شركة العمل التشاركي الباكستانية COLABS تراهن على استراتيجية علامة محلية لنموها في السعودية

Pakistani co-working startup COLABS has opened a 4,000 square metre campus in Riyadh as it pursues regional expansion, betting on a local brand and community strategy to capture demand for flexible workspaces in Saudi Arabia. The campus, launched in April in the Al-Narjis district of northern Riyadh, is designed to accommodate more than 500 members and represents the company’s first major international expansion from its operations in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

“I think that was our main reason behind Saudi, was building this unique product where you’re not just giving space, but you also focus a lot on community building, focus a lot on entrepreneurship,”

COLABS co-founder and CEO Omar Shah said in a video shared by the company on Instagram, adding: “And I think that brought us back to the point where we were very keen on working with the local Saudi partners... And that’s basically what we’re focused on. Building a local brand, bringing people in, but supporting them ahead.”

Founded in Pakistan, COLABS has positioned itself as part of the country’s startup infrastructure by offering shared workspaces and community-led platforms for businesses. The Riyadh campus aims to serve startups, scale-ups and enterprise teams as competition intensifies to cater to the Kingdom’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. A handout image released in October 2025 showed officials from COLABS and Saudi entity Waseel Investment signing a partnership, underlining the company’s emphasis on local collaboration.

COLABS has raised more than $8 million from investors including Shorooq, Waseel Partners and Indus Valley Capital as it seeks to become a leading workspace provider across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. Shah said the company worked closely with Saudi partners on the Riyadh project: “We worked with them (Saudi partners) to bring in not just space, but to work together in a larger space on how you can take this ahead, what you can do.”

• Location: Al-Narjis district, northern Riyadh
• Size: 4,000 square metres
• Capacity: designed for more than 500 members
• Amenities: meeting rooms, event space, rooftop terrace, podcast studio
• Launch: April (first major international expansion)
• Funding: more than $8 million from Shorooq, Waseel Partners, Indus Valley Capital

COLABS’ strategy is explicitly local: rather than replicate its Pakistan model directly, the company is prioritising partnerships and community-building tailored to Saudi market dynamics. Shah, who noted he has been visiting the Kingdom since childhood, framed Riyadh as a “large market” providing the opportunity to develop a product focused on entrepreneurship and community support alongside physical workspace.

Looking ahead, COLABS aims to scale across the region, leveraging its seed funding and Saudi partnerships to extend its footprint across the Middle East and North Africa as well as Pakistan. The company expects the Riyadh campus to act as a blueprint for future hubs that combine workspace infrastructure with programming and networks intended to accelerate local startups and small businesses.