The map·Qatar·Grants & prizes

ROWAD Awards

Qatar Development Bank awards for established Qatari businesses.

What
Business award incentives.
Who
Qatari-majority-owned businesses with 500 or fewer employees.
Cost
No equity — grant
Status
Active

Checked · September 2026 · qdb.qa/events-and-trainings/awards/rowad-qatar · How we check ↗

Website ↗On the map →

In detail

ROWAD Awards is a business awards in Qatar. Qatar Development Bank awards for established Qatari businesses. Do not confuse with the Rowad Entrepreneurship Conference, which runs annually and last ran in 2025 — the Awards are a separate track whose last confirmed edition was the fourth, in November 2023.

Amount
Incentives not published on the awards page
Eligibility
  • Majority ownership must be held by Qatari nationals (not Qatari-only)
  • workforce of 500 employees or fewer at the time of application
  • categories vary by edition
Status
Last confirmed edition November 2023 — next edition not announced

What the source says

“Welcome to the 4th Rowad Awards 2023”

qdb.qa/events-and-trainings/awards/rowad-qatar · seen September 2026

“application to the Rowad Awards 2023 is free”

qdb.qa/events-and-trainings/awards/rowad-qatar · seen September 2026

Closing soon on the map

Cultural Development Fund (CDF)

Grant · Saudi Arabia
Up to SAR 500,000 non-repayable per project, capped at 20 projects total.
No equity — grant
29 Sep 2026closes

Finspire

Accelerator · Saudi Arabia
SAR 100,000 development funding, earmarked rather than paid as cash.
Equity via SAFE, capped at 5%
4 Oct 2026closes

QSTP Incubation

Accelerator · Qatar
In-kind support: Doha workspace and housing for a four-week Sprint, talent and investor access.
Equity — 1.5% deferred SAFE-style stake
1 Nov 2026closes

All published deadlines →

More grants & prizes in Qatar

FinTech Development Grant (QFTH)

Grant · Qatar
Milestone-linked co-funding.
No equity — co-funding
—

Qatar–Spain Innovation Program (QASIP)

Grant · Qatar
Co-funding up to QAR 1.5M for 1–3 year bilateral Qatar–Spain R&D projects.
No equity — grant
—

QRDI Qatar Open Innovation (QOI)

Grant · Qatar
QAR 365K in funding per challenge, over a one-year pilot.
No equity — grant
—

QRDI SBIG

Grant · Qatar
Grants up to QAR 3M over 3 years, or phased QAR 800K–2.2M funding.
No equity — grant
—

All grants & prizes in Qatar →  ·  Across the Gulf →

More programmes that take no equity →

Sources

Primary source · qdb.qa/events-and-trainings/awards/rowad-qatar · LinkedIn · linkedin.com/company/qatar-development-bank · Checked September 2026