The new chairman brings an investment background to a Kuwaiti leisure company approaching four decades since its first arcade opened in Muthanna Mall.
Ahmed Al Farsi’s appointment as chairman of Future Kid brings an investment professional to the head of the board of a Kuwaiti company built around a very different activity: children’s play.
The company’s disclosure to Boursa Kuwait on 29 October names Al Farsi chairman and Abdullah Al Terkait vice-chairman, with Jana Al Naqeeb, Fatima Razzouqi and independent member Noor Al Bahar completing the five-person board. The appointments followed the company’s ordinary general assembly.
For Future Kid, the handover comes with almost four decades of operating history behind it. Its first arcade opened in early 1987, putting the arrival of the new board just ahead of the fortieth anniversary of a business that began in a small room in Muthanna Mall.
A Kuwaiti idea that became a listed business
Future Kid traces the idea for the company to twin brothers Khaled and Wael in 1986. Its official history describes the first branch as a 90-square-metre arcade, established the following year.
The scale of that beginning provides a reference point for the company Al Farsi now chairs. Future Kid became publicly listed in 2008, moving from its entrepreneurial origins into the responsibilities and reporting requirements of a company with public shareholders.
Its activities have also broadened. The company’s current website lists arcade games alongside bowling, group rides, sports games and virtual reality. Birthday bookings and school visits bring organised groups into the same venues, adding another dimension to a business that began with individual arcade machines.
The connection between the entertainment and the company behind it is visible in its full name: Future Kid Entertainment and Real Estate Company. A visit may revolve around games, but the operating business also revolves around the places that house them, the equipment inside and the way those spaces are used.
A chairman with an investment background
Al Farsi’s career has developed across banking and investment. KIB Invest’s official profile identifies him as an independent board member and executive manager of the investment department at Al Farsi Group.
His previous work includes investment analysis and roles in Boubyan Bank’s wealth department, as well as direct investments at Kuwait Finance and Investment Company. That experience connects financial assessment with the practical decisions involved in holding and managing business investments.
The distinction is relevant to his new position. A leisure company’s public identity is expressed through its attractions, while board-level oversight concerns the business supporting them. Al Farsi arrives with a background in evaluating investments and working within financial institutions, alongside an existing independent directorship.
Al Terkait brings experience leading an investment company. He has chaired Al Safat Investment Company since 2013, according to its official biography, which also lists him as executive investment director at Gulf Cable and Electricals Company. His other board roles include Kuwait Clearing Company, Shuhaiba Industrial Company and National Consumer Holding Company.
The pairing puts investment and corporate-board experience at the head of Future Kid’s new board. Their careers span financial services and industrial businesses, adding experience of organisations whose activities depend on both capital and physical assets.
The business around the games
Future Kid’s existing operations show how a leisure venue can serve several different kinds of visit.
Its school-trip programme describes three-hour sessions, with access to age-appropriate games and an event coordinator working with the school’s contact person. The booking process asks for the branch, start time, number of students and school details. Birthday bookings are organised separately, with a standard package built around a group of 20 children.
These arrangements involve more than the games themselves. They bring scheduling, group sizes, event coordination and the use of a particular venue into the customer relationship. A branch can accommodate an individual family outing and a pre-arranged group visit through different booking arrangements.
A newer part of that relationship sits on the customer’s phone. Future Kid’s own App Store listing describes an app for purchasing and recharging play cards and redeeming rewards. Its version history dates the first iPhone release to January 2025, followed by Arabic support in February and changes to rewards and redemptions in May.
The venue remains where the entertainment takes place, while part of the transaction can happen before arrival. That development predates the new board and forms part of the existing business it will oversee.
Experience beyond investment
The other three directors bring experience across property, media, banking and consumer business.
Razzouqi is identified by Arkan Al Kuwait as deputy chief executive for direct investment and business development. Al Naqeeb was appointed deputy editor-in-chief of Kuwait Times in February, after serving as its public relations and corporate social responsibility manager. Her work there included educational and cultural initiatives and engagement with students.
Al Bahar’s background includes industrial engineering, banking and business education. In a Cambridge Judge Business School profile, she described working at HSBC for around six years before pursuing an MBA. She has also publicly discussed representing toy retailer Dabdoob in its partnership with Gulf Investment House.
Women hold three seats on the five-member board, with Al Bahar specifically designated independent in the company’s disclosure.
For Al Farsi, the appointment begins a new role at a business whose history is already substantial. The first arcade’s fortieth anniversary falls in 2027. The new board will reach that milestone overseeing a company in which the original idea of a place to play now sits alongside group bookings, digital transactions and the obligations of a publicly listed business.
