MBA alum Amir Barsoum, founder of Vezeeta, traces his legacy from AUC to California, where his business pursuits have gone global.
After completing his master’s degree in business administration at AUC, Amir Barsoum (MBA ’08) took the business world by storm, creating companies that serve millions of people and redefining the region’s tech-based industries.
As the founder and CEO of digital healthcare platform Vezeeta, Barsoum was named a Fortune 40 Under 40 global health leader. He went on to create InVitro Capital, a venture builder based in California, and serves as a co-founder and investor of at least four other companies.
Starting at AUC, Barsoum’s journey has taken him through a quick career in consulting, an executive degree at MIT and a lifetime of pursuing his passion of building companies. “I never expected anything.
I was trying to build something that I liked and enjoyed and, at the same time, had a cause. But we were always hoping and dreaming that it would become a major player in the healthcare market,” says Barsoum of Vezeeta, his first company to take off.
"I was trying to build something that I liked and enjoyed and, at the same time, had a cause.
A CEO in the Making
Barsoum encountered his business origins at AUC after completing a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical studies at Ain Shams University, though the plan was always to operate on the business side of things. “AUC provided a fantastic opportunity to start this early on in my career,” says Barsoum. “That’s when I really got to see the world from a business angle rather than only through pharmacology and the technical aspects.”
“AUC provided a fantastic opportunity to start this early on in my career."
Barsoum further describes the University as his “gateway to the world.” He says, “AUC opened my eyes to horizons I never imagined and made me believe they were within reach. It’s not just a university — it’s the region’s strongest fortress of innovation and talent. Without AUC, I wouldn’t have dared to start this journey, let alone push it through.”
“[AUC] is not just a university — it’s the region’s strongest fortress of innovation and talent. Without AUC, I wouldn’t have dared to start this journey, let alone push it through.”
After graduating, Barsoum followed a typical path for high-achieving students by working as a consultant at the large management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. From there, he quickly shifted to his extraordinary route, becoming an entrepreneur. “I love consulting. It’s a great industry, but I realized I’m more of a wild card,” Barsoum says, “I want to break the rules, to destroy and rebuild.”
“I want to break the rules, to destroy and rebuild.”
Once that became clear, Barsoum decided to give entrepreneurship a shot. “It became obvious what I want to do in my life: build companies,” he says.
While entrepreneurship carries a higher risk profile than consulting or corporate work, Barsoum feels that he fits the package. “It’s more risky, but I’m building with my own hands. I’m more of a builder than anything else,” he says.
Vezeeta, the leading digital health platform in the Middle East and Africa, was a huge part of Barsoum’s road to success. “It was honestly an evolution,” says Barsoum, who founded the company in 2012. “We started by trying to automate the single-clinic doctors in the market, but the adoption of technology was slow. Then we noticed a bigger problem of patients trying to identify the best providers, so we decided to leverage the software we’d built to integrate that with a booking platform,” he says.
The all-in-one healthcare app has served around 30 million patients to date, allowing people to book doctors, order medicine, and get home visits and lab tests.
Now, with Vezeeta off to success, Barsoum has shifted attention to his latest company: InVitro Capital. “I’m very happy with it. All the learnings from my entrepreneurial journey — the connections, the network, the knowledge I gained at AUC and MIT — come to fruition in InVitro,” he says.
Founded two years ago, the company has already become profitable and has rapidly grown to 300 employees. “InVitro Capital is growing at a staggering rate, and I’m quite proud of the level of impact that it’s having,” he says.
The Tech Revolution
Beyond Barsoum’s personal growth, his business contributions have impacted global tech developments. “There’s a huge technology innovation coming our way, and I want to play an active role in building organizations and companies that will adopt these technologies to continue transforming other industries,” he says.
"There’s a huge technology innovation coming our way, and I want to play an active role in building organizations and companies that will adopt these technologies to continue transforming other industries."
Vezeeta has already revolutionized the healthcare industry in the Middle East and Africa, first evolving into a booking platform and now becoming a proponent of healthcare accessibility. “Vezeeta Shamel is an affordability solution that basically reduces costs for patients,” Barsoum explains. A third-party administrator, Shamel provides payment gateway and installment solutions in the pursuit of more accessible healthcare.
With InVitro Capital, Barsoum hopes to keep contributing to growing industries. “AI is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and InVitro Capital is defining how to change mega-boring industries with this technology. Think healthcare for seniors or home repair,” he says.
Egypt to the World
Though Barsoum has moved to Orange County, California for his latest business pursuits, he maintains strong business ties to Egypt. “I’m back and forth between Egypt and the United States, but I want to operate in the big league,” Barsoum says, explaining his relocation.
Still, much of the growth he envisions for himself and his companies is actually based at home: “I’m a very strong believer in ‘Africa to the world,’” says Barsoum, “I did not leave the Middle East. Actually, I have an office in Egypt today that has around 220 employees for InVitro Capital, and by the end of 2026, we are planning to have 1,000 employees there.”
“I’m a very strong believer in ‘Africa to the world.'"
Barsoum’s dreams are not limited to one country, and he envisions a global scale for businesses originating in Egypt. “The idea is that we’re building companies, but we do not necessarily want to sell only in our markets. There are much bigger markets, and we have great youthful talent that can build and innovate,” he says of the Egyptian workforce.
He believes that a presence in the United States, Europe and beyond can help Egyptians create global organizations coming out of Cairo. “There are stronger ways of having an impact at an international scale,” he says.
When envisioning a globalized future, Barsoum describes a cultural roadblock that he wants to help overcome. “We have a huge powerhouse of building and innovating, but the idea of exporting and building from Egypt to the world is still not strong,” he says.
With his American-Egyptian venture builder, Barsoum is here to change that. “We’ve lived in a world where China has become the factory of physical products for the West," he says. "Now it’s Africa’s turn to become the manufacturer of technology. The global landscape is finally aligned: favoable geopolitics, booming demographics, remote work and a new generation of educated youth. And institutions like AUC are lighting the way.”