19. Varun Khemaney; Khalil Dahmash
Company: VKD Hospitality Group
Designation: Cofounders & Managing Partners
Nationality: Indian; Palestinian
Headquarters: U.A.E.
Khemaney and Dahmash opened a pop-up of Miss Lily’s in the Dubai Design District before opening a branch in 2016, alongside Serge Becker, taking inspiration from the original Jamaican bar in New York City. In the same year, Khemaney and Dahmash established VKD Hospitality Group. In October 2022, they launched Honeycomb Hi-Fi, Dubai's first listening bar. They brought Serge Becker on board as a partner and creative director of VKD Hospitality Group in 2016, and in 2019 the three of them brought New York’s Indochine to Dubai. VKD Hospitality Group has formed various fashion and lifestyle collaborations with Gucci, KITH, adidas, House of Suntory, and Pitfire Pizza.