Alvarez & Marsal Joins Snoonu to Turbocharge Qatar’s Startup Ecosystem

Mohammed Fathy

Last updated 4-02-2026

3 min

Alvarez & Marsal partners with Snoonu to support Qatar startups “ready to scale”.

The deal centres on Snoonu’s incubator, offering “hands-on” help across finance, operations and tech.

A&M brings “senior operators” focused on execution, not “glossy slides”.

Snoonu says the partnership strengthens operating models feeding Qatar’s growing digital economy.

The tie-up comes as Qatar’s startup ecosystem records strong growth and rising global visibility.

Alvarez & Marsal has teamed up with Snoonu in a move that could give Qatar’s startup scene a practical boost, especially for founders who are past the idea stage and ready to scale. The two signed a memorandum of understanding during the Qatar Web Summit in Doha, running from February 1 to 4, where the global professional services firm was taking part as a major partner.

At the heart of the deal is Snoonu’s startup incubator. Alvarez & Marsal, often known simply as A&M, will step in as a knowledge partner, sharing hands-on guidance across finance, operations, commercial strategy, tech and investor readiness. It’s less about glossy slides and more about rolling up sleeves, which, frankly, feels spot on for the challenges many regional founders face once growth kicks in and things get a bit messy.

I’ve seen enough early-stage teams around the region, including those we cheer on at Arageek, struggle with execution rather than ideas. So an operator-led model, the kind A&M is known for, could cut through some of that noise. Under this partnership, the focus is on turning strategy into action, building real capabilities and fixing bottlenecks before they become a proper headache.

Colie Spink, A&M’s Middle East regional leader, said the firm’s teams are made up of senior operators who have actually built and run businesses, not just advised from the sidelines. He added that this experience should help startup leaders strengthen their fundamentals and prepare for sustainable growth and investment. No sugar-coating there, and I reckon that honesty matters.

From Snoonu’s side, founder and CEO Hamad Al Hajri framed the agreement as a meeting of two organisations with a shared ambition to support entrepreneurship in Qatar. By combining Snoonu’s role as a national digital platform with A&M’s global execution expertise, he said founders in the incubator can get practical support to build stronger operating models and grow in a way that feeds into Qatar’s digital economy.

All this is landing at a time when Qatar’s startup ecosystem is clearly picking up pace. The number of startups has grown by 13.6% over the past year, and local participation in international events is up a whopping 90%. That’s no small feat. Believe it or not, that visibility often opens doors to capital and partnerships faster than any pitch deck ever could.

Beyond the incubator, A&M and Snoonu also plan to explore opportunities to support government-led digital and technology projects tied to Qatar National Vision 2030, which pushes for diversification and a more knowledge-based economy. A&M already has a presence on the ground in Doha, working with public entities, family offices and large corporates on transformation and turnaround projects, so this isn’t a parachute-in-and-leave situation.

On the flip side, partnerships like this only work if founders actually engage with them. It can be tempting to nod along and then go back to business as usual. But if done right, this collaboration could be a real game changer, not just another logo on a banner. And well… I mean, anything that helps founders avoid repeating the same old mistakes is a win, definitly.

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