Iran’s tech sector blooms under shield of sanctions

The names may be unfamiliar but the services are immediately recognisable: Snapp is Iran’s answer to Uber, Digikala is its Amazon, and Pintapin its Booking.com.

US sanctions have protected the Islamic republic’s tech sector, barring Silicon Valley from profiting from one of the world’s most promising emerging markets, and giving a free run to domestic start-ups to recreate their services, reports AFP from Tehran.

Even some Californian mumbo-jumbo has been imported: one booth at the Elecomp tech fair in Tehran this week claimed it was “Creating Artificial Mindfulness”.

But don’t dare call them copycats—transplanting a foreign business model to Iran is never straightforward.

“It’s not a matter of copying code line-by-line,” said Amirali Mohajer, the 32-year-old chief operating officer of Pintapin.

“You need local expertise that has to be built from the ground up, and it might need an entirely different business model to make it successful.”

His office sits alongside several other fast-growing start-ups in the offices of the Iran Internet Group (IIG), a haven of north Tehrani hipsterdom where the jeans are skinny, the headscarves loose, and 20-somethings sip espressos in glass meeting rooms.

Pintapin’s staff are not just building a website, they are transforming Iran’s entire hotel industry. “Up until very recently, a lot of travel arrangements were done completely offline through phone calls and faxes and traditional models that really belong in the last century,” said Mohajer.

Half the company’s time is spent convincing hotels to give up pen-and-paper reservations and start automating their business.

Mohajer, who spent 16 years abroad in Britain and Canada, says he came back to Iran because it felt like a place where tech could have “an impact that actually matters”.

 

Irans tech sector blooms under shield of sanctions

The names may be unfamiliar but the services are immediately recognisable: Snapp is Irans answer to Uber, Digikala is its Amazon, and Pintapin its Booking.com. US sanctions have protected the Islamic republics tech sector, barring Silicon Valley from profiting from one of the worlds most promising emerging markets, and giving a free run to domestic start-ups to recreate their services, reports AFP from Tehran. Even some Californian mumbo-jumbo has been imported: one booth at the Elecomp tech fair in Tehran this week claimed it was Creating Artificial Mindfulness. But dont dare call them copycatstransplanting a foreign business model to Iran is never straightforward. Its not a matter of copying code line-by-line, said Amirali Mohajer, the 32-year-old chief operating officer of Pintapin. You need local expertise that has to be built from the ground up, and it might need an entirely different business model to make it successful. His office sits alongside several other fast-growing start-ups in the offices of the Iran Internet Group (IIG), a haven of north Tehrani hipsterdom where the jeans are skinny, the headscarves loose, and 20-somethings sip espressos in glass meeting rooms. Pintapins staff are not just building a website, they are transforming Irans entire hotel industry. Up until very recently, a lot of travel arrangements were done completely offline through phone calls and faxes and traditional models that really belong in the last century, said Mohajer. Half the companys time is spent convincing hotels to give up pen-and-paper reservations and start automating their business. Mohajer, who spent 16 years abroad in Britain and Canada, says he came back to Iran because it felt like a place where tech could have an impact that actually matters.