Qatar waives QFC registration fees for three years and deploys $18M to 15 startups as Web Summit Qatar draws 25,000 attendees.
Qatar Financial Centre is waiving registration and annual fees for three years for companies that set up during Web Summit Qatar, extending incentives that drew more than 700 firms to sign up at last year's event in just four days.
The offer is straightforward. Pay nothing to register. Pay nothing to renew for three years. Get a tax credit for the same period. Yousef Fakhroo, who leads marketing and communications at QFC, said the center expects even stronger numbers this year as Qatar competes with Saudi Arabia and the UAE for founders looking to enter the region.
For anyone attending Web Summit Qatar, the process works like this.
First, get the referral code from the Web Summit app — it's required to access the incentives.
Submit an expression of interest through QFC's portal at start.qfc.qa.
Prepare passport copies for all shareholders and directors, plus a Qatar ID if you're already a resident.
Complete the full application online.
Open a corporate bank account — Qatar National Bank and Doha Bank have booths at the event and can do this the same day
Sort out office space. QFC gives you a temporary address for three months, but after that you need to lease something permanent in one of their approved buildings.
One warning: if your company sits inactive for more than six months, QFC can pull your license and shut you down.
The fee waivers sit inside a larger funding ecosystem. The Startup Qatar Investment Program, backed by Qatar Development Bank, has handed out $18 million to 15 startups from Italy, Oman, Singapore, the UK, the US, and Turkey since it launched in 2024. Early-stage founders can apply for up to $1.1 million. Companies with three or more years of operations can seek up to $5.5 million to expand into Qatar. The program has received more than 2,400 applications so far. Beyond cash, selected startups get office space in a local incubator, help with accommodation, and entrepreneur visas.
Separately, the TASMU Accelerator, run by Qatar's communications ministry — has now supported 50 startups from 29 countries. The combined value of those companies has crossed $1.1 billion. Last week, the third cohort graduated after a six-month program. Three startups walked away with $55,000 each from sponsors including Ooredoo Qatar, Qatar National Bank, and Deloitte. The accelerator takes no equity.
Eman Al Kuwari, who directs digital innovation at the ministry, said the portfolio's growth reflects Qatar's push to build what she called a competitive digital economy. Startups in the latest cohort grew sales by 40 percent during the program and built a pipeline of local deals worth more than $90 million.
Web Summit Qatar 2025 itself pulled in nearly 26,000 attendees, over 1,500 startups, and more than 700 investors — the largest startup gathering the Middle East has seen. Founders who attended the first edition in 2024 went on to raise $120 million collectively over the following year.
Qatar produced its first major tech exit when Saudi Arabia's Jahez Group bought Snoonu, a Qatari delivery app, for $245 million. In December, the government launched a national AI company called QAI with plans to spend $20 billion on data centers and AI infrastructure through a partnership with Brookfield. Imec, the Belgian chip research institute, announced it will open its first Middle East lab in Doha next year.
For founders weighing whether to make the move, the math is simple. Qatar is covering upfront costs, offering funded programs that don't take ownership stakes, and building physical infrastructure to test products. The window for the Web Summit incentives closes when the event ends. Applications for the investment program stay open at startupqatar.qa.
