A newly-established online portal is aiming to bring together stakeholders and enablers in the country to further enhance the growth and development of Qatar’s startup ecosystem.
According to 360 Nautica startup programme manager Avneet Kaur, ‘Doha Startups’ is a one-stop platform for startups in Qatar, which aims to make the country “one of the startup-friendly nations in the Mena region and worldwide.
“Doha Startups is a community that we’re building; it is a one-stop platform for startups in Qatar. My plan for the coming years, especially for 2022, is to put Qatar in the top 30 list of startup-friendly nations in the Mena region or globally.
“Currently, Dubai is running at number 11 in the list. They’ve jumped 10-11 spots and they’re the only city in the whole Mena region that is on the startup gnome list, which is published every year. So, the plan is to make Doha Startups a stepping stone to achieving that position,” Kaur told Gulf Times.
The Doha Startups website explains that the portal was designed to be “Qatar's largest online platform” for startups, investors, incubators, accelerators, mentors, and other ecosystem enablers.
“Doha Startups is powered by 360 Nautica, which is a venture and a growth capital platform with a focus on helping entrepreneurs to grow from an idea stage to a self-sustainable organisation.
“The objective is to create possibilities for collaboration and partnerships between different entities. Anyone will be able to access a wealth of free resources and participate in the many programmes that will be accessible through the platform,” it also stated.
Kaur pointed out that bringing together stakeholders in the public and private sectors would help propel the country’s startup sector into the global spotlight, thus giving entrepreneurs access to different business opportunities abroad.
The Doha Startups website also stated that “the portal will continue to evolve and be a platform where startups can have detailed and complete profiles that will be a paid service in the near future. This will be a premium service that will create a gateway for startups in Qatar to be visible to the region and the rest of the world and connect with investors and partners.”
Kaur added: “Interested parties can log on to our platform, which is already live…we launched the platform earlier in 2021; we are changing day by day, and we are adding more features to the platform to make things easier for people, especially the ecosystem enablers to utilise it.”
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