Monday 02 / November / 2026
Muscat--- Acting in cooperation with Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), the Research and Innovation Authority (RIA) today announced the opening of registration for the second edition of "Itlaq" Startup Accelerator Programme designed to streamline and speed up the growth of Omani startups that offer solutions with national and regional impacts.
The programme, which spans an intensive six-month march, aims to select 10 Omani startups and empower them to upgrade the status of their projects towards the stage of investment readiness and entry into new markets. The second edition focuses on six vital sectors: water, environment, energy, food, biotechnology and health.
The programme provides a comprehensive scheme that supports startups, right from the stage of “promising-idea” through to investment readiness and market development. This includes interactive workshops on entrepreneurship and prototyping, strategic guidance on technological transformation and intellectual property protection, one-on-one mentoring sessions with local and international experts and the study of opportunities for expansion through robust investment networks.
The first edition of the accelerator had received 110 applications. The process led to the selection of 10 Omani startups, of which 4 startups successfully secured financial investments from local funds to the tune of RO 160,000.
The startups that secured investment included "Tajeer" platform for managing car rentals, "AR Technology" initiative that focuses on the Internet of Things (IoT), "Darb" platform for optimizing delivery operations and "Ai Algo" startup which specializes in data preparation for artificial intelligence (AI).
The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation invites interested entrepreneurs to visit the programme’s website (www.orp.moheri.gov.om) to view registration details.
