From Baghdad to Amman: Middle East Tech Momentum Is Building
Vibrant and young - not the image of Baghdad you will have seen much of in the media
Growth Ensemble’s co-founder Adam Flinter was recently in Amman and Baghdad to kick-off a project with an incredible edtech scale-up business.
This visit enabled him to witness first-hand the energy behind emerging business ecosystems across the Middle East.
In this post we share what stood out, and why we believe both cities are primed for exponential growth in 2025 and beyond.
Baghdad: Iraq's Rapidly Scaling Startup Scene
Baghdad today is not the Baghdad many imagine from the lens of the Western media.
Iraq’s tech startup landscape is quietly in scale-up mode. According to Tracxn, as of May 2025, there are approximately 1,175 active startups in Iraq, collectively raising $58.7 million across 87 funded companies.
Domestically, that's a rapid surge, especially considering the country's nascent ecosystem. StartupBlink ranks Iraq’s ecosystem around #119 globally.
But Baghdad itself is the real emerging success story: it jumped 146 spots in the Global Ecosystem Index this year.
These are early signs of a vibrant B2C market, with consumer-oriented apps, e-commerce, delivery services showing signs of rapid growth, showing the market is ready and businesses are meeting them where they are.
B2C Momentum & Digital Payment Adoption
Part of that growth is being fuelled by a young population - Iraq has 47m people and a median age of 20.8 years old - who are quickly adopting online payments, backed by growing digital infrastructure.
Although specific figures on online payment penetration in Iraq remain limited, the number of consumer-facing startups suggests a parallel rise in digital payment usage.
Local businesses I met shared anecdotally that more than 50% of their transactions now happen via digital payments, often through localised fintech solutions or partnerships with regional players as well as banks.
Baghdad Tower, an icon of the Baghdad skyline
Amman: Jordan’s Tech Talent Engine & Gateway to Asia
Jordan has long punched above its weight in tech, to put it mildly. Around 27% of all tech entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are Jordanian - despite Jordan comprising only about 3% of the region’s population.
That concentration of founder talent speaks volumes. Jordan boasts over 70,000 accredited STEM professionals, with institutions like the University of Jordan and German Jordanian University producing thousands of graduates each year.
This reliable, high‑quality talent stream is exactly why Bigo Live - a social video-streaming platform based in Singapore - has established a regional hub in Amman with more than 1,000 staff.
It’s also why the Jordanian government is taking immediate action - launching tech zones and creating “soft-landing” incentives aimed at attracting startups from Southeast Asia.
Such strategic efforts strengthen Amman’s positioning not only as a local leader, but as a regional bridge between Asia and the Arab world.
Why These Stories Matter for Founders & Investors
Baghdad’s growth signals that overlooked markets can yield outsized returns, especially where B2C demand is strong.
Amman’s infrastructure and talent pipeline make it the kind of stepping stone every SEA‑based tech startup needs when entering MENA.
Digital payments and cashless models are now a non-negotiable foundation - with fintech spillover fueling e‑commerce, delivery, ticketing, and more.
Key Takeaways from the Road
The main theme of the trip is to never judge a book by its cover. Overall, both cities left us with the same impression: “This is what real momentum looks like.”
What do we mean by this?
In Baghdad, the stories aren’t polished for Western PR, but the growth is real - driven by demand and resourceful founders operating in challenging environments.
In Amman, there’s a clear strategic intent to build durable tech capacity and serve as a talent gateway to the Arab world.
Innovation always finds a way - even in countries that are not high on the media radar, and with an underdeveloped infrastructure, founders will always find a way to solve problems.
With Baghdad pushing the frontier of startup growth and Amman doubling down as a tech talent hub, both cities are telling the same story:
The Middle East success story is not just confined to the UAE, Qatar and Saudi. Innovation and great businesses are growing out of the gaze of mainstream media, but they will play a significant role in the growth story of the region.
