👋 Hola! I'm Graham Kennedy.
I help GCC-based AI startups build, sell, and fundraise faster.
🇦🇪 🇸🇦 🇶🇦 🇧🇭 🇴🇲 🇰🇼
Graham Kennedy
0-to-1 Company Builder at 500 Global
Taking high potential fast growth startups from 0-to-1 through 500 Global's international incubator, accelerator, and scale-up programs.
500 Global is a VC firm with $2.3 billion in AUM investing in globally ambitious founders building fast-growing technology companies.
Notable (non-500 Global) work experience and education
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CEO Advisor for orbii.ai 🇦🇪
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CEO Advisor for scooply.ai 🇸🇦
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CEO Advisor for eighty6.tech 🇦🇪
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Interim Head of Product for Povo by KDDI and Circles.Life 🇯🇵
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CPO at Standard Chartered Ventures (acquired) 🇸🇬
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CPO at MoneyHero (IPO; NASDAQ) 🇭🇰
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COO at MyDoc (acquired) 🇸🇬
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Director of Product at Zendesk (IPO; NASDAQ) 🇸🇬
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Head of Product at TradeGecko (acquired by Intuit) 🇸🇬
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Director of Product at Clio (Series F; $1.26b raised) 🇨🇦
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Head of Product at Guide Productions (acquired by Qualcomm) 🇨🇦
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MBA from Rutgers University 🇺🇸
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BA from Simon Fraser University 🇨🇦
Let's connect on LinkedIn to get the conversation started around how I can supercharge your accelerator, innovation lab, or venture studio.
What I'm up to with 500 Global
28
Programs
10
Countries
400
Startups Accelerated
Where I've been recently
| Program | Location | Year | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-acceleration Academy in Nairobi | Nairobi, Kenya | 2025 | Pre-seed |
| Global Seed Bootcamp | Cairo, Egypt | 2025 | Pre-seed |
| Sanabil Startup Unlocked | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2025 | Pre-seed |
| J-StarX Silicon Valley Program by 500 Global | Tokyo, Japan | 2025 | Seed |
| 500 Global in Eurasia | Tbilisi, Georgia (remote) | 2025 | Seed |
| 500 Global in Egypt Scale Up | Cairo, Egypt (remote) | 2025 | Series A |
| Alberta Innovates Accelerator powered by 500 Global | Calgary, Canada | 2025 | Series A |
| Sanabil Startup Unlocked | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2025 | Pre-seed |
| Global Seed Bootcamp | Cairo, Egypt | 2025 | Pre-seed |
| Sanabil Startup Unlocked | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2024 | Pre-seed |
| Sanabil Accelerator by 500 Global | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2024 | Seed |
| J-StarX Silicon Valley Program by 500 Global | Tokyo, Japan | 2024 | Seed |
| Global Launch Program for Korean Startups | Seoul, South Korea (remote) | 2024 | Seed |
| 500 Global in Egypt Scale Up | Cairo, Egypt | 2024 | Series A |
| 500 Global in Egypt Scale Up | Cairo, Egypt | 2023 | Series A |
| Accelerate Aichi | Nagoya, Japan (remote) | 2023 | Seed |
| 500 Global Taiwan Startup Program with TTA | Taipei, Taiwan | 2023 | Seed |
| Shinhan Squarebridge Daejeon | Daejeon, South Korea | 2023 | Seed |
Early stage startup founders come to me for
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AI Product, Growth, and Pricing Innovation
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Value Proposition (VP)
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Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
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Product/Market Fit (PMF)
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North Star Metric (NSM)
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One Metric That Matters (OMTM)
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Go-to Market (GTM)
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Product Led Growth (PLG)
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Seed Pitch Preparation and Fundraising
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High Performance Startup Leadership
Accelerator program managers come to me for
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Program and Curriculum Design
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New Program Innovation
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Mentor Selection and Vetting
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Startup and Founder Selection
Where else I can be found
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Global Mentor to Startup Founders at Planet43's House of X Accelerator 🇪🇺
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Global Mentor to Startup Founders at Start-up Korea Investment Week 🇰🇷
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Global Mentor to Startup Founders at I-Corps 🇰🇷
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Mentor to Young Entrepreneurs at Youth Action Challenge 🇸🇬
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Mentor to Young Entrepreneurs at Young Founders Summit 🇸🇬
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Distinguished Lead Enterprise Instructor of Product Management at General Assembly
In their words
His strong insights and feedback were instrumental in preparing founders refine their pitch for Demo Day.
Jeff Matsuda
Program Director, Japan 🇯🇵
His hands-on experience, keen insights, and effective delivery and transfer of knowledge resonated strongly with our Series A founders.
Ezzeddin Zahzah
Program Director, Egypt 🇪🇬
Your contributions have elevated the entire program, and we are privileged to have you!
Yukai Chen
Program Manager, Taiwan 🇹🇼
He shares the passion of bringing out full potential in founders through keen attention, insightful yet practical advice.
Sarah Jung
Program Manager, South Korea 🇰🇷
Graham Kennedy has helped and saved so many of our founders globally :)
Ee Ling Lim
Executive Director of Global Market Launch, Singapore 🇸🇬
Graham’s session & clearly being able to articulate NSM/OMTM was the highlight of the day. Very actionable & clear!
Startup Founder
Startup Founder in Scale-up Accelerator (2025), Egypt 🇪🇬
Graham helped us realize that we are fundamentally a data company, building a tool to generate reliable animal data. His guidance on product-market fit has been crucial in helping us better position our product and attract the right clients.
Maksim Mershiev
Startup Founder in Sanabil Startup Unlocked (2024), Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
Thank you so much! Your explanations of all the concepts are very easy to understand!
Mengshan Wu
Startup Founder in J-StarX Silicon Valley Program by 500 Global (2024), Japan 🇯🇵
Today was another great day of sessions! But I would say the highlight for me was Graham’s recipe for hard conversations, probably because I had two coming up that day and this session really helped me go through them with structure. It was nice to apply a learning on the same day and have it go successfully.
Startup Founder
Startup Founder in Scale-up Accelerator (2024), Egypt 🇪🇬
Graham, I am really thankful! Your advice is just there when I need it the most!
Jong Chan Sohn
Startup Founder in Squarebridge Daejeon Accelerator (2023), South Korea 🇰🇷
Thank you so much for the incredible insights you've bestowed upon me. Your expertise on value, customers, and strategy has been incredibly beneficial, and I can't thank you enough for sharing it with me.
Hannie Liu
Startup Founder in Global Taiwan Startup Program (2021), Taiwan 🇹🇼
Let's connect on LinkedIn to get the conversation started around how I can supercharge your accelerator, innovation lab, or venture studio.
RIYADH * DUBAI * ABU DHABI * DOHA * SINGAPORE