Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH), an initiative of Qatar Development Bank (QDB), has announced the successful candidates for Wave 5 of its highly sought-after Incubator and Accelerator Programs, designed to foster the growth of innovative FinTech startups in the region.
Since its inception in 2020, QFTH has played a pivotal role in nurturing the Qatar Fintech industry, having already graduated 57 FinTech startups with a cumulative valuation of USD $500 million. In line with its commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, QDB has invested an impressive USD $6.46 million in these startups, with over USD $4 million already disbursed in cash and in-kind value.
Over 500 applications flooded the program’s portal, from which 290 startups were shortlisted based on their eligibility and relevance to the market. After a rigorous selection process, 14 promising FinTech startups presented their ideas to a jury comprising Strategic and Theme Partners. Finally, 10 outstanding startups were chosen to join the program. Additionally, QFTH selected 11 more startups through their Hackathon in June, bringing the total number of FinTech startups in QFTH-FIA Wave 5 to 21.
QFTH is proud to partner with prominent industry players, including VISA, Qatar Insurance Company, Mastercard, and QDB, to provide comprehensive support and empowerment to the participating startups in various FinTech domains, such as PayTech, InsurTech, Buy Now Pay Later, and Loan-Based Crowdfunding.
The selected FinTech startups will embark on a transformative 12-week journey, receiving specialized guidance and skilling support to develop and enhance their business models. Moreover, they will gain access to pre-seed capital investments of up to USD $110K and USD $170K for the Incubator and Accelerator Programs, respectively.
In addition to QDB, other key ecosystem players, such as the Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Financial Centre, and Microsoft, will also lend their expertise and services to further bolster the growth of these promising FinTech startups. The QFTH-FIA Wave 5 promises to be an exceptional opportunity for these FinTech startups to thrive and make a lasting impact on Qatar’s financial technology landscape.
Mr. Abdulrahman Hesham Al Sowaidi, QDB CEO, stressed the importance of fostering Qatar’s fintech industry, noting that “we are constantly working on developing the fintech industry by offering entrepreneurs the necessary support in terms of venture capital and our incubation and acceleration programs.”
Commenting on the launch of Wave 5, Al Sowaidi said, “With every new cohort of startups, we create a range of innovative solutions and future opportunities that advance Qatar’s position as a regional fintech hub. Over the next three months, we will work on developing and localizing 21 startups across four sectors through our incubation and acceleration programs as well as investments worth over 7 million Qatari riyals. These companies were shortlisted in line with the regulatory and licensing mechanisms outlined by Qatar Central Bank, with the aim of providing value-added services to the payments, insurance and crowdfunding sectors in coordination with the central bank’s fintech department, Visa, MasterCard, Qatar Insurance Company, Microsoft and Qatar Financial Center.
QFTH hosted a fireside chat bringing the key stakeholders of the local ecosystem together and discussed with them the Evolution of the Qatari FinTech Ecosystem. Key executives from participating institutions such as Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Development Bank, VISA, Microsoft, Qatar Financial Centre and one of the licensed PSP, PAY2M, who’s QFTH alumni shared their thoughts and opinions about the growth and impact of the FinTech initiative.
Among other key events, QFTH orchestrated the strategic partnership signing ceremony between VISA and PAY2M, who went through the Acceleration Program and benefited on number of benefits enabling them to be the first Qatari FinTech to have CyberSource integration with VISA. As part of extending support to the ecosystem, not just locally but also internationally, QFTH signed an MoU with the fastest growing digital insurer of India, ACKO, hosting them as the InsurTech Anchor Tenant for the QFTH-FIA Wave 5. QFTH and ACKO will have a non-commercial value-based exchange, empowering the FinTech and InsurTech ecosystem.
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