Qatar’s startup ecosystem climbs up 11 places in global index

Qatar has been at the forefront of building its entrepreneurial and startup ecosystems. The hard work has started to bear fruit, with global attention being trained on it and sectors witnessing excellent improvement in global rankings.

According to the recently released ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2024,’ Qatar’s startup ecosystem experienced a notable enhancement in 2024. While it attained seventh place in the Middle East, it advanced 11 places to reach 79th globally. It thereby reversed a six-position decline over the previous two years.

Meanwhile, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s (GEM) Qatar National Report 2023-24, published in collaboration with Qatar Development Bank, found the country ranked third in the MENA region and fifth globally in the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI). It attained a score of 5.9, surpassing the global average of 4.7.

The GEM report also noted that the Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate in Qatar reached an impressive 14.3%, a significant increase from 10.7% in 2023.

Qatar’s advantageous business environment is also attracting an increasing number of foreign startups, with ‘Invest Qatar’ playing a crucial role in facilitating their market entry.

The Invest Qatar Gateway platform provides companies with access to essential resources, connections with key stakeholders, and opportunities for partnerships to establish a robust presence in the nation.

Qatar is home to a dynamic startup ecosystem bolstered by various incubation centres, seed funding initiatives, and innovation hubs like the Qatar Science & Technology Park, and the Qatar Business and Incubation Centre. Entrepreneurs in Qatar benefit from access to talent, financial resources, and market opportunities, which are essential for nurturing a successful startup ecosystem.

“The launch of new programmes with international calls for participation, and the organization of major events like Web Summit Qatar, has led to an influx of foreign early stage ventures, an increase in the maturity of local businesses, and the emergence of professional venture capitalist investors translating into progress for the local start-up ecosystem,” Felix Katterl, Partner and Corporate Practice Lead at Soutien Group, was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.

He added that public and private stakeholders have done their part to lower the barriers to market entry and operation for start-ups and scale-ups in Qatar with simplified registration processes, decreases and waivers of government and professional fees, tax breaks, introduction of new types of visas, and allocation of budgets and funds.

According to the GEM report, the rates of new business ownership and nascent entrepreneurship have risen from 4.1% and 6.8% in the previous year to 5.1% and 9.7% in 2024, respectively. These trends mirror the TEA rate, suggesting that the enthusiasm for entrepreneurship is gaining momentum, as indicated by the growth in early-stage entrepreneurial activities.

The GEM report also indicated that the rate of business discontinuation has shown an upward trend, reaching a peak of 9.6% in 2023. Nevertheless, the combined rates of TEA at 14.3% and established businesses at 4.4% suggest substantial growth in Qatar’s entrepreneurial landscape.

A majority of both early-stage and established business owners are focused on the consumer services sector. The proportion of early-stage entrepreneurs operating in this sector increased to 59.4% in 2023, up from 40.7% the previous year.

Likewise, the share of established businesses in the consumer services sector rose from 38.8% in 2022 to 47.3% in 2023, as noted in the report.

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