Govt funding, private sector support spur growth of Qatar startups

Funding provided by government entities, as well as support from the private sector has helped spur further growth in Qatar’s entrepreneurship ecosystem in 2019, particularly among startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

In a January 2019 launch ceremony, the Ministry of Transport and Communications’ (MoTC) Digital Incubation Centre (DIC) announced that the DIC will incubate 25 new startups, “bringing the total number of startups currently incubated in the centre to 58 startups, of which 12 are growing,” according to A/Digital Incubation Centre manager, Duha Ali al-Buhendi.
During the event, al-Buhendi said the DIC has already invested QR4.7mn on local startups in 2018. The amount included initial investments from Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), and angel investors.

In September at the announcement of the event ‘Catalysing the Future’, QSTP executive director Yosouf Saleh stated that QSTP has allotted $50mn in the next five years to support startups in the country.
He added that QSTP, a part of Qatar Foundation Research, Development and Innovation (QF RDI), had invested over QR4.3bn in RDI activities by international companies registered with the science and technology park.
“QSTP will continue to incubate and incorporate new tech entrepreneurs and link them with global investors, and provide network access to other global entrepreneurs. QSTP will also continue to attract new tech companies to invest in Qatar and our Free Zone,” Saleh said during the event.

Only recently, QDB executive director Investment Ibrahim Mohamed Hassan announced at ‘The Investment Forum 2019’ that as of 2019 around QR230mn ($60mn) have been committed to more than 30 Qatari startups “at different stages.” The amount is part of the $100mn ‘Fund of Fund’ initiative launched previously by QDB, he said.
According to Hassan, QDB is not only investing for commercial return “but it also looks at the strategic return and the added value it brings to the Qatari ecosystem.”

“What is interesting is that the venture capital funds that QDB has invested on are either opening offices in Qatar, in discussion with Qatari startups, writing term sheets, or are offering investments. Indirectly, we are also contributing to attracting foreign investments on Qatari startups,” Hassan told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the event.
In a statement, QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa said: “QDB is committed to creating an interactive local investment environment through our strategic network of partners, one that would open up wide investment doors before local entrepreneurs to support them in creating and developing their innovative projects.”
The staging of Qitcom 2019 had also benefited many startups that participated in the event held in October and November. On the sidelines of Qitcom 2019, the MoTC announced the winners of the Entrepreneurship Zone Awards, which is comprised of three distinct awards: the Programming Camp (Codecamp), Creative Ideas Camp, and Startup Hub awards.

Five teams won the CodeCamp Award out of 47 teams that came up with smart solutions to challenges put forward by companies and institutions in Qatar. Each team received a cash prize of QR25,000.
Similarly, the winners of the Creative Ideas Camp award were awarded cash prizes of QR125,000, QR100,000, QR75,000, QR50,000, and QR25,000. In addition to cash prizes, technical and operational support will also be provided to the winners of the Creative Ideas Camp, as well as a free workspace to enable them to transform their digital ideas into reality.

During Qitcom 2019, the MoTC’s Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Business Enterprises (DTSME) also announced the digital accelerator programme, which is the next phase of its digital transformation objective of transforming businesses in Qatar.
It aims to increase the overall ranking of the country in utilising emerging technologies, such as Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence. The programme will commence in early 2020 with a niche focus on business maturity levels and approaching the transformation of SMEs in Qatar through both physical in-site transformations as well as online.