Oman’s Startup Scene Surges: $395M Boom and Digital Transformation Unveiled

The atmosphere at the Royal Opera House Muscat this week felt more like a celebration than a formal ceremony, as Oman marked a key milestone in its Promising Omani Startups Programme. His Highness Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham al Said presided over the ‘Afaq’ event, which wrapped up the foundational phase of a national effort to spot, support and scale the country’s most promising young companies. I’ve seen plenty of startup showcases across the region through Arageek, but this one had a certain energy to it — you could tell the ecosystem is shifting gears.

Officials shared a batch of indicators covering 2023 to 2025, and the numbers tell quite a story. Oman now counts 205 tech‑ and innovation-led startups under this programme, with a combined market value of around $395 million. That’s no small feat in a market where building early-stage momentum is often a bit of a faff. These companies have also created 549 jobs for young Omanis so far, showing how entrepreneurship is being woven into the country’s broader economic transformation.

Halima bint Rashid al Zariyah, who chairs Riyada, spoke about the evolution she’s seen in the ecosystem, noting that governance and strategic guidance have played a “pivotal role” in keeping momentum steady. She highlighted how public‑private partnerships have helped entrepreneurs move “from idea to impact,” which, frankly, is spot on — without that alignment, many ecosystems end up talking more than doing. And believe it or not, Oman’s startup activity has gone properly digital too, with 30,000 people engaging annually in programmes that encourage entrepreneurship, plus dozens of hackathons, hundreds of student innovation projects and an expanding mix of incubators, accelerators and funding tools.

One detail that stood out to me: seven crowdfunding platforms and 11 venture capital funds are now active in the Sultanate, something that wasn’t the case not long ago. On the flip side, I reckon the ecosystem still needs more late‑stage capital, but that’s a challenge plenty of markets face. Annual startup investments have reached roughly RO 11.5 million, and 22 Omani startups have crossed the $5 million valuation mark. For a country building its startup landscape almost from scratch, that’s impressive, if not downright chuffed‑to‑bits territory.

The ceremony also introduced a new sustainability plan for the programme, under the theme “An Innovation Journey That Begins with an Idea, Building a Sustainable Economy.” The aim is to shift from short‑term implementation to long‑term institutional stability — ensuring that support for startups isn’t just a passing initiative but something built into Oman’s economic fabric. As someone who’s spent years speaking with founders who struggle when programmes end abruptly, this feels like a wise move, even if execution will definately be the real test.

A recurring message throughout the event was the importance of partnerships — government bodies, investors, private companies and educators all pulling in the same direction. The entrepreneurs themselves were celebrated too, offering a commemorative gift to His Highness Sayyid Bilarab as a gesture of appreciation for his backing of the ecosystem.

With Oman Vision 2040 as a guiding light, the Promising Omani Startups Programme is now preparing for its next chapter. Its first phase brought together Riyada, several ministries and the Oman Information and Communications Technology Group, laying the groundwork for what looks like a more confident and innovation‑driven future. And if this week’s gathering is anything to go by, the country’s startup scene is only just getting started.

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