees, with startups featured on its stages collectively raising billions in funding. In 2026 the company extended its model to San Francisco with an AI-focused edition.
Ray Dargham
Ray Dargham is the co-founder and CEO of Step, the Dubai-born media and events company behind the Step Conference, a startup and tech festival that grew from about 100 people in a co-working space in 2012 into an 8,000-plus attendee gathering that now travels between Dubai, Riyadh and San Francisco. He also runs the digital publishers StepFeed and YallaFeed, founded the brand-tech shop Spiderfrogs, and hosts the Maté podcast for MENA founders. Forbes put him on its 30 Under 30 cover in 2018.