Abed Agha
Chief Executive Officer
Sociata
Abed Agha is the founder and CEO of Sociata (formerly Vinelab), an influencer‑marketing platform based in the Middle East. A pioneer of the region’s creator economy, he built a self‑serve technology that connects brands with vetted creators and advocates for full‑funnel measurement and equitable partnerships.
For more than a decade, Abed Agha has been at the vanguard of the Middle East’s creator economy. After years working as a digital media strategist, he founded Vinelab in 2015 to connect brands with the region’s emerging social talent. Over the next few years he scaled the company into one of MENA’s leading influencer marketing platforms, nurturing digital talent and proving that local creators could drive real business outcomes.
In 2023 Vinelab rebranded as Sociata and launched a self‑serve platform that gives advertisers and agencies direct access to creator discovery, campaign management and full‑funnel measurement. The platform was the first in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa to integrate TikTok’s creator APIs, enabling marketers to run campaigns with real‑time performance data. Agha advocates for giving creators more creative freedom, arguing that authentic content performs better than prescriptive briefs. Sociata’s work on initiatives such as the One Million Arab Coders programme, which achieved a cost per enrolment of around $1 by partnering with more than 150 creators, demonstrates how data‑driven influencer marketing can deliver outsized impact.
As CEO of Sociata, Agha continues to champion a future where influencer marketing is transparent, measurable and mutually beneficial. He spends his time mentoring the next generation of digital talent and pushing for industry standards that protect both creators and brands. His vision is of an ecosystem where technology augments human creativity, and where the Middle East is recognised as a global hub for innovative creator‑led storytelling.
Experience
Chief Executive Officer
Sociata
2010 - Present
Head of Sales and Marketing
Mubasher Financial Group
2008 - 2010
Co-Founder
Rab3i TV
2006 - 2008
Sales Manager - Wealth Management
Standard Chartered Bank
2005 - 2008
Sales Manager
Quick Loan Funding
2002 - 2004
Featured
Campaigns
Zero Fear life 💪🏼 with Lipton Iced Tea
Oat & Honey Goodness!
The power of everyday relatable scenarios
Oumoumati 👩🏻🍼 Mechwari
The best way to influence a community is to create it
The power of humanness
The future is bright: Coding the way for One Million Arab Coders
A call for Arab women to draw their paths
TRESemmé with Carol Samaha
Trusted by
Leading Brands
Thought
Leadership
ArabNet Panel on Media and Entertainment (2020)
ArabNet YouTube channel
Panel discussion on media and entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic; Abed Agha as a featured speaker on influencer consumption habits.
Influencer Industry Snapshot: Sociata's Abed Agha
Campaign Middle East
Interview discussing evolution of influencer marketing and Sociata's rebranding from Vinelab to Sociata; launch of self-serve platform.
ArabNet Beirut 2013 — Create Connect Collaborate
ArabNet Beirut
Spoke about the digital entertainment space in the MENA region; founder and CEO of Vinelab.
ArabNet Riyadh 2019 — Panel on influencer marketing challenges
ArabNet Riyadh
Panel discussion on challenges in influencer marketing; co-panelist Muna AbuSulayman.
Full
Experience
Chief Executive Officer
2010 - PresentSociata
Sociata (previously known as Vinelab) is the first and most experienced creator marketing company in MENA. Since 2014, Sociata has been executing large scale creator engagements for advertisers through data-driven methodologies, enabled by a proprietary technology infrastructure that utilizes AI throughout the creator discovery, content planning and ROI measurement. Sociata is a TikTok, Snap and Meta partner and our 450,000 creator network is powered by first party data through these partnerships.
Head of Sales and Marketing
2008 - 2010Mubasher Financial Group
Successfully lead the company to consequently top the UAE combined equities market in terms of volumes, tripling the market share and bringing the ranking to number one in the UAE. # Sales strategy development: restructuring the existing sales force, creating a sales culture that embraces strong revenue generation, restructuring the sales channels and creating alternative channels for business development. # Revamping the value proposition: implementing margin trading, research offering, advanced conditional order placing and a dedicated department that caters to HNWIs and active traders. # Trading platforms development: developing new features on the advanced trading platform, creating alternative platforms for order placing that supports Windows Mobile, Blackberry and iPhone devices as well as web. # Launching regional and international trading on GCC, US, European and South East Asian markets. # Relaunching the web presence to re-align with the revamped value proposition, enhancing the web trading experience, implementing an account opening process and a systematic web metrics module. # Implementing robust business intelligence and reporting system to measure full aspects of the business.
Co-Founder
2006 - 2008Rab3i TV
Rab3i TV, an interactive free to air TV channel broadcasting on Arabsat 2A (11623), targeting the Saudi and other Gulf viewers. Founded in 2006, Rab3i TV partnered with regional Telecom Operators and Noorsat (Subsidiary of Orbit Satellite and Television Network) to offer interactive services (chatting, social networking, competitions). Considered as the first channel in the region to offer Social Networking elements over TV, Rab3i quickly gained high penetration among many big players in the domain and was a model that was later copied by various players.
Sales Manager - Wealth Management
2005 - 2008Standard Chartered Bank
# Assigned to form a direct relationship management team in Lebanon to offer a multitude of investment and savings products targeting HNWIs in the Lebanese market. Role involved launching the Bancassurance products to complement the existing Investment products within the bank. # Assigned to launch two departments in Bahrain: Bancassurance and Liabilities. Within less than two years, both departments grew from inception to a team of 50 with 6 direct reports handling product, sales and front end operations and generating multi-million dollars in revenues.
Sales Manager
2002 - 2004Quick Loan Funding
Account Manager
2004 - 2005Four Systems
Operations Manager
2000 - 2002First National Credit