Qatar Wants To Be The Pilot Market For Your Big Ideas

In a region that has been seeing its constituent nations essentially battling each other to be seen as the ultimate startup hub, Qatar is going at it with a distinctive approach – it may not be the biggest market for entrepreneurs in the GCC to enter, but it’s setting itself up to be the smartest place to start in.

For many among us, this can seem like a puzzling approach to take – after all, in the world of startups, scale is often king. Founders are known to dream of vast markets, millions of users, and unicorn valuations. But the truth is that before a company can do anything of that sort, it needs a place where it can effectively (and efficiently) test, iterate, and prove its worth – and that’s what Qatar proposes to be for entrepreneurs in the GCC.

By positioning itself as an ecosystem that offers everything from infrastructure capable of supporting cutting-edge innovations to government-backed startup programs designed to help businesses flourish, Qatar is painting itself as the perfect pilot market for entrepreneurs looking to turn their ideas into reality. Add to that the fact that Qatar’s National Vision 2030 – the country’s long-term development plan to secure its future – has emphasized the importance of establishing a strong entrepreneurial environment, and it’s easy to see why it wants startups to flock to it.

The country’s appeal as a launchpad for startups in the GCC was clearly on display at this year’s edition of Web Summit Qatar, which ran from February 23-26, 2025, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center. The conference and exhibition – which is the Middle Eastern offshoot of the global Web Summit event series, saw 25,700 attendees flock to the Qatari capital this year, an increase of 10,000 from its inaugural installment in 2024.

Qatar’s hosting of Web Summit is in itself an indication of the nation’s efforts to foster its tech and startup ecosystem – indeed, the event is being held in Doha thanks to a five-year partnership it has established with the country. And these undertakings seem to have borne fruit – for instance, at a press conference at Web Summit Qatar 2025, Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave pointed out that of the 1,520 startups that were at the event this year, 228 of them were Qatar-based – an increase of 140 percent from last year.

Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave at Web Summit Qatar 2025. Image courtesy Web Summit.

During his opening speech at Web Summit 2025, Cosgrave said, “Qatar is not just a gateway to the Middle East, but to the world.” But does Qatar truly have what it takes to become a startup powerhouse? And is a small market really the best place to start if you want to make it big?

Well, the entrepreneurs who’ve bet on Qatar say yes.

If You Can Make It Here, You Can Make It Anywhere

Consider the example of Snoonu, the Qatari tech startup founded by Hamad Al-Hajri in 2019. The homegrown e-commerce platform has gone from strength to strength since its launch, with it currently offering 11 different services – think online shopping, food and grocery delivery, and more – through what it calls “a revolutionary all-in-one application.”

As the first Qatari startup to raise a Series B round (a US$12 million investment in 2023 led by Qatar Development Bank, one of the country’s leading financial institutions), Snoonu is undeniably one of the country’s best entrepreneurial success stories, but it’s not resting on its laurels – this company has its sights set on becoming the country’s first unicorn.

Now, Qatar might not seem like the most obvious place to build a tech giant with a billion-dollar valuation, but according to Abdulaziz AlQahtani, General Manager of S City, Snoonu’s recently launched events hub, there are valuable lessons a startup can gain by launching and growing here that make it an ideal springboard for success across the rest of the region.

“To be honest, to be a startup in Qatar, it’s not easy,” AlQahtani told Inc. Arabia at Web Summit Qatar 2025. “It’s always the case that startups in small countries like Qatar will find themselves struggling with scaling their business, or targeting big audiences or big customer numbers… It’s not easy to grow in Qatar. But I think that whoever can grow in Qatar can control any market in the world.”

Abdulaziz AlQahtani, General Manager of Snoonu's S City. Image by Inc. Arabia.

Such an ethos is a testament to the growth trajectory Snoonu has had, with it starting out as a delivery platform, to now becoming, as AlQahtani put it, “an ultra-app” that’s boldly competing with some of the biggest names in this field, both from a regional and global perspective. (In fact, AlQahtani declared: “We are now threatening the other players; we are not getting threatened by them!”

At the same time, Snoonu has also effected change on the investment side of things in Qatar – indeed, its success is encouraging stakeholders in the domain to take a bet on other startups like it. “We are changing the mentality in Qatar,” AlQahtani said. “We’re changing the investors’ mentality, we’re changing the family offices’ mentality… We are educating everyone in Qatar what a startup is, what it’s about, and alhamdulillah, we’ve become a benchmark now, and the use case that people can learn from.”

Unicorn Dreams

Other entrepreneurs are certainly following Snoonu’s lead in pursuing bold dreams for their startups – among them is SkyStruct co-founder and CEO Irshad Jaleel, who declared to Inc. Arabia, “We’re going to be the next unicorn from the construction space!”

Now, for what it’s worth, SkyStruct – which offers a construction project management solution that’s been designed and developed in Qatar – has been making significant strides since Jaleel co-founded it with Abdulaziz Alsubaiey (Chairman) and Vishal Nalawade (CTO) in 2020.

Having launched at Qatar Science and Technology Park (the country’s primary incubator for technology development, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship), SkyStruct went on to further bolster itself by participating in an accelerator program run by Qatar Development Bank, and the contech enterprise is now, the co-founders happily revealed, managing over QAR140 million ($38.5 million) worth of construction projects.

Reflecting on SkyStruct’s trajectory to date, Jaleel underlined the effectiveness of Qatar as a launchpad for a startup in the GCC today. “Qatar offered us the perfect pilot phase,” Jaleel said. “For us as a startup, it’s been great to be in an ecosystem where we can be incubated, where we can work on the idea, build it, and get initial funding, and then get support from these organizational bodies like Qatar Development Bank and Qatar Science and Technology Park to work with other enterprises, and then get that early traction... Once we get a scalable product model here, we can then expand into the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where it’d be a little less experimenting, and more business-building.”

SkyStruct co-founders Irshad Jaleel and Abdulaziz Alsubaiey. Image by Inc. Arabia.

Alsubaiey also pointed to SkyStruct’s journey as an example of how the ecosystem in Qatar has become more conducive for entrepreneurs. “For startups in Qatar, there was a time when it used to be a bit challenging to set up a company, run its operations, and get funding,” Alsubaiey shared. “But now, the focus has changed in Qatar – the country is focusing more and more on startups… There are more funding solutions for startups than has ever been. There are also more options for a company to open an office and operate here… Not only that, there is also a concerted focus in the country on digitizing entire industries... Keeping all of this in mind, this is a great place for startups to be, especially those that are tech-based.”

As for SkyStruct itself, Jaleel has a clear-cut vision for the startup’s future.“Our short-term goal right now is to reach product-market fit, raise the funding that we need, and then scale into our next two markets,” he said. “As for our long-term goal, it is to digitalize all of real estate with our platform.”

A Testbed for Innovation

When it comes to organizations that are particularly bullish on Qatar’s future as a startup hub, Invest Qatar – aka the Investment Promotion Agency Qatar – would certainly rank high on the list. After all, a key part of Invest Qatar’s mission is to facilitate investments that foster economic diversification and development in Qatar, and as Abdulla Al Emadi, Investment Relations Officer at Invest Qatar, pointed out, attracting startups to the country is very much a part of that mandate.

As an example of Invest Qatar’s efforts in this regard, Al Emadi pointed to the 2024 edition of Web Summit Qatar, which was where it launched the Startup Qatar initiative with the aim of empowering entrepreneurs in the country. Designed as a comprehensive resource for startups operating in or interested in Qatar, the platform caters to all business requirements in Qatar, wherein it provides not only information, support, and opportunities for entrepreneurs in the country, but also investment pathways for their enterprises.

“Startup Qatar focuses on supporting two stages of startups – those in the idea stage, and those in the growth stage,” Al Emadi explained. “For startups in the idea stage, we offer funding of up to $500,000, along with development and mentorship programs. For those in the growth stage, or scaleups, funding can go up to $5 million. Since last year, we’ve received a total of 2,400 applications, and so far, we have selected 15 startups to invest in, with a total of $18 million in funding.”

Qatar’s attractiveness as a base for startups in the GCC can be measured by the fact that startups from all around the world – including nations like the US, UK, Canada, Turkey and India – applied to be a part of Startup Qatar. However, Al Emadi suggested that there isn’t much point to discussing Qatar’s offering in comparison to other nations in the GCC. “I think that each country in the region – whether it’s the UAE, or Saudi Arabia, or Qatar – has a different value proposition,” he said. “We don’t view our neighboring countries as competitors. We complement their efforts, and whatever comes to the region is going to trickle down into all the countries here.”

Abdulla Al Emadi, Investment Relations Officer at Invest Qatar. Image by Inc. Arabia.

That said, Al Emadi concurred with the other individuals interviewed for this piece when it comes to the benefits that Qatar offers when compared to its peers in the region. “When we look at Qatar’s market size, some would say it plays against companies in Qatar, because it’s limited, it’s a small market, compared to other parts of the region,” Al Emadi said. “However, I’d say that it plays as an advantage for startups, where they can treat Qatar as a testbed to launch their products, and then, if they gain success, they can use it as a launchpad to serve the rest of the region, whether that’s Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, or even Kuwait.”

“I would also say Qatar’s market hasn’t reached a point of saturation,” Al Emadi added. “So, it’s relatively untapped in that sense. As such, for companies that are willing to be part of shaping an ecosystem, for companies that want to be early movers, Qatar is the destination to be. So, I invite all companies who are willing to explore Qatar as a market to reach out to us as Invest Qatar, and we will help guide them throughout their whole investment journey.”

Qatar has thus rolled out the red carpet for entrepreneurs, and, as SkyStruct’s Jaleel puts it, “There’s never been a better time to start than right now.” But as for the country itself, its legitimacy as a testing ground for startups will perhaps be cemented once it produces its first unicorn.

Now, if Snoonu’s AlQahtani is to be believed, that should happen sooner than later – and that’d also validate his personal belief in the potential that Qatar presents. “We will lead the Middle East,” he said, confidently. “It’s just a matter of time. No one can compete with us.”

The race, it’s safe to say, is on.

This article first appeared in the March issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.