Azerbaijan eyes expansion of tech startups into Qatar market

Doha, Qatar — Azerbaijan’s leading investment group PASHA Holding is targeting Qatar as a strategic market for its technology startups, pitching a coordinated public-private approach to “soft landing” companies into the Gulf state, the group’s Chief Innovation Officer Tugra Musayeva told The Peninsula in Doha. Speaking at Web Summit Qatar 2026, Musayeva said PASHA Holding sees “huge potential” for Azerbaijani fintech, property tech and insurtech solutions in Qatar as both countries accelerate the shift from resource-based to knowledge-led economies.

“We see Qatar as a huge untapped market in terms of the fintech, property tech, insurtech solutions and that is where we have a lot of expertise. We have been doing a lot of integration with our portfolio companies and we do see a lot of potential in terms of expanding our startups, companies to this market and soft landing them here. So we actually could identify this as a huge potential,” Musayeva said.

Public-private collaboration and market entry

Musayeva, Chief Innovation Officer of PASHA Holding — described in the interview as a leading investment company and the largest asset manager in Azerbaijan with a portfolio that "diversifies across financial and non-financial arms" — argued that bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Qatar can be strengthened through targeted cooperation on talent development, infrastructure and market access.

“We share the same very challenges on organisational, institutional level and at some points we have what to offer in terms of the technology, in terms of the development. Qatari companies have an edge and exchanging this knowledge and expertise on one hand and on the other hand supporting the market access and soft landing of our companies and startups will do a lot of benefit,” she added.

• Target sectors: fintech, property tech (proptech), insurtech
• Mechanisms proposed: soft-landing programmes, corporate venture capital (CVC), VC funding
• Role of corporates: hiring and training talent; becoming clients to startups to accelerate commercialisation

During her panel at Web Summit Qatar 2026, Musayeva said the conversation focused on “what is the next big thing for the region, how companies and the government can collaborate, and the challenges being faced and how to work on them.” She emphasised that collaboration must go beyond government-led initiatives and include active corporate participation to realise ecosystem gains.

“I believe both countries are trying to find their way out of that. And from this perspective, how government can work with the private sector on one hand, how the talent can be built, and infrastructure can be created, and capital can be allocated. All these should be working together to be aligned to deliver the results,” Musayeva said, noting a shared urgency to develop human talent and the physical and digital infrastructure needed for a knowledge economy.

Outlook

PASHA Holding’s pitch positions Azerbaijani startups as potential contributors to Qatar’s tech landscape while offering Qatari companies reciprocal access to innovation and regional market know-how. By advocating active corporate involvement — through hiring, training, VC allocation and CVC engagement — Musayeva set out a pragmatic roadmap for cross-border expansion and deeper Azerbaijan–Qatar ties in technology and innovation.