Startup Grind hosts forum on Qatar’s evolving startup ecosystem

(From left) Agata Braja moderating the panel discussion by Ariane Gibert, Khaled al-Adba, and Swapan Saha.

Winners of a recently held ‘hackathon’ have lauded major entities in the public and private sector for their key role in the development and growth of the country's start-up ecosystem during a panel discussion organised by Startup Grind Doha. Titled ‘Qatar’s Growing Startup Ecosystem – The Hackathon Narrative’, the discussion revolved around the experiences of Ariva and Magaia at the ‘E-commerce Hackathon’, a first-of-its-kind competition in Doha organised last month by Innovation Café. Placing third in the hackathon, Ariane Gibert, founder of Magaia, and second place winners, Swapan Saha and Khaled al-Adba, CEO and CMO of Ariva, respectively, led the panel discussion, which was moderated by Agata Braja, UI/UX designer at Qatar Foundation. “Last month, we were really excited about Innovation Cafe's E-Commerce Hackathon because 360 Nautica and Startup Grind were strategic partners of the event. This month, we would like the winners to share post-event updates with the participants. What is the story after that? “We are happy to learn that after the hackathon, the winners, such as Magaia and Ariva, are being incubated in different places and that a lot of funding is in the pipeline for them,” 360 Nautica Startup Programme manager Avneet Kaur told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the event. The panel of experts all agreed that government ministries and organisations, such as Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Tasmu, Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), and Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC), as well as leading companies in the private sector, have played a significant role in supporting the growth and development of the country’s entrepreneurship culture and startup ecosystem. During the panel discussion, Gibert, who is a marketing expert with a demonstrated history in digital marketing and content creation, and the founder of the circular fashion platform, ‘Souqti’, explained her project Magaia, which is a blockchain solution that tracks the provenance and carbon footprint of clothing items. On the other hand, al-Adba, a Reliability engineer at Qatar Shell with over 10 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, stressed that Qatar is making its mark in the region’s startup sector. He also underscored the rapid development Qatar has achieved in the entrepreneurship and startup scene in the past 10 to 15 years. Saha explained the importance of joining competitions, such as the E-Commerce Hackathon, and the experiences that the participants would gain from the activities, as well as the valuable advice offered by mentors, who are veterans in their respective fields of expertise. According to Kaur, Startup Grind Doha’s previous in-person event was held prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2020. “From January 2022, we are looking forward to continue hosting in-person events for Startup Grind Doha with the proper health and safety precautions in place.” Kaur also announced plans by ‘Doha Startups’ – a newly-established one-stop platform for startups in Qatar. Doha Startups also aims to make Qatar “one of the startup-friendly nations in the Mena region and worldwide,” she noted.