Qatar's strong focus on innovation and entrepreneurship is helping boost its appeal as an attractive destination for business especially for SMEs. Qatar Development Bank (QDB) recently concluded its most inclusive hackathon with a major turnout, attracting over 300 applications from local entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers who shared their ideas and solutions for today’s most relevant challenges across the event’s seven industry-specific themes.
QDB received a diverse range of competitive applications, setting the Hackathon on the right track for excellence. QDB has taken several initiatives to promote entrepreneurship in Qatar. Qatar’s fast growing FinTech sector has huge potential for growth. The national efforts to boost the local FinTech sector have begun to bear fruit.
Qatar is emerging as a potential new home for FinTech in the region with Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH) becoming the second largest FinTech venture investor in MENA in Q1 2021.
Qatar FinTech Hub, founded by QDB, to support the growth of the FinTech industry in Qatar, was ranked as the second top investor in FinTechs across the MENA region in the first quarter of 2021 by startups research and intelligence firm, MAGNiTT. QFTH was established by QDB in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030, and QCB’s FinTech Strategy to build on Qatar’s success in the financial sector and enhance the country’s role in the field of financial innovation.
The first wave of the program focused on Payment Technologies, whereas the second, which has recently graduated, centered around Emerging Technologies that address the challenges of financial institutions.
The themes and solutions were curated in alignment with the Qatar FinTech Strategy, and in synergy with QCB - Sandbox. In 2020, QFTH launched its flagship Incubator and Accelerator Programs, and has achieved tremendous traction with more than 1200 application from around the world for Wave 1 and Wave 2. Such interest showcases the leading position that Qatar now occupies on the global FinTech map.
The creation of Qatar FinTech Hub was a significant step in establishing Qatar as a leading regional and global FinTech hub, with the purpose of attracting FinTech innovations to keep Qatari financial services a competitive industry. QFTH is also a platform where companies can enjoy access to a wide network of partners, mentors, and experts from across the globe, which has enabled it to succeed in conducting the first ever specialized FinTech incubation and acceleration programs, graduating 40+ FinTechs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitisation and reiterated the growing importance of Fintech across the globe which is visible through technology acceleration and adoption by all regulators, banks, and customers
