LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has announced its annual ranking of the top 10 KSA-based companies that have demonstrated exceptional growth in the past year through the LinkedIn Top Startups List 2022.
LinkedIn Top Startups is an annual global ranking that lists down the emerging startups to work for and is produced by LinkedIn’s News team, who have analyzed the billions of interactions by the 850+ million members on the platform and is measured based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement with the company and its current employees, job interest and attraction of top talent.
On the heels of the global pandemic and in light of the global economic uncertainty that followed, the companies spotlighted on this year’s list are rising to the challenges of the moment and continue to innovate, gain attention and attract top talent in 2022.
These startups have emerged stronger through turbulent times, offering opportunities for job seekers, as many of these companies are actively looking for talent to support their growth.
The Top Startups for 2022 in the KSA are:
- Tamara
- Sary
- Nana
- Zid
- Tweeq
- Gathern
- Lendo
- Qawafel
- Resal
- Shgardi
Key trends observed from this year’s Top Startups list:
- Innovative fintech solutions: The Kingdom is witnessing an unprecedented fintech boom so it comes as no surprise that most of KSA‘s top startups belong to the fintech space. Buy Now, Pay Later platform Tamara (#1), Tweeq (5), and peer-to-peer lending platform Lendo (#7) are all fintech solutions addressing current market needs.
- Delivery services beyond imagination: Startups offering online delivery services continue to grow in popularity as we observe the emergence of the digital grocery platform Nana (#3), which is rapidly expanding distribution across the Kingdom, and the all-in-one delivery app Shgardi (#10) that delivers food, grocery, and even packages.
- Rise of B2B solutions: Entrepreneurs of the Kingdom are set to transform the B2B market through innovation and tech. This is an industry that is expected to even grow further, championed by the likes of Sary (#2), an app that connects small businesses with wholesalers, and Qawafel (#8), a platform that specializes in connecting perishable food producers with suitable retailers.
Salma Altantawy, Senior News Editor at LinkedIn, said:
“This year’s list sees the emergence of many startups from financial backgrounds. This signifies the increased popularity and growing need for simplified and innovative fintech solutions by consumers in Saudi Arabia.”
She adds, “KSA’s Top Startups List 2022 reflects the current state of the startups and VC space in the country while also offering insights into the prevailing market trends influencing the community. The startups featured on this list are those who are successful in navigating the evolution of consumer and business needs, leading the way through the new world of work and empowering digital transformation in the Kingdom.”
Methodology
LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent.
- Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over methodology time frame, which must be a minimum of 10% (lowered from 15%).
- Startups that have laid off 10% or more of their workforce within the methodology time frame are also ineligible.
- Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup.
- Job interest counts the rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings.
- Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce.
Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. To be eligible, companies must be independent and privately held, have 50 or more country-based employees, be seven years old or younger and be headquartered in the country on whose list they appear. We exclude all staffing firms, think tanks, venture capital firms, management and IT consulting firms, nonprofits and philanthropy, accelerators, and government-owned entities. Startups who have laid off 10% or more of their workforce within the methodology time frame are also ineligible. Minority venture investments that LinkedIn or Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, make in other companies have no impact on a company’s eligibility.
