QDB — Qatar Development Bank

Funds Qatar Development Bank, Qatar's state development bank supporting diversification and enterprise finance for growth sectors.

Qatar Development Bank, known as QDB, is Qatar's wholly state-owned development finance institution. It supports the country's diversification agenda away from hydrocarbons and works with SMEs, startups, exporters, investors, and early-stage entrepreneurs rather than with open grant competitions. Its reach includes manufacturing, logistics, tourism, IT, education, food and agriculture, healthcare, green technology, climate, agritech, medtech, robotics, cybersecurity hardware, and AI infrastructure.

Its routes are financial instruments. Al Dhameen is a credit guarantee line that can cover up to 50% of bank financing, rising to 70% for low-ticket loans. Startup Qatar provides milestone-based equity tickets up to USD 5.5 million, and Istithmar offers equity of roughly QAR 1.5 million to 18 million for Qatari-owned companies. QDB also operates incubation through QBIC, Jahiz, QFTH, and QSTP.

QDB is strongest for founders who need debt, guarantees, or equity rather than a competitive grant call. Applications usually move through QDB portals or partner financial institutions, and the bank behaves as a financing platform with incubation around it. It can sit at the center of a startup's capital stack, but it is not a grant-maker.