Recognition at the 2026 MENA Stevie Awards – Silver & Bronze

Two Stevie Awards in a Single Year – A Landmark Moment for Navneet Mandhani

Navneet Mandhani, Founder & CEO of Karma Developers, has been recognized with two awards at the 2026 MENA Stevie® Awards, one of the most prestigious business excellence programmes in the MENA region. He receives a Silver Stevie® in the Most Innovative Leader of the Year category and a Bronze Stevie® in the Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year category.

• Silver Stevie
  Most Innovative Leader of the Year
• Bronze Stevie
  Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year

Both wins were awarded on the basis of exceptional scores from the judging panel. The official winners list confirms: “Due to the excellent ratings they received from the judges, the following nominations will be recognised at the 2026 Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards.”

The full list of Individual Professional Award winners, including both of Navneet Mandhani’s wins, is published on the official Stevie Awards website at MENA.StevieAwards.com. All Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be formally celebrated on stage at the 7th annual MENA Stevie® Awards gala on Friday, 11 September 2026, in İstanbul, Türkiye.

What Are the MENA Stevie® Awards?

The Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards are part of the global Stevie Awards family — the world’s premier business awards programme, whose name derives from the Greek word for “crowned.” The MENA edition is open to all organizations operating across 18 nations in the Middle East and North Africa, recognizing achievement across leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, sustainability, and more.

Entries are evaluated by a panel of independent business executives and professionals across the region. A Stevie Award at Silver or higher is among the most competitive individual recognitions available to business leaders in the MENA market.

“The kind of leadership that earns a Silver Stevie is not measured in press releases — it is measured in institutions built, teams formed, and lives changed.”

— Navneet Mandhani

Why These Two Categories, and Why Now?

The Silver Stevie® for Most Innovative Leader of the Year recognizes Navneet Mandhani’s approach to leadership that is systemic, not transactional. His entry — “A Visionary Builder of Institutions, Teams, and Global Impact” reflects 13 years of creating organizations that outlast market cycles: Karma Developers, with over 2,000 residential units delivered across the Middle East and Europe; Sophonos Investments, a $500M+ AUM venture platform backing 25+ companies across PropTech, FinTech, and AI; and Future Resources FZE, a cross-border commodities trading enterprise founded in 2013.

The Bronze Stevie® for Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year, entered as “An Admirable Example of Entrepreneurship” acknowledges something equally significant: the ability to build not one, but three substantive, founder-led platforms simultaneously, in different sectors, across different geographies, while maintaining a philosophy rooted in long-horizon value creation rather than short-cycle returns.

Navneet Mandhani — By the Numbers

• 13+ years as a founder-led entrepreneur, based in Dubai
• 3 ventures built from founding: Karma Developers, Future Resources FZE, Sophonos Investments
• 2,000+ residential units delivered by Karma Developers across the Middle East & Europe
• $500M+ AUM and 25+ portfolio companies under Sophonos Investments
• Professional Doctorate in Global Leadership & Management, EIU Paris
• Forbes India, Fortune India, Gulf Business, Arabian Business, Entrepreneur Middle East, CEO Middle East — featured across all major regional and global business publications

Frequently Asked Questions