Quick Facts
Biography
Sima Ganwani Ved is the Founder and Chairwoman of the Apparel group, an international retailer based in the Middle East headquartered in the UAE. She was named as the 12th most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East by Forbes. The company has over 80 brands and 2025 stores in 14 countries with over 20,000 employees. She is also the Vice Chair of the AppCorp, the holding company that has Apparel group, 6thStreet.com, Indus real estate, and Harley Medical Centre.
Early life
Sima was born in Africa and brought to Dubai by her father in the 1970s. She studied in King's College, London for her Bachelor's degree and subsequently an MBA in business management. She started her career when she was 20, assisting in her father's shopping mall in the 90s as the overseer of a department.
Sima is a member of world organizations like YPO and CEO. She is the first female member of YPO to set up a regional chapter (YPO MENA STAR) that began with a vision of gender equality for its membership base. The chapter has achieved 52% female members, the highest in YPO globally.
Her compassion for underprivileged children led her to mentor her teenage daughter to launch her own Athleisure brand F5 Global, some of the proceeds will go towards educating underprivileged kids. She simultaneously mentored and founded a new social commerce beauty platform NESSA with her eldest daughter.
In 2010, she launched her TV chat show, Hi tea with Sima Ved, on the Star Plus international.
Awards
- Philanthropreneur of the year.
- Retailer of the year.
- Great Women's award.
- Emirates Woman of the year.
