Oman’s capital, Muscat, is making huge strides to establish itself as a hub for tech entrepreneurs. Oman 2040 sets out a vision for the transition from an oil-and-gas–based economy towards a more diverse, knowledge-based one. Oman Future Fund, $5.2 billion available for investment across sectors of economic diversification, and $26 billion National Initiative AI were launched in early 2023. Muscat was chosen as the Arab Digital Capital 2022.

The Rising Omani Startups Programme has a goal of enabling innovation, supporting the establishment of startups, linking founders with business opportunities, and identifying investment opportunities for expansion outside Oman. The Omani Start-ups Program provides support for entrepreneurs at all stages. Omantel Labs works in partnership with the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) to host a growing Fintech sandbox and provide a six-month accelerator for startups working on solutions within 5G, IoT, Cybersecurity, customer experience, and Big Data. ITHCA Group is an investment arm of the government focused on building Oman’s IT infrastructure and digital capabilities. Oman Technology Fund offers OTF Techween, a pre-seed fund program that provides funding, coworking space, and mentoring.

Local startups include payments platform Thawani Technologies, IT consultancy Rihal, IoT-enabled logistics company Emushrif, and transportation app Otaxi. Crowdfunding platform Beehive connects investors with startups, and Ethisx is an investment platform focused on impact-driven crowd-investments and financing. In 2022, Qatar’s Snoonu acquired Omani food-delivery platform Akeed and Mexican car-buying platform Kavak bought Muscat’s Carzaty for an undisclosed sum. Saudi Healthtech labayh acquired OTF-funded Nafas in March 2023.