Qatar Development Bank Partners with Rubix Holding to Launch Venture-Building Studio for Startups
Qatar Development Bank announced a strategic partnership with Rubix Holding, in collaboration with Rasmal Ventures, to explore the launch of an institutional venture-building studio aimed at supporting startups headquartered in Qatar. The announcement was made on the sidelines of Web Summit Qatar 2026.
The initiative falls within QDB’s efforts to empower the private sector to play a central role in venture creation and the expansion of venture capital activity, by accelerating pathways that transform promising ideas into scalable, investment-ready businesses.
According to the anticipated final agreement, the partnership aims to support more than 400 project ideas and contribute to the development of over 40 startups over the next five years. The initiative builds on QDB’s mandate to strengthen Qatar’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem by moving ventures from ideation to investment readiness, improving founders’ access to markets, enabling early revenue generation, and expanding the base of fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises. It also aligns with national priorities and the objectives of the Third National Development Strategy, which focuses on converting innovation into productive economic activity, creating jobs, and enhancing the competitiveness of the Qatari economy.
Commenting on the partnership, Mohammed Abdul Salam Al-Emadi, Executive Director of Business Incubation and Venture Capital at QDB, stated that the collaboration supports the bank’s strategy to increase private sector participation in venture capital and to provide startups with clear market-linked growth pathways. He added that the initiative represents a new phase of cooperation with Rasmal Ventures, enhancing investment integration across different stages of startup growth in line with Qatar’s economic diversification goals.
Rubix Holding CEO Tarek Birkdar highlighted that the proposed model addresses a core challenge facing startups—early commercial validation and access to real customers—by embedding ventures into value chains and enabling early-stage revenue generation. He added that the platform could position Qatar not only as a funding hub for startups, but also as a global center for venture creation.
From an investment perspective, Dr. Sheikha Al Jaber, Partner at Rasmal Ventures, emphasized that the venture studio approach improves capital efficiency by enabling early customer validation and realistic business models, while creating clearer pathways for regional and global expansion.
The proposed corporate venture-building model, branded as “Rubix Studio,” is designed to act as a hands-on co-founder, connecting entrepreneurs with real market opportunities through integration into Rubix Holding’s corporate network. Unlike traditional accelerators or incubators, the studio focuses on sustainable venture creation by testing business models, accelerating revenue generation, and preparing startups for regional and global scaling, supported by coordinated funding across multiple growth stages.