Sima Ganwani Ved is an Indian businesswoman, she is the Founder and Chairwoman of the Apparel Group, an international retailer based in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

headquartered in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

. She was named the 12th most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East by

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in 2024.

Early life and education

Sima was born in

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and brought to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

by her father in the 1970s. She studied in King's College,

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for her

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and subsequently an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in business management.

Career

Ved started her career when she was 20, as a department manager in her father's shopping mall in the 90s as the overseer of a department. In 1996, she founded the Apparel Group, a UAE-based fashion and retail company. The company has over 85 brands and more than 2300 stores in 14 countries with over 24,000 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. Ved 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. In 2010, she launched her TV chat show, Hi tea with Sima Ved, on the Star Plus international. Her compassion for underprivileged children led her to mentor her teenage daughter to launch her own Athleisure brand F5 Global in 2021, 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, Selina Ved. In 2024, Ved participated as a keynote speaker in the Retail Summit which was held in Dubai on 23–24 April. In November 2024, Sima Ved participated as one of the "sharks" on Shark Tank Dubai Season 2.

Awards

*Philanthropreneur of the year. *Retailer of the year. *Great Women's award. *Emirates Woman of the Year. *Ranked #12 of the 100 most powerful businesswomen of 2024 by Forbes Middle East. *Ranked #12 of the 100 most powerful businesswomen of 2025 by Forbes Middle East. *Ranked #12 of the

Arabian Business ''Arabian Business'' (''AB'') is a weekly business magazine published in Dubai and focusing on global and regional news analysis. The brand is aimed at the English and Arabic-speaking communities and is published in both languages. Its circula ...

100 Most Inspiring Women 2025.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ved, Sima Living people Indian business executives Indian emigrants to the United Arab Emirates Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Year of birth missing (living people)