Rashid Alabbar: The Emirati Entrepreneur Behind SIVVI and Yamamah
From banking and online fashion to property, venture investment and endurance riding, Rashid Alabbar has built a business career across several parts of the UAE economy.
Introduction
Rashid Alabbar is an Emirati entrepreneur, investor and business executive from the UAE. He became widely known through SIVVI, the online fashion business he helped build during the early growth of Gulf e-commerce.
His career did not stop there.
He has worked across retail, food, property, venture investment and technology. He is also an active endurance rider.
That last part matters.
Rashid combined his interest in horses with technology through Yamamah, an endurance-racing app that later formed a partnership with the international governing body for equestrian sport.
His father is Mohamed Alabbar, the businessman associated with Emaar Properties. Still, Rashid built much of his own public business profile through online retail and private ventures rather than simply following the same career path.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Rashid Mohamed Alabbar |
| Other Recorded Name | Rashid Mohamed Ali Rashed Alabbar |
| Nationality | Emirati |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, investor and business executive |
| Education | University of San Diego |
| Qualification | BBA and postgraduate accounting/finance studies |
| Professional Credential | CPA is used on his public professional profile |
| Father | Mohamed Alabbar |
| Known For | SIVVI, Alabbar Enterprises and Yamamah |
| Property Role | Chairman of Nshama |
| Investment Role | Board Member at Middle East Venture Partners |
| Dubai Business Role | Advisory Council member at Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy |
| Sport | Endurance horse riding |
| Equestrian Technology | Founder of Yamamah |
| Age | Listed as 39 by FEI in 2026 |
| Net Worth | No reliable public figure available |
Early Life and Family Background
Rashid grew up in the United Arab Emirates.
His father, Mohamed Alabbar, is one of the UAE’s best-known business figures. He is closely linked with Emaar Properties and major development projects in Dubai.
That gave Rashid early exposure to business.
Still, his own career started differently.
He moved through finance, banking, online retail and technology before taking larger roles in property and investment.
Public reporting has also connected his sister Salama Alabbar with family business interests, particularly digital retail.
Rashid keeps much of his personal life private.
Reliable public sources do not clearly establish details about his wife, children or other private family matters. Those details should not be guessed.
Education
Rashid studied in the United States.
He attended the University of San Diego.
Public business profiles report that he completed a Bachelor of Business Administration and later studied accounting and finance at postgraduate level.
His public professional profile also uses the CPA designation.
That accounting background fits his early career.
Numbers came first.
He did not jump directly into running consumer brands. He first gained experience inside major financial institutions.
Early Banking Career
Before starting his own businesses, Rashid worked in banking.
Public profiles connect him with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank.
His work at Standard Chartered included exposure to mergers and acquisitions.
This period gave him experience in finance, deals and company analysis.
Then his direction changed.
Rather than staying in banking, he moved toward entrepreneurship.
The Gulf’s consumer market was changing quickly, and online shopping was still relatively small compared with markets such as the United States and Europe.
Rashid saw room to build.
Rashid Alabbar Career and Business Journey
Rashid became closely associated with Alabbar Enterprises, which was established around 2012.
The company works across retail, food and consumer businesses in the UAE.
Its portfolio has been connected with international and home-grown brands across furniture, sweets, restaurants, cafés and lifestyle retail.
Public company material has included names such as Ethan Allen, Candylicious, Yogurtland and Garrett Popcorn.
This gave Rashid experience beyond finance.
He was now dealing directly with shoppers, products, stores and brands.
But online retail became the bigger story.
SIVVI and Gulf E-Commerce
SIVVI helped make Rashid better known outside traditional UAE business circles.
The fashion e-commerce platform was built for consumers in the Middle East, selling clothing, shoes, sportswear, beauty products and lifestyle goods.
Timing was key.
Online shopping in the Gulf was still developing.
Internet use was already high, especially in the UAE, but the share of retail purchases happening online remained much smaller than in mature e-commerce markets.
That created an opening.
SIVVI tried to meet local shopping habits while giving customers access to well-known global brands.
The business grew during a period when mobile shopping, delivery services and online payments were becoming much more common across the GCC.
Rashid became one of the young business names closely linked with this shift.
What Happened to SIVVI?
SIVVI should now be described as part of Rashid’s earlier career.
Noon acquired SIVVI in 2019.
So Rashid should not be called the current owner of SIVVI.
A more accurate description is simple: he helped found and build the fashion e-commerce platform before it became part of Noon.
That distinction keeps the record clear.
Luxury Fashion and YOOX Net-a-Porter
Rashid later became involved in luxury e-commerce through a partnership between Symphony Investments and YOOX Net-a-Porter.
The arrangement brought major luxury-shopping platforms closer to Middle Eastern customers.
These included Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter, YOOX and The Outnet.
Rashid served as chairman of the regional joint venture.
This was another step into online retail.
The focus was different, though.
SIVVI served a wider fashion market. The YOOX Net-a-Porter partnership focused more heavily on luxury customers.
His directorship at YNAP Middle East Holding later ended in June 2024.
So this role is historical now.
Work With Barakat Group
Rashid also became involved with Barakat Group, one of the UAE’s established fresh-food and beverage businesses.
His board involvement received public attention during the company’s brand refresh around 2020.
Barakat had been operating for decades.
Consumer habits were changing.
People wanted easier online ordering, healthier choices and clearer information about products.
Rashid worked with the company during this period.
His public involvement covered areas such as brand development, technology, online sales, sustainability and customer communication.
A 2025 interview still identified him as a Barakat board member.
That makes Barakat another important part of his business record.
Nshama and Property Development
Real estate eventually became a larger part of Rashid’s work.
He has been publicly identified as Chairman of Nshama.
Nshama is the developer behind Town Square Dubai, a large residential community with homes, parks, shops, leisure areas and family facilities.
This brings Rashid closer to an industry strongly associated with his father.
But the platform is separate.
One recent Nshama project involved education.
The developer worked with Cognita on plans for a Horizon English School campus at Town Square Dubai.
Rashid appeared at the project’s groundbreaking.
The planned school is expected to serve students from early years through secondary education.
The project reflects Nshama’s focus on building a residential community with schools and everyday services nearby.
Middle East Venture Partners
Rashid also works on the investment side of business.
Middle East Venture Partners, commonly known as MEVP, lists him as a board member.
MEVP invests in technology and startup companies across the Middle East.
That position fits Rashid’s earlier experience.
He has seen startup growth from the founder side.
Now he also works around investment.
His experience in banking, e-commerce and consumer companies gives him a broad view of how young businesses can grow.
Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy
Rashid has held a public business role with the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy.
He previously served as a board member.
Dubai later changed the chamber’s structure.
Under the newer setup, Rashid moved to its Advisory Council.
This distinction matters.
Old articles may still describe him as a board member. Current profiles should refer to his advisory role unless the structure changes again.
The chamber works around Dubai’s technology companies, startups and wider digital economy.
That matches much of Rashid’s own career history.
Endurance Horse Riding
Business is only one side of his public life.
Rashid is also an endurance rider.
This is not simply a casual interest.
The Federation Equestre Internationale, or FEI, has an official athlete record for him representing the United Arab Emirates.
His FEI profile records dozens of endurance starts dating back many years.
The sport can involve extremely long distances.
Some endurance events cover around 160 kilometres.
That demands serious preparation.
Horse fitness matters. Rider judgment matters too.
Rashid has stayed connected with the sport while running and investing in businesses.
Yamamah App
His equestrian experience eventually led to a technology project.
Rashid founded Yamamah.
The app focuses on endurance riding and race information.
It started around 2017.
The basic idea was practical.
Fans, riders and teams needed easier access to endurance data.
Yamamah provides information around horses, competitors, rankings, results and events.
It turned a sporting interest into a technology business.
Yamamah and FEI Partnership
Yamamah reached an important point in 2026.
The platform formed a partnership with the FEI.
The agreement focused on endurance-racing information and access to real-time data.
For Rashid, the partnership connected two long-standing interests.
One is technology.
The other is horses.
His FEI athlete record also gives the project an unusual founder story. He was not simply building software for a sport he watched from a distance.
He competed in it.
That first-hand experience helped him understand what riders and followers wanted to see.
Equestrian Recognition
Rashid’s work around equestrian sport has also received recognition outside the UAE.
In 2024, Spain’s Asociación Española de Criadores de Caballos Anglo-árabes gave him its Premio Cinco Estrellas.
The award recognised his contribution to equestrian sport and his work with Yamamah.
It was presented during the Gran Semana Anglo-árabe in Seville.
This recognition added another public achievement outside his business career.
Golf and Personal Interests
Horse riding is his most clearly documented sporting activity.
Golf has appeared in older profiles too.
An Esquire Middle East profile reported that Rashid played a round of two under par at The Address Montgomerie Dubai when he was 17.
Public professional information also lists Arabic, English and Italian among his languages.
These details give a little more context.
Still, Rashid remains relatively private.
Most public information about him focuses on business, investment and sport rather than everyday personal life.
Relationship With Mohamed Alabbar
Rashid and Mohamed Alabbar should not be confused.
They have separate business records.
Mohamed Alabbar is strongly associated with Emaar Properties and large real-estate developments.
Rashid became known first through banking, SIVVI, online retail and Alabbar Enterprises.
He later added venture investment, food, property and equestrian technology.
This distinction is important for accurate reporting.
Projects led by Mohamed Alabbar should not automatically be credited to Rashid.
The same applies the other way around.
Is Rashid Alabbar a Billionaire?
There is no reliable public figure for Rashid Alabbar’s personal net worth.
Some websites may publish estimates.
Those figures should be treated carefully.
No audited source or strong public financial disclosure confirms a specific amount for his personal fortune.
The safest answer is simple.
His net worth is not publicly verified.
The wealth of his father or family should not be presented as Rashid’s personal wealth.
They are not the same thing.
Current Business Position
Rashid’s current public profile is broader than it was during SIVVI’s early years.
He is connected with property through Nshama.
He sits on the MEVP board.
He has worked with Barakat.
He serves on the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy’s Advisory Council.
Yamamah keeps him active in technology.
And FEI records show his long connection with endurance riding.
So his career has changed.
Online fashion made his name more visible.
The work now covers several sectors.
Final Thought
Rashid Alabbar built his public business identity during the early growth of e-commerce in the Gulf.
SIVVI was a major part of that story.
But it is only one part.
His work now reaches property, investment, food, technology and equestrian sport.
Yamamah is especially interesting.
It combines business with years of real riding experience.
His family name is well known in Dubai, yet his own path has developed through different companies, investments and projects.
That is what makes his career worth following.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Rashid Alabbar?
Rashid Alabbar is an Emirati entrepreneur, investor and business executive. He is known for SIVVI, Alabbar Enterprises, Nshama, MEVP and the Yamamah endurance app.
Who is Rashid Alabbar’s father?
His father is Mohamed Alabbar, the Emirati businessman closely associated with Emaar Properties.
How old is Rashid Alabbar?
The official FEI athlete profile listed him as 39 in 2026. A reliable exact date of birth has not been publicly confirmed.
Where did he study?
He studied at the University of San Diego in the United States and completed business and accounting-related studies.
Did Rashid Alabbar found SIVVI?
He was one of the key founders behind SIVVI and helped build the Gulf fashion e-commerce company. Noon acquired SIVVI in 2019.
What does Rashid Alabbar do now?
His public roles include Chairman of Nshama, Board Member at MEVP and membership of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy Advisory Council. He is also the founder of Yamamah.
What is Yamamah?
Yamamah is an endurance equestrian technology platform founded by Rashid Alabbar. It provides race, horse, rider and event information.
Is Rashid Alabbar an endurance rider?
Yes. The FEI maintains an official athlete record for him representing the UAE in endurance riding.
What is Rashid Alabbar’s net worth?
No reliable public source confirms his personal net worth. Any exact figure should be treated as unverified.
Is Rashid Alabbar married?
Reliable public sources do not provide enough confirmed information to publish details about his marriage or spouse with confidence.



