The Alif Summit, held Feb. 1 in San Francisco, has been credited with helping Muslim founders secure investors, find co-founders and reconnect with industry contacts after years apart.

Organized by Alif — a Muslim-run incubator founded by venture capitalist Omar Waseem — the event drew Muslim entrepreneurs and creators from across North America. Attendees included gaming influencer FaZe Apex and Rocket Money CEO Haroon Mokhtarzada.

Despite the scale of the event, head organizer Afra Nehal said it came together in just seven weeks. She floated the idea to the Alif team in late 2024. “One of the ideas I had was a conference... and it caught wind with the team,” she said.

Nehal, a former corporate event planner, set out to create a high-caliber experience comparable to major tech gatherings. “My main thing was making sure that we had this ‘wow factor’ to where, Muslims don't feel lesser than or like our communities are under-resourced,” she said.

From the moment attendees walked in, Nehal designed opportunities to connect. A “dream wall” displayed goals submitted in advance, grouped by themes such as finance, community building and technology. Staff stationed nearby encouraged guests to strike up conversations before they even reached the coffee line.

The venue layout also encouraged mingling, with startup booths placed near food stations so discussions could happen naturally. Rain forced the closure of outdoor seating, but Nehal said the shared inconvenience turned into another way for strangers to connect.

Programming featured keynotes, fireside chats and open networking. Nehal kept speakers such as Mokhtarzada accessible before and after their sessions. “My ask was, I wanted the keynotes to be around, to have attendees ask them questions, have people learn from them,” she said.

The approach paid off. “There are so many instances that I've heard of people finding their co-founder... Some of them have gone to raise their seed round,” Nehal said. One founder met an investor during a keynote and secured funding within a week, she added.

Other attendees landed jobs in growth, marketing and engineering, while portfolio companies found early hires. Some connections formed at the summit continued during Alif’s Ramadan gallery program, which brought founders together for co-working and evening community events in San Francisco, according to Nehal.

Moreover, attendees have been telling her how the summit helped people reconnect after years, even decades, of not seeing each other.

“I get folks all the time that are like, wow, this happened to me because of the Alif Summit,” she said. “It was actually also folks who have been in the industry for like 30-40 years. Even I reconnected with someone I haven’t seen in 10-15 years.”

Among the attendees was Saad bin Shafiq, founder and CEO of AI Synapse, a New York-based company using AI to replace HR systems. Shafiq, who immigrated from India a decade ago, built his company into a million-dollar venture in its first year.

“The main help I needed was on the fundraising side... they [Alif] connected us with a lot of people and give us insights on, okay, how to fundraise,” he said. Nehal continues to introduce him to potential investors as he raises capital.

Shafiq said he joined Alif to connect with Muslim entrepreneurs in an industry where he rarely meets others who share his background. “Our religion didn't tell us to start giving up,” he said. “When I heard about Alif, I was like, ‘okay, this is great.’ I met some great people there.”

While praising the event, Shafiq said more time would make it even stronger. “It shouldn’t be one day... It should be like two or three days... it wasn’t enough time to meet everybody,” he said.

Planning for the next Alif Summit will begin soon, according to Nehal — and if the first one is any indication, many attendees will arrive ready to make the most of it.