Qatar’s Venture Bet Is Getting Real

The Closing of Qatar’s Most Significant Tech Year Yet

As Qatar celebrates National Day and 2025 comes to a close, it feels like a natural moment to take stock of how the country’s venture capital and startup ecosystem has evolved. Having lived in Doha for the past three years, I have noticed the change not in a single dramatic headline, but in the accumulation of smaller, structural shifts. Capital is being deployed with clarity, institutions are better coordinated, and Qatar’s role in the global startup and VC landscape is becoming more defined.

The $1 Billion Deployment: QIA and Global Funds

Venture capital activity in Qatar continues to be closely linked to the Qatar Investment Authority, which remains the central force shaping the market. There is a strong emphasis on partnering with experienced fund managers and building long-term institutional capabilities.

By February 2025, QIA had committed nearly $500 million across the first six managers selected under its $1 billion Fund of Funds programme: Rasmal Ventures, B Capital, Builders VC, Deerfield, Utopia Capital Management (A-Typical), and Human Capital. Later in the year, QIA expanded the programme further by adding Founders Circle Capital, strengthening its exposure to global growth-stage expertise.

Despite this momentum, the venture capital programme still represents less than 0.2% of QIA’s total assets, estimated at $526 billion, underscoring both the strategy's early-stage nature and its potential for expansion.

Alongside QIA-backed initiatives, 2025 also saw increased activity from independent international venture capital firms choosing Qatar as a strategic base. Most notably, Golden Gate Ventures strengthened its presence in Doha as part of its global platform, actively building a bridge between Southeast Asia and MENA. The firm made a couple of investments and used Qatar as a hub to support early-stage investments, help founders expand across regions, and connect two fast-growing emerging markets.

Launch of QVCA

To unify these new arrivals with local players, the Qatar Venture Capital Association (QVCA) was launched in May 2025 at the Qatar Economic Forum.

Designed as the “one voice” for the investment community, QVCA is led by founding members including A-typical Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, and Rasmal Ventures. Its primary mission is to coordinate policy advocacy and provide a structured framework for the influx of capital and talent entering Qatar.

The National Bet on AI

Qatar has made AI a strategic priority, anchoring its ambitions in a clear advantage: abundant, low-cost energy to power large-scale computation and next-generation AI infrastructure.

In December 2025, QIA launched QAI - “a national company specialising in artificial intelligence (AI), aimed at developing advanced digital ecosystems to support innovation and contribute to sustainable development”. Shortly after, Qai announced a $20 billion joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management to develop high-performance computing centres and AI infrastructure in Qatar and internationally: one of the largest AI-focused infrastructure commitments globally.

On the venture-creation front, A-typical Ventures, a new venture studio backed by QIA and QDB and managed by Utopia Capital Management, debuted at Web Summit 2025. “The Studio” is actively recruiting entrepreneurs to build companies from the ground up, with a strong focus on AI.

Accelerators and Support Systems

Accelerator activity in Qatar continued to mature in 2025, evolving from a broad set of founder programs into a more specialised support stack that links local innovation with global expertise. Startup Qatar, led by QDB, remains the primary entry point for early-stage founders, while sector depth is increasingly shaped by QDB’s FinTech Hub and Scale7, which focuses on creative and fashion-tech startups with regional scaling ambitions. The TASMU Program continues to anchor venture development around national digital priorities, particularly in logistics, mobility, and smart city infrastructure. Alchemist Doha solidified its role as a premier B2B and enterprise hub, serving as the bridge between Doha and San Francisco for B2B companies. Additionally, the Cure by Deerfield Middle East Health Accelerator launched its inaugural 12-week hybrid program in late 2025, offering mentorship and connectivity between NYC and Doha for 15 selected healthtech startups. Startup Grind Doha continued to play an essential role as a neutral platform for open, candid discussions, bringing founders, operators, and investors together.

Major International Events: Web Summit and MWC

Doha’s role as a regional tech hub was reinforced by its hosting of Web Summit Qatar 2025, which provided the stage for several of the year’s most significant ecosystem announcements and meaningful investor–founder engagement. This international momentum was complemented by strong local platforms, including ROWAD by Qatar Development Bank, which continued to anchor founder development, and the MENA Insurtech Summit & FinTech, led by Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), which strengthened ties between startups and regulated incumbents. Later in the year, MWC Doha hosted its inaugural edition, further validating Qatar’s ambition to become a recurring destination for global technology and innovation events.

A Hotter Angel Scene

Qatar’s angel ecosystem also picked up real momentum in 2025. Doha Tech Angels (DTA) closed three new investments, signalling an active local angel base. At the same time, the market saw the arrival of new angel investment clubs, including Finjan VC, adding fresh capital, structure, and deal-sharing dynamics to the ecosystem.

The Exit: Snoonu’s QAR 1 Billion Milestone

The ecosystem’s most significant validation came in July 2025 with the Snoonu-Jahez deal. Saudi-based Jahez Group agreed to acquire a 76.5% stake in the Qatari delivery platform for $245 million. This deal valued Snoonu at approximately QAR 1.165 billion (~$320 million), making it the first Qatari tech startup to surpass the billion-riyal valuation mark. This “soonicorn” (or snoonicorn 🙈) exit provides a much-needed success story for local founders and proves that Qatar-born startups can achieve regional scale.

2025 was a year of progress

Overall, the momentum going into the end of 2025 is hard to ignore. A lot of this progress is the result of sustained, often unglamorous work by founders, investors, ecosystem builders, and public institutions, and many friends and peers deserve real credit for how far things have moved in a relatively short time. From Seedstars International Ventures’ global portfolio perspective, it has also been encouraging to see two of our companies building meaningful collaborations and products with Qatari corporates. If I had one wish for 2026, it would be to see even deeper engagement from prominent national champions: QNB, Qatar Energy and Qatar Airways, in particular, playing a more systematic role as customers, partners, and early adopters of local and regional innovation.

2026 already looks exciting!

Looking ahead, there are good reasons to believe that 2026 can be even stronger, judging by who showed up in Doha over the past months 🤫. For those who remember how quiet and fragmented the ecosystem felt just three years ago, the contrast is striking.

On a lighter note, the calendar also brings things to look forward to beyond venture. Art Basel is coming to Qatar, which I’m genuinely excited about, and it feels like another signal of how the country is broadening its global cultural footprint.

And finally, for anyone still debating it: Qinwan cheesecake remains the best in Doha, and I’m yet to be convinced otherwise.

Happy holidays,
Mal