AstroLabs

AstroLabs DMCC
Founded	2013
Founder	Louis Lebbos, Muhammed Mekki
Headquarters	Riyadh, Dubai
Area served	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates]
Key people	Roland Daher(CEO)
Services	KSA Business Incorporation; KSA Co-working; KSA National Address; KSA GRO; KSA PRO; Dubai Licensing; Dubai Co-working; Sector-Building Programs;
Website	https://astrolabs.com

AstroLabs is the leading business expansion platform in the Gulf, which has supported over 1,500 with their expansion and growth in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. With a decade of supporting economic development in emerging markets, AstroLabs partners with key private and public sector organizations to drive the growth of both Saudi and UAE markets.

History

AstroLabs was founded in 2013 by Muhammed Mekki and Louis Lebbos, who aimed to address the entrepreneurs' challenges they faced while launching Namshi, one of the region's first e-commerce companies. The initiative started with an entrepreneurship enablement program that gathered founders from across MENA, highlighting the potential of the early entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In 2015, AstroLabs established its community hub at a coworking space in JLT, Dubai, and expanded its influence through various capacity-building and entrepreneurship programs. By engaging hundreds of entrepreneurs in digital innovation and upskilling programs, AstroLabs grew significantly including the official partnership with Google in Dubai.^[1]

In a pivotal move, AstroLabs launched its operations in Saudi Arabia in 2018, becoming the first licensed international incubator in the Kingdom partnering with MISA (Ministry of Investment in Saudi Arabia), with coworking spaces in Riyadh^[2].

In the last 10 years, AstroLabs partnered with multiple private and government organizations to develop key sectors in Saudi Arabia and UAE, including PEPSICO, Sabic, The Financial Academy, META, Riyadh Bank, Royal Commission of Al Ula and others.^[3]

Today, AstroLabs supports the expansion of global and regional businesses into local markets and aids in transforming local companies into key players in the digital economy, thereby shaping MENA's technology landscape.

KSA Expansion services

Supporting Saudi Vision 2030, AstroLabs accelerates the expansion of international companies and startups from 30 different industries and 25+ countries. Driven by the team of 30+ local company setup specialists, based out of the Riyadh office, the firm takes care of the full process of establishing new companies with 100% foreign ownership.

Further, through their GRO compliance, HR Admin and PRO services they support the growth of their clients in the Kingdom.

In February 2024, AstroLabs published the KSA Market Entry Report which analyzed and collected insight from 660 high-growth companies, from a total of 50+ countries around the globe. Given Saudi Arabia’s rise as a global capital for business, half of the respondents who are exploring their expansion to the Saudi market are based outside the MENA region, with Asia, Europe, and the US constituting 43% of this total share. Out of those businesses that are already operating in the Saudi market, including survey respondents and companies that expanded to Saudi Arabia through AstroLabs, 91% hired Saudi nationals within a timeframe of two to four months from the time of entry, while 48% hired local talent in less than a month.^[4]

Notable clients

Kitopi, Retailo, Checkout.com, UI Path, Fresha, Artefact, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, Yellow Door Energy, Crimson Education^[5], Wolfkran, Yokne, Magic Leap, Grankraft, MyAlice^[6],

Company name

The company's name is based upon the astrolabe, a tool for navigation that was used by mariners in the Middle Ages.^[7]

References

^ "Gitex Technology Week to Host Global Start-Up Meet". Khaleej Times. 7 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
^ "SAGIA issues foreign investment license to AstroLabs". Arab News.
^ "PepsiCo, SABIC, AstroLabs launch Mega Green Accelerator to support cleantech startups". Wamda. December 10, 2013.
^ "Business Expansion Activity Across Saudi Arabia Sees 4X Increase Since 2018, Says AstroLabs' 2023 Saudi Market Entry Report".
^ "Crimson Education joins hands with AstroLabs for Saudi Arabia expansion".
^ "AstroLabs enables MyAlice to expand into Saudi Arabia".
^ Hamid, Triska (September 8, 2014). "DMCC, AstroLabs and Google team up for tech hub launch". The National. Retrieved May 10, 2017.

External links

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[:0-1] "Gitex Technology Week to Host Global Start-Up Meet". Khaleej Times. 7 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2 May 2017.

[2] "SAGIA issues foreign investment license to AstroLabs". Arab News.

[3] "PepsiCo, SABIC, AstroLabs launch Mega Green Accelerator to support cleantech startups". Wamda. December 10, 2013.

[4] "Business Expansion Activity Across Saudi Arabia Sees 4X Increase Since 2018, Says AstroLabs' 2023 Saudi Market Entry Report".

[5] "Crimson Education joins hands with AstroLabs for Saudi Arabia expansion".

[6] "AstroLabs enables MyAlice to expand into Saudi Arabia".

[Triska_Hamid_2014-7] Hamid, Triska (September 8, 2014). "DMCC, AstroLabs and Google team up for tech hub launch". The National. Retrieved May 10, 2017.

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