30 Jun José Francisco Fernández Serna, new Managing Director in the Middle East

With more than 20 years of combined experience and leadership in the Food Industry, Venture Capital and Applied Innovation, 12 of which in the UAE, he joins Blendhub to lead the platform’s deployment in the Middle East.

Blendhub has appointed José Francisco Fernández Serna as Managing Director in the Middle East to lead the deployment of the platform in the region and consolidate growth in a key market for the company due to its strategic location, population growth and new business opportunities arising from current food trends. This set up is also fully aligned with the national Food Security and Industrialization agendas in UAE and all the countries in the Gulf Region.

José Francisco brings a profound experience in the Middle East having founded, led and exit previous businesses in Food Ingredients, and serving as strategic advisor, board member and subject matter expert in different public and private organizations.  He holds a PgD in Business Administration from Harvard Business School (General Management Program) and is a senior executive, entrepreneur and investor with more than 20 years’ experience in managing international expansion and operations in the food and beverage industry, as well as involved in digital transformation, acceleration and venture capital for the last 12 years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He is member and rapporteur of the innovation panel of experts for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Food), body of the European Union and pioneer Private Public Partnership (PPP) in the Food Value Chain, with main competences in evaluating, assessing and securing funding for strategic projects in food innovation, food security and food sustainability related to the food system, connecting Academia, Research Centers, Corporate and Government Institutions.

He is also Board Member of the UAE Spanish Chamber of Commerce; member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Spanish Scientists and Researchers in UAE and representative in the Steering Committee of In5 (Dubai Government Incubator), among other positions. He combines a deep knowledge of the business ecosystem in the Region with and a solid track record of achievements in the Gulf Countries that will help Blendhub establish strategic partnerships to consolidate growth and continue creating shared value in the Middle East.

José Francisco is currently working with different operators interested in producing in the Middle East to define their participation in Blendhub’s platform in UAE