24 June 2024, Doha – Qatar: The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) successfully marked its inaugural participation in Collision 2024, America's fastest-growing tech conference held in Toronto from 17 to 20 June, by introducing "Startup Qatar" to an international audience. In collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and Qatar Development Bank (QDB), the “Startup Qatar” pavilion showcased the exclusive advantages and extensive opportunities offered to startups and entrepreneurs aiming to establish and expand their ventures in Qatar.

His Excellency Dr Khalid bin Rashid Al-Mansouri, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Qatar in Canada, visited the “Startup Qatar” pavilion, underscoring the importance of this initiative.

Throughout the four-day conference, the pavilion facilitated connections between attendees and key stakeholders in Qatar’s startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem. It highlighted the country’s thriving business ecosystem, multi-sectoral opportunities and customised benefits aimed to empower ambitious startups and support their long-term growth.

Additionally, Invest Qatar led various business engagements to promote the nation’s strategic vision in fostering a sustainable and innovative tech ecosystem. Fahad Al-Kuwari, Senior Manager of Investor Relations, participated in a panel discussion titled “Government and Industry Roles in Building a Sustainable Tech Hub”. Fahad shed light on Qatar’s significant strides in accelerating innovation and tech advancements and provided valuable insights into the policies and initiatives Qatar is implementing to reinforce its position as a thriving hub for innovation and startups.

Invest Qatar’s participation at Collision 2024 builds on the significant interest and record success of the “Startup Qatar” initiative during the Web Summit Qatar, the largest technology event in the Middle East. The initiative, launched ahead of the Summit, recorded over 250 business registrations facilitated by QFC and received more than 1,000 applications for the “Startup Qatar Investment Programme” by QDB. This programme offers funding of up to $500,000 for seed-stage and up to $5 million for growth-stage companies.

The “Startup Qatar” initiative is designed to support startups at every stage of their journey. It provides an innovative one-stop online platform (startupqatar.qa), catering to all business requirements and enabling them to access Qatar’s extensive network of support services, opportunities, funding, incubation programmes, government grants, networking events and various other resources.