Pakistan tech firms eye deeper Saudi foothold as they head to Riyadh for LEAP 2026

Pakistani technology firms are heading to Riyadh for LEAP 2026 with a clear aim: convert exhibition exposure into clients, partnerships and permanent operations in Saudi Arabia’s expanding digital economy. The four-day event opening on Monday will host more than 1,800 technology companies, 600 startups, 1,900 investors and over 1,000 speakers. Pakistan will field a dedicated pavilion of 20 technology companies through the Pakistan Software Export Board and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, while other Pakistani startups and firms attend independently.

"This is the fourth edition that we would be attending at LEAP, and I can say for sure that every next edition has been better than the previous one," said Abdul Muqsit Abbasi, CEO of Karachi-based ByteCorp. Technologies. "We’ve made very deep industry connections. We’ve been able to understand the market. We’ve been able to make very long relationships that has helped open a lot of doors for us."

Event scale and prior results

• LEAP 2026: more than 1,800 tech companies, 600 startups, 1,900 investors, 1,000+ speakers.
• Pakistan pavilion: 20 companies backed by national trade and software export agencies.
• Pakistan’s LEAP 2025 presence: more than 100 companies, over 1,500 delegates; participation reportedly generated $9.74 million in business and 78 leads.

Several Karachi-based firms say earlier editions of LEAP translated into concrete opportunities. Khizer Ahmed Siddiqui, founding member and director of KAACIB, said his company used contacts from LEAP 2025 to establish a Riyadh office. "After the 2025 LEAP, we got the opportunity to have a local presence in Riyadh, and Alhamdulillah we are going to develop our office over there," Siddiqui said. "What we are looking forward to, right now in 2026, is to have more opportunities, more partnerships, more connections, more business, and more local presence in Saudi Arabia."

Tailoring products for the Saudi market

Newer entrants and returning firms alike are tailoring offerings to Saudi regulations and sector needs. Stellisys, an operations and ERP platform developed by FifthThought, joins a startup delegation backed by Ignite National Technology Fund and will present a Saudi-specific product version that integrates invoicing compliant with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), an artificial intelligence layer, and migration tooling to move businesses off legacy systems without losing data. "We are bringing the Saudi version of the product, ZATCA invoicing plus the AI layer, and the migration tooling that moves a business off its old system without losing legacy data," said Rajiv Pardhan, co-founder and CEO of Stellisys.

Other companies are targeting verticals where Saudi demand is rising. Syed Zain Ali, founder of property-technology firm Fortify, said his company is aligned with Vision 2030 priorities and sees opportunity in the Kingdom’s real estate sector. "We believe that ... Saudi Arabia is a good market for software like Fortify, where we are perfectly aligned with the Vision 2030 for the Saudi government," Ali said.

MaalBardaar, a digital supply-chain logistics platform from Karachi, will showcase tools for importers and exporters aiming for transparency across logistics operations. "We are bringing MaalBardaar to LEAP 2026," co-founder Faiz Hanif said. "We help businesses, such as importers and exporters, gain full visibility and transparency across all of their logistics."

Outlook

Participants say LEAP functions as both a marketplace and a learning ground: immediate deals matter, but so does building relationships and understanding how business is done in Saudi Arabia. For Pakistani firms planning physical expansion, the challenge will be converting leads into long-term local operations while continuing to adapt products to regulatory and commercial realities in the Kingdom.