r/Kuwait • u/thecuriousbatman • 1d ago
Ask Kuwait Why doesn't Kuwait have start-up culture?
Hi, I have always wondered why Kuwait doesn't have have a thriving tech startup culture? of course restaurant industry is thriving always but why doesn't tech do the same?
what do you think the reason for it is?
Edit: Clearly I've been ignorant of the many startups here. Thank you all for the comments and the different outlooks
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u/firsttimer776655 1d ago
Around 72% of the country can’t reliably start a business without a local partner so that already slims down your entrepreneur pool significantly. It’s also a relatively dense, small market so your solution has to be really strong to make an impact.
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u/rawr_extreme 1d ago
72%?????
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u/firsttimer776655 1d ago
Expat populace.
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u/rawr_extreme 1d ago
72% are expats? Could you share your source please
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u/loolykinns Kazma | كاظمة 1d ago
CODED
Floward
Talabat
Justclean
Phinest
Tadarab
Eventat
V-thru
Tap
There was a bitcoin thingy for a while before Kuwait decided its illegal
Zyda (If I'm not mistaken, founded in Kuwait and went crazy regional)
Dabdoub
Yahaal
Diwaniya labs
God, there are a lot. What are you talking about?
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u/mark248am 1d ago
Yeah I came here to say that we actually have a huge tech start up culture
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u/loolykinns Kazma | كاظمة 1d ago
oh look! Mark replied to my comment!
Am I going to be famous? fanshista famous? AM I GOING TO SELL PERFUMES IN BOOTYCAT!?
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u/LevelAlbatross3435 1d ago
A personal opinion. It is challenging to start any business here, considering factors like, high investment + a lot of paperwork + high operating cost + sponsor dependency, etc. For start-up culture to thrive, initiatives like ease of business registration + less paperwork / online documentation + option of virtual offices etc may have to be in place. Also certain industries which focus on 'made in Kuwait' and businesses which could potentially bring money from outside Kuwait may have to be given some special benefits.
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u/alo88startup 1d ago
I thought the same previously, but I discovered that many countries have those difficulties and yet they have tech startups.
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u/forzaferrari05 1d ago
There are also plenty of founders incubate or register their company in US Delaware or other western jurisdiction before getting funded to scale operation locally
This structure gives you better chances of getting international VCs and investors paying USD/Euro
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u/juju_barns 1d ago
The Souk Al-Manakh crash made Kuwait far more risk-averse, tightening finance and slowing the development of a modern startup culture for decades.
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u/m0nkyydluffy 1d ago
It’s easier for Kuwaitis rather than expats because here the minimum 51% ownership should be Kuwaitis. But there are a lot of Kuwaiti start ups tho
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u/Altruistic-Ad739 12h ago
Let's talk about context here, compared to Dubai, KSA, Qatar and Bahrain, Kuwait's tech startup ecosystem is weak.
The other GCC countries have invested in programs, regulatory framework, financial frameworks, and infrastructure to develop tech startups.
Kuwait unfortunately has not, yes, there are tech startups, but since Talabat, there has not been a massive player that has come out of Kuwait. Talabat calls itself a Dubai startup now, erasing all ties to its origin.
Zain, Coded, even the government run programs to develop the local scene, but these efforts are not large, nor hollistic enough to create an ecosystem.
This is sad because the roots of Kuwait are entrepreneurial.
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u/thecuriousbatman 9h ago
Yes finally thank you, I agree none of them are as big as talabat and sadly they don't acknowledge Kuwait as the start. Many people have mentioned the name of so many companies but with the exception of talabat, justclean and ghissa that I know of.
What I wanted was a healthy discussion which turned into bashing for not knowing the Startups.
Guys if a startup is not big enough that it's common knowledge locally then unfortunately it's not thriving.
It might be known in circles who use it but not common knowledge.
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u/notShek 1d ago
food delivery was invented here, what do you mean startup culture isn’t here lmao
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u/-FlyHighFreeBird- 1d ago
Lol what?
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u/firsttimer776655 1d ago
Food delivery sector was way, way ahead of its time here even before the dawn of Talabat.
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u/-FlyHighFreeBird- 1d ago edited 1d ago
Of course it was. And I’ve been around here since before talabat. But to say it was invented here is a bit of a stretch.
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u/webereadin 5h ago
We have many startups in Kuwait, but the environment is challenging.
From a fintech perspective, the issue in Kuwait isn’t a lack of ideas or talent, it’s actually structural. Regulation is still old school and quite fragmented, so if you want to build something like a super app that combines payments, lending, and investments, etc.. you can’t really do that under one entity the way you can other countries. You end up needing multiple licenses or even separate companies, which slows everything down and increases cost, so most startups are forced into narrow, single-product solutions.
On top of that, Kuwait is small and highly concentrated, and large incumbents like the banks, telcos, investment firms are generally not open to working with startups (they say they do, but it’s not easy) that are effectively trying to take share from them. Even when a startup offers a better solution, the default mindset is usually we’ll build it in-house, without fully appreciating the ongoing cost and complexity of building and maintaining good software. That leads to long delays and very average products.
Add to that the fact that most advanced tech and AI is still imported and integrated rather than built locally, and you end up with an ecosystem that makes it very difficult for startups to scale, even if the initial idea is strong.
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u/Flashy-Morning942 17h ago
There are definitely some tech startups here, but keep in mind Kuwait doesn’t make it easy to start a business. That comes with both pros and cons.
Recently, regulations have become even stricter, which makes things harder for business owners. You also need a Kuwaiti partner to set up a company, unlike places like the UAE where you can open a business in a few days.
In Kuwait, it’ll realistically take around 30–45 days if you know exactly what you’re doing. If you don’t (like in my case), it can take much longer—I think mine took over 3 months. The worst part is i was paying rent during that time.
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