Some startup journeys begin with a breakthrough idea. Others begin with uncertainty, long nights, and founders trying to solve a problem one step at a time.
When Qatari entrepreneur Saleh Al Mansoori and co-founder Waleed Alyafei first joined Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) in 2016 through the former XLR8 accelerator program, they were not building Fatora yet. At the time, they were focused on developing MaktApp as a business management platform designed to help companies organize and digitize their operations.
But like many startup journeys, the path did not remain fixed for long. They had to pivot.
As they spent more time working closely with businesses and merchants, they began noticing a recurring challenge. Many companies did not necessarily need a large or complicated system. What they needed was something simpler, faster, and more practical for their daily operations, especially invoicing and payments. That realization eventually led to the creation of Fatora, which began as a focused invoicing product before gradually evolving into a broader commerce and payments platform.
Initially, Fatora was simply an invoicing solution. Over time, however, the platform expanded to include online payments, online stores, POS solutions, payment links, and additional tools that allowed merchants to manage and grow their businesses digitally from one place.
The evolution happened gradually over several years, shaped by continuous product development, market learning, and customer feedback.
In the early days, Saleh and Waleed were still learning what it meant to transform a product into a company. They spent long hours preparing demos, refining presentations, speaking to customers, and trying to better understand the market they were building for.
“We worked late nights, sometimes staying awake for long hours to prepare a product demo, an investor presentation, or a customer pitch,” they recalled.
Believe in your idea, but make sure it solves a real problem.
Saleh Al Mansoori
Those years were shaped not only by product development, but also by uncertainty. At the time, digital payments and online business tools were still relatively early in the region. Many merchants were used to traditional ways of operating, which meant the challenge was not simply building the technology itself, but also helping businesses understand why they needed it.
The technical side brought its own complexities as well. Payment gateways, compliance requirements, integrations, and financial infrastructure created layers of challenges that required patience, technical depth, trust, and strong partnerships to navigate.
Rather than trying to solve everything at once, the team focused on continuous improvement. They listened closely to businesses, refined the product gradually, and stayed close to the realities of the market. Over time, Fatora evolved from a small invoicing tool into a broader unified commerce and payments platform serving businesses across Qatar and beyond, particularly in Saudi Arabia and other regional markets.
Alongside that growth, the founders themselves evolved too.
“We started as builders who wanted to create useful software,” they explained. “Over time, we became entrepreneurs who had to understand customers, business models, partnerships, sales, operations, and growth.”
Throughout that journey, QSTP played an important role in helping shape both the company and the founders behind it.
Beyond providing workspace, QSTP offered them mentorship, funding, and access to a broader innovation community that helped the founders think beyond the product itself.
“QSTP gave us more than a physical place to work,” they said. “It helped us understand what it takes to build a real technology company, not just a software product.”
Years later, that long journey reached a major milestone when Vodafone Qatar acquired MaktApp, the parent company behind Fatora, in April 2026.
For the founders, the acquisition represented far more than a business transaction.
“The acquisition was emotional for us,” they shared. “It reminded us of the early days, the late nights, the uncertainty, the first customers, and the moments when we were not sure how far the company could go.”
Returning to QSTP afterward to celebrate the milestone carried its own emotional significance. The event became more than a celebration of growth or acquisition. It became a full-circle moment for a startup that had once begun inside the ecosystem years earlier with two founders, an early product, and a long list of unknowns.
It felt like coming back to the place where an idea became a company.
Saleh Al Mansoori
Today, the story of MaktApp and Fatora reflects something larger than one company alone. It highlights the growing maturity of Qatar’s startup ecosystem and the possibility for locally built technology companies to scale, compete regionally, and create long-term impact.
The founders believe the journey also carries an important reminder for young entrepreneurs trying to build something of their own. “Start small, but start seriously. You do not need to have everything perfect from day one. What matters is to begin, learn from the market, and keep improving,” they advised.
Because in the end, startup success is rarely defined by a single moment of inspiration. More often, it is shaped quietly over years of persistence, adaptation, uncertainty, and continuous growth. And sometimes, years of persistence become something much bigger than the original idea itself.
Interested in building the next startup success story? Explore QSTP Incubation Program and join a growing ecosystem supporting founders across Qatar and the region.
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