You might have heard a lot about the Iranian tech & startup scene, but you probably still have many unanswered questions about this unknown market. Here are four tips that could help you find your answers.
The fact that you’ve ended up reading this article is a good sign that you’re on the right track to begin finding your answers! Every time I attend a tech event outside of Iran, many people come and ask me about the further sources which they can use in order to get a better understanding of the fertile tech market in Iran. Of course, my first answer to this question would be to check out the articles on TechRasa! Unfortunately there are not that many English sources to get insights into the current situation of the Iranian market. But there are some tips which you can use to step up your game in this market!
1. Connect with the right people on LinkedIn
Iranians tend to be very social on the internet! Aside from social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, Iranians are also pretty active on professional social networks such as LinkedIn.
Google the names of the tech and startup players in Iran and find them on LinkedIn. Send them a message and introduce yourself briefly. Ask if they have time to answer some of your questions or if they can connect you to the people you’re looking for. You can also find dozens of LinkedIn groups which have pretty active members. Sometimes you can find valuable articles and analysis written by some of the people on LinkedIn which you can’t find anywhere else.
Note: Sending friend requests to people’s personal page on Facebook or Instagram while you haven’t met them personally might not be a good idea! Finding someone’s work email and LinkedIn page is not that difficult these days, so try to get in touch with them in a more professional way!
2. Attend the events and exhibitions
There are many international events in Europe and the Middle East with the focus of finding business opportunities in Iran. Some of them only take place once a year so don’t miss out on them!
Many local and international events and exhibitions also take place in the major cities of Iran. Make sure you follow TechRasa’s feed and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to find out about these event. Inotex, Elecomp, TedxTehran, Tehran Game Convention (TGC) and Hamfekr are some of the events and exhibitions which you can look into. It’s also good to know that most nationalities can receive a visa on arrival when visiting Iran. So hop on that airplane and come and see this place yourself!
3. Visit the local startups & accelerators/incubators
Nothing is more eye-opening than actually visiting the local hubs for startups and tech companies in Iran. Try to meet up with the teams in startup accelerators and ask them about their visions and predictions about the market.
Some of the active startup accelerators in Iran include, Setak, Tac, Avatech, Trigup, Dmond, Jahesh and Farabi. Of course there are many more accelerators which you can simply find out more about them online.
4. Study the success stories
Understanding the local market could begin by studying the success stories in the country. Fortunately you can read many interviews of successful Iranian startup founders with the media through out the past few years. There are always some hidden insights in their interviews which can be very useful!
You can also check out our interviews on TechRasa with some of the prominent startup founders in Iran. Let us know who you want us to interview in our future articles and make sure to send us the questions you have from them.
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