Ahmed Al Rawi: Engineering Impact through Innovation and Obsession with Growth
Bahrain’s Trailblazing Startup Leader of 2025
In the relentless world of entrepreneurship, some build companies—others build legacies. Ahmed Al Rawi, the Bahrain-born founder of Calo Inc, is one of the rare visionaries doing both. He doesn’t just create products; he creates movements. His mission? Making healthy living accessible, convenient, and intelligent through innovation-led ventures that don’t just scale—they disrupt.
A Startup Mindset Fueled by Grit, Curiosity, and Self-Reflection
Describing himself as a “flawed human trying to satisfy the chip on his shoulder by building impactful products,” Ahmed’s journey is one of unapologetic ambition and hard-earned wisdom. With an obsession for growth, impact, and winning, his approach to entrepreneurship is anything but traditional. Every venture—whether successful or failed—has been a building block in a much larger vision to make the world better through technology and purpose-driven products.
Ahmed began his entrepreneurial journey between 2014 and 2016, experimenting with multiple mini startups. One of these early ventures achieved notable commercial success, but more importantly, these years sharpened his instincts, resilience, and understanding of what it takes to build from zero.
Malaeb: The First Leap into Community-Driven Tech
In 2016, Ahmed founded Malaeb, a mobile platform connecting sports enthusiasts with pick-up games and venue bookings. The app built a loyal user base by bridging a real-world social and recreational gap. But in Ahmed’s own words, the problem it addressed was too small to scale into the impact he envisioned. So, he made the tough call to exit and search for something bigger—a choice few founders are brave enough to make.
Stealth Mode: Learning from Failure, Betting on Growth
2019 became a pivotal year. Operating under stealth mode, Ahmed explored over 10 startup ideas. Some launched. Most failed. All taught him something. This phase was less about success and more about refining the startup formula, vetting ideas quickly, and learning from every setback. It wasn’t about playing it safe—it was about taking risks, failing fast, and leveling up.
Calo Inc: Where Tech Meets Health, and Personalization Drives Change
Then came Calo Inc, launched in October 2019—a game-changing platform that merged nutrition science with AI and meal subscriptions. Designed as a personalized meal planning and delivery app, Calo is not just a business; it’s a lifestyle movement reshaping how people eat, live, and feel. With over five years of active growth, Calo has earned its reputation as one of the region’s most promising health-tech startups.
What sets Calo apart is its hyper-personalized approach. Every user receives meals tailored to their health goals, preferences, and nutritional needs—making healthy eating simple, scalable, and sustainable. Under Ahmed’s leadership, Calo isn’t just delivering meals—it’s delivering consistency, discipline, and lifestyle transformation at scale.
The Raw Entrepreneurial DNA
Ahmed’s unique edge lies in his ability to combine product vision, relentless execution, and growth hacking mastery. His skills span:
- Entrepreneurship & Business Development
- Product & Growth Management
- Sales, Marketing, & Customer Experience
- Leadership, Public Speaking, and Strategy
While he dropped out of the University of Bahrain where he studied Computer Engineering, his dropout status only accelerated his real-world education—one built in markets, mistakes, metrics, and momentum.
Driven by a Deeper Mission
What makes Ahmed’s story deeply compelling is not just his success—it’s the restless curiosity behind it. He’s a founder deeply bothered by unrealized potential, not just in people, but in systems, solutions, and society at large. His ventures reflect a desire to push boundaries and extract impact from innovation. He doesn’t chase exits—he chases excellence, efficiency, and elevation.
The Arab Leader’s Tribute
At The CEO Network by The Arab Leader, we proudly honor Ahmed Al Rawi as a new-age disruptor whose hunger for growth is matched only by his desire to create meaningful, lasting change. From failed prototypes to game-changing platforms, his journey reminds us that impact comes not just from winning, but from evolving, learning, and daring to start again.
His leadership is a beacon for founders across the Arab world—proving that success isn’t about avoiding failure, but about turning every failure into a sharper, smarter next move.
