Qatar unveils $2 billion push for startups as Web Summit opens

Qatar committed $2 billion to support startups as its banner tech gathering opened to sold-out crowds, drawing more than 30,000 people.

The Qatar Investment Authority is planning to invest in five new venture capital funds, expanding an earlier created Fund of Funds and and taking its total commitment for startups to $3 billion. 

The funds newly included – Greycroft, Ion Pacific, Liberty City Ventures, Shorooq and Speedinvest – will open offices in Doha to help develop the city as a hub for tech entrepreneurs. 

“This year, we move from momentum to scale,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al ⁠Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a keynote address on Sunday at the opening of Web Summit Qatar, where he announced a raft of incentives, including a 10-year residency program for entrepreneurs, founders, investors, and senior executives.

“We invite you to put down roots and grow alongside a nation that invests in your future,” he said. 

Now in its third year, the Middle East’s franchise of the famed Web Summit in Lisbon drew a record 1,600 startups, 85% of which came from outside of Qatar.