In collaboration with MAGNiTT the research platform, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has released the third issue of its “Qatar Venture Investment Report” for 2022, marking a new milestone in its journey to bolster Qatar’s business landscape and to build on its investment arm’s success – through its various programs – in enabling informed and data-driven investments in local SMEs.

QDB has long placed strong emphasis on Venture Capital and its role in ensuring entrepreneurs have access to financing, a pillar of the bank’s three-fold strategy to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. The report complements these efforts, touching on the advantages of investing in SMEs and the prospects of Qatar’s investment landscape.

QDB Acting CEO Mr. Abdulrahman Hesham Al Sowaidi stressed the importance of such reports in promoting and supporting Qatar’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. “Investment, in its various forms, is essential to the success of any entrepreneurial ecosystem. At QDB, we have joined hands with our partners across various national entities, to boost the local investment landscape, which is home to many innovative and creative projects.”

Qatar’s Venture Capital ecosystem had a successful 2022, according to the latest Venture Investment report, which documents QR97M in investments last year, a 35% year-on-year increase. 2022 also featured a record number of 45 transactions, ranking Qatar in fourth place in terms of the most transacted geography in the MENA region with an 18% year-on-year increase in the number of deals.

A record of 17 investors engaged in last year’s deals, up to 70% from 2021, with corporate and commercial investors accounting for over a third of transactions at 35%.

The transport and logistics industry captured the lion’s share of investments, accounting for 45% of the total capital deployed in 2022 including a QR44M series B funding in one of the Qatari startups.

Commenting on the report, Founder and CEO of MAGNiTT Philip Bahoshy said: “Qatar’s startup ecosystem maintained its attractiveness in 2022 despite global economic uncertainties, raising a record of QR97M through 45 deals, and marking a 35% year-on-year increase”.

“Compared to neighboring countries, Qatar witnessed an increase in funding in the second half of the year, which accounted for 68% of the total capital deployed in 2022,” Bahoshy continued.

QDB channeled over QR74M in investments into SMEs in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 13% with direct investments and investment commitments amounting to a total of QR90M. QDB has also implemented capacity-building training programs to qualify over 60 investors to actively engage within the investment sector.

To download the full Qatar Venture Investment Report for 2022, please visit QDB’s website or click on the link HERE.