Founder of Merit INcentives, Julie Leblan

Julie Leblan is the founder of Merit Incentives, a company that delivers gifts, prizes, and engagement methods in the Middle East and North Africa region using innovative technologies. In the MENA region, the organisation assists in developing successful incentive systems for employees.

Julie began her career as an attorney specialised in finance law at some of the most prestigious businesses and institutions in Paris and London. Julie refocused her career after coming to Dubai in 2010, first creating MyList, a B2C gifting firm in 2012, and then Merit Incentives in 2016, which leverages innovative technologies for B2B clients to better their interactions with both staff and consumers.

Both companies are market leaders in their core categories in the MENA region, providing customers with an online gift registry for all occasions, Customer Service and fulfilment for gifts and rewards, and customising engagement strategies for both employees and customers using gift cards, merchandise, and rewards from 2,000+ brands and service providers in 60+ countries.

Merit Incentives, the MENA region’s top goods and gift card offers in the gift and incentives fulfilment services market, was formally launched in 2016. Indeed, it is the region’s sole homegrown company, selling both gift cards and items from local and international shops, and it has grown to become the preferred partner for major global reward solutions suppliers. Merit Incentives is currently a Plug & Play Fintech firm (2019) and was one of the Microsoft AI accelerator’s companies in 2019.

Julie has been hailed as a visionary for her ability to predict business trends, having recently been named to the 2018 Class of EY MENA Entrepreneurial Winning Women, the French Creative Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, and one of Forbes ME’s Top 12 Up and Coming Companies and Top 100 Startups in the Arab World. Julie is the recipient of the EY Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in the UAE 2018-2019 and the Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 at The Incentive Awards in London.