LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has announced its annual Top Startups list, ranking the top 10 companies based in Saudi Arabia that have established themselves as workplaces that attract top talent.
As the Kingdom tops venture capital funding in the MENA region with SAR 1.5 billion deployed in the first half of 2024, the startups featured in this list are keeping pace, making an impact in their respective industries and exhibiting innovation that propelled their growth trajectory.
LinkedIn’s Top Startups list is published annually and is designed to be a reliable resource that offers guidance to professionals who could be looking for an exciting opportunity at a startup.
The Top Startups for 2024 in the KSA are:
- Cipher | سايڤر
- Tamara
- Mawidy – موعدي
- MR MANDOOB | مستر مندوب
- SHIFT inc.
- Rewaa
- Soum
- LAWAZEM | لوازم
- Mozn
- Squadio
Key trends observed from this year’s Top Startups list:
- Digital security services emerge on top: Cipher (#1), a cybersecurity startup, earned the premier spot on the list, signifying the growing importance of IT services in the Kingdom.
- Convenience apps on the rise: Day-to-day service providers are on the rise as delivery app MR MANDOOB (#4), appointment-booking app Mawidy (#3) and car rental app SHIFT inc. (#5) rank amongst the top five startups in this year’s list.
- Growth in the e-commerce marketplace: E-commerce platforms expand their presence on the list as we see Rewaa (#6), a platform offering integrated solutions to retailers, enters the list for the first time and Soum (#7), an AI-powered retail marketplace, moves up to 7th place from 9th in 2023.
- Business operations platforms break new ground: Procurement app LAWAZEM (#8) and talent solutions platform Squadio (#10) signify the need for business solutions providers as an increasing number of international companies set up base in the Kingdom and startups fortify their presence.
Nabila Rahal, MENA News Editor at LinkedIn, said:
“This year’s list demonstrates that startups in the Kingdom are continuing to make their presence felt as they break into new industries and contribute to the country’s economic diversification. There is a clear focus on technological and innovative solutions within emerging companies in the country.”
She added, “KSA’s Top Startups List 2024 is a snapshot of the startups and VC landscape in the Kingdom that also offers insights into the latest economic trends. The startups featured on this list have excelled in meeting their clients’ needs and are attracting the top talent in the Kingdom.”
LinkedIn Top Startups is an annual global ranking that lists the emerging startups to work for and is produced by LinkedIn’s News team, who has analyzed the billions of interactions made by the platform’s 1+ billion members. The list is compiled by measuring and analyzing metrics across four pillars: employment growth, engagement with the company and its current employees, job interest, and attraction of top talent.
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, which must be a minimum of 10%, over the methodology time period
- Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees viewed or followed 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 away from LinkedIn Top Companies, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce.
To be eligible, companies must be fully independent, privately held, have 30 or more full-time employees, be 7 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, law 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 based on corporate announcements or public, reliable sources between July 1, 2023 and the list launch, are not eligible. These decisions are made by the LinkedIn News team based on company statements and/or reputable news outlets.
