CEO · Chief Growth Officer · Board Member

Mahmoud
Adham.

Building, scaling, and transforming consumer-facing businesses across the GCC.

Built and sold Munchbox to Savola. Former P&G and Mars senior leader with $300m+ capital project exposure. Board member appointed by Emirates Growth Fund. Founder of 10X ScaleUps.

Trusted across corporates, funds, and scale-ups.

Organizations connected to Mahmoud's corporate career, founder journey, board work, advisory work, and client engagements.

Founder-built.Corporate-trained.Board-experienced.

Founder-built

Built, scaled, and exited an 8-figure consumer business from zero.

Corporate-trained

Operated inside P&G and Mars across Belgium, Nigeria, Egypt, and Dubai.

Board-experienced

Shapes strategy with shareholders and boards in multi-billion-dollar environments.

Mahmoud brings a rare combination of founder ownership, blue-chip corporate discipline, and board-level judgment — developing the systems, capital discipline, governance mindset, and stakeholder navigation required in complex, multi-billion-dollar environments.

This gives him the ability to move comfortably between the boardroom and the operating floor: shaping strategic direction with shareholders and leadership teams, then pressure-testing the commercial, operational, and organizational details that determine whether growth plans actually convert into value.

The Munchbox Story

From zero to regional exit.

Mahmoud created Munchbox from scratch, scaling it into an 8-figure omnichannel consumer business with a UAE factory, six product categories, 90+ people, and distribution across 2,000+ retail doors across the GCC, including Saudi Arabia.

The business was acquired by Savola, one of the Middle East's largest food groups.

At Munchbox, Mahmoud built the commercial engine across modern trade, self-managed distribution, regional distributors, e-commerce, q-commerce, and direct-to-consumer channels — delivering 6× revenue growth over two years and improving contribution margin by 48% through sourcing, supply chain optimization, and SKU/channel mix management.

6×

Revenue growth over two years

+48%

Contribution margin improvement

2,000+

Retail doors across the GCC

90+

People · UAE factory · 6 categories

Today

Board member. Founder of 10X ScaleUps. Advisor to CEOs and funds.

Mahmoud is the Founder and Managing Partner of 10X ScaleUps, where he advises CEOs, funds, and consumer companies on commercial growth, operating cadence, and execution. Recent work includes supporting a Saudi and GCC consumer business with $100m annual revenue in doubling its FMCG division sales within two months — without increasing marketing spend.

He is also a Board Member of Carnistore, appointed by Emirates Growth Fund, a AED 1 billion UAE investment fund. He serves in an advisory board capacity with MilkUp, an agri-tech ERP platform, and as a board advisor to arab.org, a regional social impact platform.

Areas of Impact

Where Mahmoud creates value.

Enterprise Leadership

Leading scale-ups, turnarounds, and investor-backed businesses that need sharper execution, stronger teams, and clearer commercial direction.

Growth & Commercial Strategy

Building commercial engines across channels, pricing, customer economics, margin, partnerships, and operating cadence.

Board Contribution

Helping boards pressure-test strategy, align stakeholders, and translate commercial ambition into executable plans.

Portfolio Value Creation

Supporting funds and portfolio companies on growth diagnostics, management alignment, operating rhythm, and value creation.

Media

Featured founder. Board trainer. Ecosystem contributor.

Mahmoud has been featured by CNN, Dubai TV, The National, podcasts, and regional publications as the founder of Munchbox and a GCC food entrepreneur. He is an experienced board trainer and mentor to founders through Sheraa — Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center.

CNN

Interview with the founder of Munchbox

Dubai TV

Building a regional consumer brand from the UAE

The National

I sold my home to start my business and have never looked back

Khaleej Times

Healthy snacks: let's bite the bullet

Calo

Founder conversation: scaling FMCG in the GCC

Swenglanese

Episode 18 — Munchbox: healthy snacks delivered to your door

Body Bar

اسرار لازم تعرفها لو بتفكر تعمل المشروع الخاص بيك — Secrets you need to know if you're thinking of starting your own business

Contact

Let's connect.

For Saudi and UAE board roles, portfolio value creation, CEO advisory, Chief Growth Officer mandates, speaking, or board training, contact Mahmoud's team.

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MahmoudAdham.