Qatar Science & Technology Park's virtual Demo Day: Eleven startups pitch ideas

At the ‘Demo Day’ of the 10th XLR8 programme cycle of Qatar Science and Technology Park Qatar Science & Technology Park—a part of Qatar Foundation Research, Development, and Innovation (QF RDI)—eleven innovative startups pitched their ideas to members of Qatar’s tech innovation community.

As per a report by Gulf Times, the event was attended by tech professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts. The audience voted for their preferred teams, after listening to online pitches. Karty stood first, followed by Lease in the second place and Sahatech in the third.

In line with COVID-19 restrictions, the event was held virtually for the first time following a 10-week online training and mentorship programme.

Yosouf Abdulrahman al-Salehi, Executive Director, QSTP, said, “We at QSTP were determined to continue our XLR8 programme this year despite the many taxing issues caused by the pandemic. In these unique circumstances, the 10th cohort of the programme was an absolute success."

“The participating teams have emerged with outstanding ideas and we are delighted to report that the standard of entries from the dedicated teams was just as high as ever. Using the powers of hi-tech communications during this extraordinary year, we were able to celebrate and recognise the teams’ efforts," he said.

Mohamed Suleiman and Abdulaziz al-Marri, Founders, Karty, said, “Karty is a financial technology startup that aims to improve the daily user spending experience by leveraging technology and utilising transaction data to provide a tailored financial experience.

“We are happy to win first place at the 10th cycle of QSTP’s XLR8 programme and we cannot wait to deliver Karty to the people of Qatar. The XLR8 programme has enriched us and helped us improve our product – we are excited to join the QSTP incubation programme."

Since its inception in 2015, over 150 teams (comprising around 400 individuals) have joined the programme.

This time, 9 teams out of the 11 finalists were selected through QSTP’s competitive selection process, while the other two were selected from the television programme 'Stars of Science'.

As per the Gulf Times report, the teams included ‘Lease The Look’, an online dress and accessories rental platform; ‘Bab’, an e-commerce platform for the construction sector; ‘Qatra’, an online platform for artisans from low-income countries to sell their products to an international market; and ‘Scanscope’, a hand-held scanning device used to detect bone fractures in children without the need to expose them to harmful radiation.

So far, 26 teams from XLR8 have launched startups; 9 of these have are now growing beyond Qatar.

There is also an established network of 30 experienced mentors.