Every Thursday, ILQ features a different Qatari startup in our ‘Startup of the Week’ segment. Qatar has some of the most creative, unique, and impactful startups in the region, and we cover them all across a variety of industries in Doha—from fashion and beauty, to food and dining, health, education, technology, and more!
This week, we're shining the spotlight on Urban Point—a mobile app that provides access to thousands of offers in Qatar that discount freaks can use on an everyday basis without altering their lifestyle!
Its mission, according to one of the co-founders Susanna Ingalls, is to provide the easiest and most valuable way to save and enjoy a social lifestyle while in Qatar.
Qatar is generally expensive and people often don’t realize how easy it is to overspend while socializing with friends and family. This is when Urban Point comes to light. The app makes it easy for people to save on a regular basis and at the same time. They benefit local businesses by incentivizing the right type of customers to visit them.
The idea behind Urban Point started as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) project in Germany and was launched almost 3 years ago in May 2016.
Susanna is happy to recall Urban Point's humble beginnings:
"We met our Qatari co-founder during our MBA and we decided to move to Qatar to launch it since Qatar provides an excellent opportunity to test new business models due to its small yet diverse ecosystem and government support for entrepreneurship."
What the Urban Point team does is they connect customers and businesses in collaboration with Ooredoo, and as a result, the partnership creates a highly-beneficial local ecosystem.
"It took a lot of time and hard work to get to where Urban Point is today and to turn skeptics into fans. We have above industry-average usage and growth rates and our collaboration with Ooredoo has allowed us to offer value to users and businesses in a way that has never been offered before."
Since Urban Point is powered by the above-mentioned Doha-based international telecommunications company, most Shahry and all Qatarna customers get free access to the app as part of their cellular plans while Hala customers pay only QR 15/month from their Hala credit to access all the offers.
Susanna as well added that while it's true that some other businesses also offer discount services in Qatar and have been doing so for almost a decade, there are five major reasons why Urban Point stays unique with its offer structures and its ability to offer unique value through its collaboration with Ooredoo.
The five reasons Susanna's team hear the most from their customers as to why they switch to Urban Point are as follows:
In the end, Susanna commended Qatar's efforts to support and provide for local startups. She hails the country's small yet promising market size which serves as an excellent testbed for new ideas which, once proven, can be expanded to the region and beyond.
When asked about her advice for young entrepreneurs who'd also like to establish their own startup companies in the near future, Susanna has this to say:
"Focus on the long term vision of your startup and set bold goals for yourself so that you can inspire yourself and others through the tough periods. Entrepreneurship is not luxurious and you should be prepared to put in a lot of hard work. You should be mentally prepared to go through ups and downs, of which there will be many, but it is worth it once you get to the other side."
Urban Point was first incubated at the Digital Incubation Center of the Ministry of Transport and Communications before being transferred to the Qatar Business Incubation Center which has provided them valuable resources and opportunities that have enabled the business idea's gradual growth.
Just before saying goodbye to the ILQ team, Susanna happily shared that the month of April is "Burger Month" in Qatar, a time when restaurants compete by offering “Buy 1 Burger, Get 1 Free" offers on the Urban Point app for the whole month and this year, they have almost 30 brands competing for the crown of the "Best Burger in Qatar"!
So don’t miss out on the delicious offers and offer your vote on the Urban Point app now to determine the next champion!
Urban Point recently participated in the sixth edition of the annual Global Seedstars Summit which was held at Lausanne, Switzerland from April 2nd to 5th this year. This premier event eyes to discover the top startups in the world's most emerging and fastest-growing economies.
To know more about Urban Point, check out their website and social media links below!
Website: http://www.urbanpoint.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urban...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urba...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/urbanpoint...
App store download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/ap...
Google Play download link: https://play.google.com/store/...
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