Accelerators & incubators · 11
CDL-Doha
Accelerator · Qatar · Closed
Non-dilutive mentorship, with investor access via the CDL network.
No equity for participation
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in5 Dubai
Accelerator · UAE · Active
Subsidized business licence and coworking workspace.
No equity — service or permission
—
Intelak
Accelerator · UAE · Active
AED 50K equity-free grant.
No equity — grant
—
Sheraa
Accelerator · UAE · Active
Equity-free ERF grants from an AED 5M fund plus programmes.
No equity — grant
—
TAQADAM
Accelerator · Saudi Arabia · Closed
Up to $140K: $40K base grant plus up to $100K follow-on for top teams.
No equity — grant
—
DIFC Innovation Hub — Fintech Accelerator
Accelerator · UAE · Closed
Regulatory sandbox access and programme support for fintech startups.
No equity — service or permission
—
impactU by stc
Accelerator · Saudi Arabia · Dormant
Impact incubation programme.
No equity — service or permission
—
Innovate for Bahrain (I4BH)
Accelerator · Bahrain · Closed
Women in Tech: up to USD 35,000 equity-free from Standard Chartered; 8 weeks.
No equity — partner-funded grants and prizes
—
Innovate For Tomorrow (Dubai Holding)
Accelerator · UAE · Closed
AED 500,000 to the winner plus a funded UAE pilot; runners-up AED 250,000 and AED 100,000.
No equity — prize plus funded pilot
—
startAD
Accelerator · UAE · Active
No direct investment published; corporate pilots via sprint accelerators.
No equity — startAD does not invest in startups
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TASMU Accelerator
Accelerator · Qatar · Closed
QAR 200,000 (about $55,000) cash prize to top cohort startups, plus a virtual programme.
No equity — 100% founder ownership retained
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Grants & prizes · 22
Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) — Monsha'at × GEN
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Open
Share of USD 1M in equity-free cash prizes; finals in Riyadh, November 2027.
No equity — cash prizes; no application fee
31 May 2027closes
KFAS Applied Research Grant
Grant · Kuwait · Open
Non-dilutive applied research grant.
No equity — grant
15 Dec 2026closes
KFAS Young Researcher Grant
Grant · Kuwait · Open
Research grant.
No equity — grant
15 Dec 2026closes
Create AI Agents Championship (Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy)
Grant · UAE · Open
USD 150,000 grant for each of four category winners of Dubai's AI Agents championship.
No equity — grant; free to enter
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Cultural Development Fund (CDF)
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Closed
Financial incentives of up to SAR 500,000 per project for AI in culture.
No equity — grant
—
FinTech Development Grant (QFTH)
Grant · Qatar · Open
Milestone-linked co-funding of up to QAR 1.5M per company (QDB, Dec 2025).
No equity — co-funding
—
Misk Foundation
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Closed
Challenge for Change: SAR 1M grant to one winner per track (three tracks); latest round closed 4 April 2026.
No equity — grant
—
NTDP — National Technology Development Program
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Open
MVPLab grants up to SAR 150,000; Tamkeen incentives for tech staff.
No equity — grant
—
RDIA — Saudi Innovation Grants
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Closed
Innovation grants of up to SAR 4 million per project (Saudi Innovation Grants Program).
No equity — ownership retained
—
Tamkeen
Grant · Bahrain · Active
Co-matching grants, bank financing access, wage support, training.
No equity — grant
—
TiE Women MENA
Grant · UAE · Active
Pitch competition with US$50,000 in equity-free cash prizes.
No equity — cash prize
—
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Grant · UAE · Closed
Non-dilutive prize: US$1M per category winner, US$100K per finalist.
No equity — prize money
—
Al Quoz Creative Entrepreneurship Competition (Dubai Culture)
Grant · UAE · Closed
Cash prizes of AED 80,000 / 50,000 / 30,000 for the top three (2025 edition).
No equity — cash prize
—
ASICS Innovation Pitch (Saudi Sports for All Federation)
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Closed
Pitch competition with cash prizes of SAR 20,000, 10,000 and 5,000 (2025 edition).
No equity — cash prizes
—
FoodTech Challenge (UAE)
Grant · UAE · Closed
Global food-tech competition; the third edition offered $2m in cash, winners selected.
No equity — cash prize
—
Qatar–Spain Innovation Program (QASIP)
Grant · Qatar · Closed
Co-funding up to QAR 1.5M for 1–3 year bilateral Qatar–Spain R&D projects.
No equity — grant
—
QRDI SBIG
Grant · Qatar · Closed
Grants up to QAR 3M over 3 years, or phased QAR 800K–2.2M funding.
No equity — grant
—
QRDI Technology Development Grant (TDG)
Grant · Qatar · Closed
Co-funding up to QAR 10M per project; the company also carries a funding share.
No equity — co-funding, not an investment
—
ROWAD Awards
Grant · Qatar · Closed
Business award incentives.
No equity — grant
—
Tamkeen Mashroo3i (Young Entrepreneur Program)
Grant · Bahrain · Active
Grant of up to 100% of the required amount, up to an approved cap, plus mentorship.
No equity — grant
—
Venture-Z Startup Competition (ICSDI, Prince Sultan University)
Grant · Saudi Arabia · Closed
Prize money of SAR 30,000, 20,000 and 10,000 for the top three startups.
No equity — prize
—
WISE Prize for Education
Grant · Qatar · Closed
Share of a $1M prize pool; finalists get $100,000–125,000 each to build an MVP in 12 months.
No equity — grant
—
Government programmes · 29
CBB FinTech Regulatory Sandbox
Government · Bahrain · Active
Regulatory permission to test fintech, payments and crypto products.
No equity — service or permission
—
CBK Wolooj Innovation Hub
Government · Kuwait · Active
R&D programme support for fintech innovation projects.
No equity — programme support
—
CBK Wolooj Regulatory Sandbox
Government · Kuwait · Active
Regulatory permission to test fintech products live; no funding provided.
No equity — service or permission
—
Central Bank of Oman — FinTech
Government · Oman · Active
Regulatory permission to test products live; no funding provided.
No equity — service or permission
—
CMA FinTech Lab (ExPermit)
Government · Saudi Arabia · Open
Regulatory permission to test products live; no funding provided.
No equity — service or permission
—
Invest Qatar
Government · Qatar · Active
FDI facilitation, stakeholder introductions and direct pitching to VC funds via Gateway.
No equity — service or permission
—
KDIPA
Government · Kuwait · Active
Up to 100% foreign ownership and up to a 10-year tax holiday for investors.
No equity — service or permission
—
Knowledge Oasis Muscat
Government · Oman · Active
Tech park benefits and tax exemptions.
No equity — service or permission
—
Masdar City Free Zone
Government · UAE · Active
100% foreign ownership free-zone setup.
No equity — service or permission
—
Media City Qatar
Government · Qatar · Open
Gaming and screen incentive programmes; licensing with 100% foreign ownership.
No equity — incentives for licensed entities
—
MISA — Ministry of Investment
Government · Saudi Arabia · Active
Investor registration, entrepreneur registration and RHQ programme access.
No equity — service or permission
—
Premium Residency — Entrepreneur Track
Government · Saudi Arabia · Active
Residency for founders with a round of SAR 400K+ (20% share) or SAR 15M+ (10% share).
No equity — one-time fee SAR 4,000
—
Qatar Financial Centre (QFC)
Government · Qatar · Active
Business licensing; Web Summit Qatar 2026 incentives waive fees for the first three years.
No equity — service or permission
—
Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZ)
Government · Qatar · Active
Free zone investment incentives and benefits.
No equity — service or permission
—
QCB FinTech Regulatory Sandbox
Government · Qatar · Active
Live testing of fintech under QCB supervision for up to 12 months; Express 3–6 months.
No equity — service or permission
—
QFC Digital Assets Lab
Government · Qatar · Open
Regulatory pathway to QFC licences; no funding stated.
No equity — regulatory pathway
—
SAMA FinTech Sandbox
Government · Saudi Arabia · Active
Regulatory permission to test fintech and insurtech products.
No equity — service or permission
—
SHIFT Innovation Center Riyadh
Government · Saudi Arabia · Active
Innovation hub with the Digi X-Lab data and AI facility.
No equity — service or permission
—
Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD)
Government · Oman · Active
Special economic zone incentives plus a 30-year tax holiday.
No equity — service or permission
—
twofour54
Government · UAE · Active
Licence-fee waivers and production-rebate access.
No equity — service or permission
—
UAE Golden Visa — Entrepreneur
Government · UAE · Active
5-year renewable residency for entrepreneurs with a qualifying project.
No equity — residency permission
—
ADGM
Government · UAE · Active
A RegLab regulatory sandbox; not a funding programme.
No equity — service or permission
—
Bahrain EDB
Government · Bahrain · Active
Investor support, fast registration and a startup visa.
No equity — service or permission
—
CBUAE FinTech Sandbox
Government · UAE · Active
Regulatory permission to test fintech products.
No equity — service or permission
—
Cloud Computing SEZ
Government · Saudi Arabia · Active
CST-supervised zone: onboarding support and incentives for data centres nationwide.
No equity — service or permission
—
CMA FinTech Unit (Module 19)
Government · Kuwait · Active
Regulatory permission to operate as a securities crowdfunding platform or fintech.
No equity — service or permission
—
DIFC
Government · UAE · Active
Financial free zone with its own regulator, courts and flexible structures; not a funder.
No equity — service or permission
—
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Government · Kuwait · Active
Company setup fees.
No equity — service or permission
—
MoIC Bahrain
Government · Bahrain · Active
Licenses incubators, accelerators and incubated startups.
No equity — service or permission
—
Loans & guarantees · 14
Emirates Development Bank (EDB)
Loan · UAE · Active
Up to AED 2M per startup with no assets required, tenors up to 72 months.
No equity — repayable finance
—
Industrial Bank of Kuwait
Loan · Kuwait · Active
Medium and long-term industrial and SME loan financing; amount varies by project.
No equity — concessional loan, repayable
—
Khalifa Fund
Loan · UAE · Active
Loans; amounts not published, vary by programme.
No equity — loan, repayable
—
MBRIF
Loan · UAE · Active
Government-backed bank-loan guarantees.
No equity — loan guarantee
—
Mohammed Bin Rashid Fund for SME (The Fund)
Loan · UAE · Open
Interest-free SME loans up to AED 1M; credit loans up to AED 3M via partner banks.
No equity — loan, repayable; at least 20% own contribution
—
QDB Credit Guarantee Program (formerly Al-Dhameen)
Loan · Qatar · Open
QDB partial guarantee on bank financing, typically up to 50% (70% for small tickets).
No equity — loan guarantee
—
Riyadat - Women Business Finance Scheme
Loan · Bahrain · Open
Sharia-compliant financing up to BHD 1M; up to 50% profit-rate subsidy; tenor up to 7 years.
No equity — Sharia-compliant debt
—
Ruwad — Sharjah Foundation to Support Pioneering Entrepreneurs
Loan · UAE · Active
Interest-free loans up to AED 400,000; bank Murabaha financing up to AED 2M.
No equity — interest-free loan
—
SIDF Promising Factories Initiative (soft loans)
Loan · Saudi Arabia · Active
Soft loans for up to 50% of an industrial project’s cost; 24-month grace, tenor up to 10 years.
No equity — soft loan
—
SME Fund (Bahrain)
Loan · Bahrain · Active
Sharia-compliant SME financing; amount set case by case.
No equity — Sharia-compliant debt
—
Social Development Bank (SDB)
Loan · Saudi Arabia · Open
Loans of SAR 50,000–500,000, repayment up to 9 years, grace period up to 12 months.
No equity — 9% administrative fee, 2% annual service fee
—
Amad for Entrepreneurs (alinma bank)
Loan · Saudi Arabia · Active
Interest-free loan (qard hasan) of SAR 200,000, plus a bootcamp and a year of mentoring.
No equity — interest-free loan
—
Bank AlJazira – Cultural Development Fund Guarantee Program
Loan · Saudi Arabia · Active
Bank AlJazira credit with a Cultural Development Fund guarantee of up to 90%.
No equity — bank financing
—
Kafalah — SME Financing Guarantee Program
Loan · Saudi Arabia · Active
Guarantee of up to 80% of a bank loan; up to 90–95% under start-up and sector products.
No equity — loan guarantee
—
Support programmes · 3
Fintech Saudi - Makken
Support · Saudi Arabia · Open
Subsidised cloud and cybersecurity services for early-stage fintechs.
No equity — subsidised services
—
Startup Qatar AI Compute Credits
Support · Qatar · Active
Capped in-kind AI compute credits.
No equity — in-kind support
—
KFAS Innovation Challenge
Support · Kuwait · Active
Training programme for Kuwaiti private-sector company teams; no direct funding provided.
No equity — service or permission
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How this list is made
A programme is listed here when the Cost line on its page begins with “No equity” — the programme’s own wording, taken from its website or application form, not our reading of it. Grants and prizes are not repaid; loans and guarantees are; accelerators and government programmes listed here take no stake for taking part. Where a programme charges a fee or takes equity under a separate track, its own page says so.
All 79 are on the map — the Cost line of every programme shows whether equity is taken.
Open the map →