Danish Farhan

Born and raised in the Middle East, Danish is one of the region's youngest start-up entrepreneurs turned investors, heading venture consulting group Xische Collective, comprised of a strategy boutique, communications agency, academy and publishing house, across Dubai, New York and Kuala Lumpur.

Danish is a proud Dubaian who is evangelical about entrepreneurship, culture and anti-disciplinary thinking. He is a strategic advisor to the Government of Dubai, co-author of Dubai's Happiness Agenda, serves on the WEF Cities by Design Council, is board member of a public-listed insurance company, cofounder of World Happiness Summit and mentor at Dubai Holding's in5.

After dropping out of three different universities, he founded a new media firm at age nineteen and successfully exited four years later. Danish and his teams have since spent seventeen years advising, creating, and investing in ventures for clients including the UAE Prime Minister’s Office, Dubai Culture, UAE Mars Mission, d3, Smart Dubai, BMW & Giorgio Armani.

An international keynote speaker, he has been quoted in TIME and Financial Times. He is a global brand ambassador of Infiniti Automobiles. When he's not sailing or creating imaginary worlds with his sons, Danish’s idea of timeoff is playing investor and mentor to local startups in the UAE. He serves as chairman of investment boutique Xische Holdings, a privately-held group that includes an investment fund, AI platform, e-commerce venture, and a global footwear brand.