A private network for female founders building 6 & 7 figure businesses
The Acentric Retreat
Backed by
The Acentric Retreat
THE ACENTRIC RETREAT
An intimate, five star experience at a private residence on the Palm, bringing together 10 women building six and seven-figure businesses.
Centred around commercial growth and self-mastery, you’ll spend three days thinking not only about the business you’re building, but how you’re showing up as the person building it and surrounded by exceptional people from across business, investment and entrepreneurship, with brilliant conversations, beautiful food, wellness and experiences you wouldn’t normally have access to.
The retreat will mark the official launch of Acentric, culminating in the Acentric Gala which is a private, black tie evening where we’ll open the room to some of the greatest minds in the region, strictly by invitation.
January 31 – February 2, 2027 · By invitation only.
Step outside of the day to day and think bigger about what could be next.
Some of the best ideas come from being in a different room, with different people. You’ll spend time with exceptional founders, operators, investors and business leaders, talking about growth, opportunity and what’s changing in business right now.
Bring the things you’re thinking about, the decisions you’re making and the opportunities you’re exploring.
The other side of it is you.
Your energy, your performance and how you’re actually operating as the business grows. Because building a business is demanding, and staying at your best requires more than just pushing harder. There’ll be movement, wellness, time to reset and space to think — giving you the tools, energy and headspace to show up at your best, both for your business and for yourself.
The Acentric Gala
The retreat culminates in a private black-tie dinner marking the official launch of Acentric.
For one night, we’ll open the room beyond the 10 founders, bringing together some of the greatest minds in the region across business, investment and entrepreneurship.
Strictly by invitation.
MENTORS · FOUNDERS · BUSINESS LEADERS · INVESTORS
Acentric has a network of 30+ mentors, including experienced founders, investors and senior leaders from some of the world’s leading companies.
For each experience, we curate the people we bring into the room around the founders attending, drawing on the expertise, expertise and experiences that can add real value to their businesses.
A glimpse of the calibre of people within the Acentric network.
Ahmed Zakaria
Marketing GM & CMO, The Coca Cola Bottling Company
Previously at PepsiCo, Colgate Palmolive & Nestlé
Anam Khalid
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, SQUATWOLF
Background in strategy and people at Fortune 500 companies
Sophie Smith
Founder & CEO, Nabta Health
Raised $4.5M, featured in Bloomberg & Forbes
Sandeep S. Jadwani
OCIO, Head of Investment Advisory, H Capital Limited
Nearly 20 years in investment strategy. Advising HNW & UHNW investors.
Simona Agolini
CEO & Co-Founder, The Q App
Backing founders, building leaders.
Kartik Renjen
Head of Startups & VC, Amazon Web Services
Leading startup & VC partnerships across Middle East, Africa & Turkey
The Founder
Founder & CEO, Acentric & Founders Official
Nicki Bedford, Founder and CEO of Founders Official, has led global expansion, built high performing commercial teams from the ground up, and closed tens of millions of dollars worth of business.
Today, her work sits at the intersection of founders, business and influence. Through Founders Official, she has built a network spanning some of the region’s most ambitious founders, investors and senior business leaders, creating the kind of connections and conversations that lead to real commercial opportunities. That network, and Nicki’s experience in commercial growth, sits at the heart of Acentric.
Previously Head of Asia Pacific at BuzzFeed, Nicki led the company’s regional expansion. She chairs the Women Leaders Summit and CEO Forum, and in 2025 and 2026 was shortlisted for Inc. Arabia’s Women of Influence.
In their words
Founders Official is doing the kind of work AWS wants to back. Our partnership with Acentric reflects a shared belief in expanding opportunity for female founders in this region."
Kartik Renjen
Head of Startups & VC, AWS
I worked with Nicki shortly after she arrived in Dubai and she sold us a campaign worth over $330,000. It was significantly more than we had originally intended to spend, but her commercial instincts and ability to identify the right opportunity gave us the confidence to move forward. Nicki is highly professional and one of the strongest commercial operators I've worked with.’
Umair Masoon
Founder & MD, MYCO
Nicki has been an incredible mentor and supporter of our business. Beyond her strategic advice, she actively creates opportunities and makes valuable introductions. Through her network we secured conversations that led to commercial opportunities with brands including Coca- Cola. She genuinely cares about helping founders grow and has a strong instinct for business.
Moritz Beck
Co-founder, Chatvertize.io
The Acentric Retreat
The Acentric Retreat is limited to 10 founders.
January 31 - February 2, 2027
Private residence, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai
10 founders · Two nights
Black-tie Acentric Gala
USD $3,500
Submit your details to request an invitation. If we think it could be the right fit, we’ll invite you to a short call with Acentric founder Nicki Bedford to learn more about you and talk through the experience.