Oman builds. Others benefit.

Oman has produced startups that demonstrably solve local problems and attract regional attention, yet many of those companies are exiting before they scale into domestically owned, GDP-contributing firms. Founded in 2018, Akeed grew to 1,500 restaurant partners and 200,000 customers before being acquired by Snoonu. In 2024 Promize, an Omani data analytics firm that processed billions of consumer data points daily, was bought by Saudi Arabia’s T2. Across the region, household names such as Careem and Talabat were absorbed by foreign buyers (Uber and Delivery Hero respectively), with Talabat later listing on the Dubai Financial Market in 2024 and raising $2 billion.

"What we do not yet have is a structured pathway from promising startup to publicly listed, locally owned, GDP-contributing company," wrote Dr Maryam Tubeileh, capturing a central concern about ecosystem maturity in the Sultanate.

The criticism is not aimed at individual founders, many of whom made rational personal decisions when accepting acquisitions. Dr Tubeileh acknowledges that founders "often did" make the right choice for themselves. The larger issue she highlights is ecosystem extraction — value created domestically being captured abroad because the local environment lacks the instruments to retain and scale winners. The pattern is visible across the Arab world: companies that localise services, operate with deep cultural and linguistic fit, and prove product-market fit are exiting to foreign parents before they can mature into locally listed enterprises.

Regional comparisons underline the gap. Saudi Arabia has pursued deliberate policies to keep startups local, resulting in a climate where 77% of Saudi founders are considering an IPO and 91% favour a domestic listing, figures cited by Dr Tubeileh as evidence that a policy-led approach can shift incentives. The US and Israeli models are also referenced for their long-established pathways — public listings, patient capital and exchanges structured for growth-stage companies — that enable firms to scale domestically and contribute to long-term GDP.

Specific recent transactions illustrate the stakes. Akeed’s acquisition by Snoonu and Promize’s sale to T2 transferred not only businesses but also customer data, algorithms and market insight outside Oman. Dr Tubeileh warns that "in a world where data is the new oil, we should think carefully about who owns the platforms that serve our people." She argues this is directly relevant to Oman Vision 2040’s goals of economic diversification and a knowledge-based economy.

To change the trajectory, Dr Tubeileh calls for a structured innovation ecosystem, referenced under ISO 56012, that treats startup retention as a strategic national outcome. Practical elements she points to — and which are implied necessities for the Sultanate — include:

• Pathways to domestic IPOs and public listings tailored for growth-stage companies
• Access to patient capital and instruments that support long-term scale
• Regulatory and market structures that encourage founders to consider staying
• Data governance policies that retain strategic consumer and platform intelligence

Absent these components, the article warns, acquisition by foreign players will remain the most rational exit for ambitious founders, and Oman’s best innovations may continue to mature under external ownership rather than contributing to long-term domestic economic transformation.