Walid Ihadjadjen, PR & CSR Manager at Snoonu

Snoonu was founded in 2019 by Hamad Al Hajri as a university project, with a vision that extended beyond Qatar — to build a technology company capable of serving people across the GCC and the wider region.

Since then, our growth has been significant, not only in terms of our geographic reach, but also in the breadth of what we offer. We started as a food delivery platform and have evolved into a super app, bringing together many of the services people need in their everyday lives, all through one platform.

At the same time, we are growing beyond the super-app model to become a technology company. Through initiatives such as Snoonu Cloud, Snoonu Robotics and Snoonu Academy, we are investing in technology, developing local capabilities and exploring opportunities to export our expertise and solutions to new markets.

But what truly sets Snoonu apart is the broader role we believe a homegrown technology company can play in society. Our success is closely connected to the community around us, so we see our responsibility as extending beyond our core business.

This includes our CSR initiatives, but also our commitment to empowering local talent, entrepreneurs and the next generation of innovators. We work to create opportunities for young people to develop skills, gain experience and turn ideas into businesses, while supporting entrepreneurs through partnerships, technology, mentorship and access to our ecosystem.

Through initiatives such as the Snoonu Startup Factory and our work with the wider startup and innovation ecosystem, we aim to support founders at an early stage and provide them with more than just capital, including technology infrastructure, operational expertise, networks and mentorship. We believe that helping promising ideas grow ultimately contributes to building a stronger and more diversified technology ecosystem in Qatar and the region.

Our community impact also extends to social and humanitarian causes. We work with local and international organisations, including Education Above All, Qatar Charity and Qatar Cancer Society, supporting communities through campaigns on the Snoonu platform and through on-ground initiatives. We also continue to develop initiatives that support our riders, promote inclusion and accessibility, and contribute to the wellbeing of the communities in which we operate.

A recent example was our support for a local animal welfare initiative that had reached a point where it could no longer sustain its operations. Our founder, Hamad Al Hajri, saw the situation and decided that after years of serving the community, it was important for Snoonu to stand alongside them. He committed QAR 100,000 to help address the organisation’s liabilities and support the continuation of its work.

For us, these efforts are not simply about CSR or communications. They reflect a broader belief that a company’s success should create opportunities for others. Whether it is a customer, rider, entrepreneur, young talent, future innovator or community organisation, we want Snoonu’s growth to have a positive impact beyond the business itself.

That is ultimately what we believe distinguishes Snoonu: we are building a technology company for the region, while also investing in the people, ideas and communities that will shape its future.

Our approach to workplace culture is rooted in a simple belief: if we want to build a company that creates value for the community, we first need to create an environment where our own people can thrive.

At Snoonu, our culture is built around seven core values that guide how we work, lead and collaborate. These values are not simply statements on a wall; we aim to embed them into our day-to-day decisions, from how we develop our people and recognise performance to how we create opportunities for growth and leadership.

This approach has also been recognised externally. Snoonu has been certified as a Great Place to Work, reflecting our continued focus on employee experience, trust, engagement and creating a positive workplace culture. We have also strengthened our organisational standards through ISO certifications, reinforcing our commitment to structured processes, quality, accountability and continuous improvement as we scale.

We invest significantly in learning and development, with training and leadership programmes designed to give our people the opportunity to build new skills and take on greater responsibilities. We want career growth at Snoonu to be driven by potential, commitment and a willingness to learn, while creating an environment where people feel trusted, supported and empowered to do their best work.

Our new headquarters is another reflection of this philosophy. As we move into our new home, we are creating an environment designed around collaboration, innovation, wellbeing and productivity, with facilities and spaces that encourage our teams to connect, develop ideas and work together. The ambition is not simply to create a larger office, but to build an environment that reflects the scale of the technology company we are becoming.

We also believe that culture is demonstrated through how we treat people in moments that matter. One example was when one of our long-serving riders stopped during a delivery to assist a family involved in a road accident, despite the challenging weather conditions. His actions reflected the kind of humanity and sense of responsibility we want to see across the Snoonu community. We recognised him publicly and provided a financial reward, not simply for the action itself, but to reinforce that doing the right thing and looking out for others is something we value.

The same philosophy applies to rider safety. In 2021, we introduced our “No Rider Under the Sun” initiative, voluntarily suspending motorcycle deliveries during the hottest hours of the day throughout the summer. At the time, this went beyond the legal requirements, and it had an operational and commercial impact on the business. However, we believed that protecting the health and safety of our riders had to come first.

The initiative was subsequently reflected in Qatar’s regulatory framework for outdoor work and delivery riders, and today the wider industry follows similar requirements. For us, that is an important example of how a company’s culture can translate into meaningful action — particularly when it comes to the people who are at the heart of the business.

Ultimately, our workplace culture is about creating a sense of ownership and belonging across the organisation. Whether someone is working in technology, operations, corporate functions or making deliveries across Doha, we want them to feel that they are an important part of Snoonu’s journey and that their contribution is recognised.

As Snoonu continues to grow, our objective is to preserve that people-first culture while building the systems, opportunities and leadership needed to support a much larger organisation. The Great Place to Work certification and our ISO standards are important milestones in that journey, but for us, the real measure of culture is how our people experience Snoonu every day.

We believe that investing in our people is not separate from business growth — it is one of the foundations of it.

I think the billion-riyal valuation was the result of something much bigger than a single transaction. It was the result of having a clear ambition from day one and staying committed to it through the difficult moments.

Snoonu started in 2019 as a university project. But Hamad Al Hajri was never thinking about building just another delivery platform. The ambition was to build a technology company from Qatar that could eventually compete across the region, and that required thinking beyond the business we had at the time.

There were moments when that vision was seriously tested. Hamad has spoken openly about the challenges Snoonu faced, including periods of significant financial pressure. But instead of stepping back from the ambition, the company focused on its customers, its technology and, most importantly, its people. As Hamad said at Web Summit Qatar, “Get someone who you believe in and believe in you, get a team, you will never be able to do it alone.”

That belief in people became one of Snoonu’s strongest foundations. Employees were given ownership in the company and a real stake in its success. Following the Jahez transaction, more than 30 Snoonu employees became millionaires. That is more than a financial outcome; it reflects a philosophy that the people who build the journey should have the opportunity to share in what they create.

The other important factor was the willingness to keep reinventing the company. Snoonu started with food delivery, but we continued expanding into a super app and, increasingly, into technology; from cloud and robotics to AI, infrastructure and new ventures. Hamad has always believed that Qatar should not only be a market where technology is consumed; it can also be a place where technology is built, talent is developed and companies are scaled.

That is why the QAR 1 billion milestone is significant to us. It is not simply a valuation. It is a signal that a company born in Qatar can build meaningful technology, create opportunities for people, attract major regional investment and set its sights on becoming a regional technology player.

And I think that is still the bigger vision. The milestone is behind us; the ambition is ahead of us.

As Hamad said following the Jahez transaction, Snoonu is accelerating towards regional leadership while remaining firmly rooted in Qatar’s values, vision and talent.

So if I had to summarise what made it possible, I would say it was ambition without losing our roots, resilience without losing our purpose, and a belief that the right people can turn an idea that started in a university project into a company with regional and global ambitions.

We’ve had quite a few unusual orders over the years, so it’s difficult to pick just one. But one that still makes me smile was during the last World Cup 2026.

During major football tournaments, you naturally expect people to order plenty of food, drinks and snacks. But in the middle of all that, we received an order for tennis balls.

I remember seeing it and thinking, “Tennis balls? During the World Cup?” It was one of those moments that reminds you how unpredictable everyday demand can be; people use Snoonu for much more than you might expect.

And that’s actually one of the interesting things about operating a super app. You see everything from the completely expected to the wonderfully random.

And that’s not just a line I use because I work here. You can genuinely feel it when you walk into Snoonu. The moment we deliver something, we celebrate it with the team, we take a breath, and then we’re already asking ourselves: what can we build next? How can we do this better? Where else can we take it?

Today, that ambition is taking us well beyond Qatar. We’re already operating in Kuwait and Oman, and in Oman, we’ve opened our fourth city in just four months, following Nizwa and Salalah, with Muscat next. We’re seeing the same momentum in Kuwait, and Bahrain will be joining that journey very soon.

But for us, international growth is not simply about putting the Snoonu name in more countries. We want to export the technology, infrastructure and expertise we’ve built in Qatar. That’s where Snoonu Cloud becomes particularly important. It gives us the ability to take the capabilities we’ve developed here and make them available to businesses and entrepreneurs in other markets; from emerging markets across Africa and Latin America to opportunities we’re exploring in Europe.

At the same time, we’re investing heavily in research and development because we believe the next phase of Snoonu is not just about delivering more things; it’s about building the technology that will define how commerce and services work in the future.

That includes new services and verticals across our ecosystem, as well as our work in physical AI and robotics. Through Snoonu Robotics, we’re working with QRDI and with government support to move into the testing phase for autonomous robot deliveries here in Qatar, starting with a pilot location in MSherib and with plans to scale from there. We’re also already exploring drone delivery in selected areas.

And perhaps the most exciting part of this journey is that we don’t want to build the future alone.

Through the Snoonu Startup Factory, which will be based at our new headquarters, the Snoonu Innovation District, we’re opening our infrastructure, expertise and network to the next generation of founders. Applications are already open to young innovators in Qatar and across the region.

I’ve always believed that capital alone does not build companies. Founders need access to technology, people, knowledge, customers, infrastructure and an environment where they can experiment and grow. That is what we want the Startup Factory to provide.

So when people ask me, “What’s next for Snoonu?”, I think the honest answer is that we’re not working towards one destination.

We’re building an ecosystem that can grow beyond the app, beyond Qatar and eventually beyond the traditional boundaries of what a technology company can be.

For Snoonu, “what’s next” isn’t a single project or a single market. It’s the mindset that got us here in the first place — and it’s what will keep us moving forward.