Painting a Silicon Iran
Diaspora Homeland Recollections Come Face-to-Face with Tehran’s Thriving Tech Frontier
“I bought my iPhone in Iran, and it was probably cheaper than what any of you have paid in the U.S.” Nasser Ghanemzadeh said, leaving a packed room of 50+ Iranian-American tech executives in Silicon Valley with jaw-dropping stares.
“Not only do we have access to leading technology, but in Iran, we also have all of the same services you have here in the U.S.: Uber, PayPal, Spotify, and more.”
Founder of Iran Startups, Ghanemzadeh spoke to a generation of Iranians gathered through the Yaran Network, a community organization for Iranian-American technology, business and professional executives in Silicon Valley.
The truth is, the majority of Iranian diaspora have no idea just how developed the Iran startup ecosystem is. Since 2012, Iran’s startup scene has rapidly expanded, and since 2013, has hosted more than 80 Startup Weekend events, with regular meet-ups and technology events targeting entrepreneurs on a weekly basis. Startups mimicking global competitors, as Ghanemzadeh referenced, have popped up to fill the gap in an economy closed to many global technology services. From Uber clone and Rocket Internet-backed Snapp, to PayPal twin, ZarinPal, Iran’s entrepreneurs have made it possible for its 30+ million smartphone users to build a consumer-driven economy of their own.
“Startup is the sexiest word in Tehran these days, and everyone wants to be a part of this movement,” Ghanemzadeh said while highlighting some of Iran’s biggest technology players.
But it’s more than just the culture that’s catching on: so is the technology. Currently in Iran, 50% of the population has internet connection, with the speed increasing nearly four times over the past three years. Mobile providers have started to offer a 4G network. The government has also helped foster this wave of entrepreneurship: startups that receive proper certification are entitled to 15 years of tax-free business. And these conditions have given way to a rising ecosystem of tech stars like Digikala, an Iranian online e-commerce platform recently valued at US$400 million.
Bridging Silicon Valley and Iran
While many attending the event were beyond surprised to learn about Iran’s robust startup scene, a smaller group of attendees have been supporting this dialogue and connection for the past two years: Kamran Elahian (Global Catalyst Partners), Amir Zarkesh (Bluechip Systems), and Yahya Tabesh (Sharif University) are all leaders of the groundbreaking initiative iBridges, aiming to bridge Silicon Valley to Iran.
Debuting in 2014 with its U.C. Berkeley-hosted conference, the formal mission of iBridges is to contribute to developing and growing the high-tech entrepreneurial ecosystem in Iran, wherever it legally can. Under current U.S. law, financial transactions and direct business relations — including formal business mentorship — are prohibited. iBridges, operating through its university partner, the U.C. Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship and Development in the Middle East, is able to bypass this embargo through a primarily educational mission.
Despite challenges, the iBridges team has been pivotal in making positive strides: last Spring, they convened a technology summit in Berlin, showcasing 350 entrepreneurs from Iran, and drawing in 1100 attendees from across the globe — making it the largest gathering of Iranians outside the country in more than three decades. The group is now planning its Fall 2016 conference in Barcelona, which is slated to be the biggest one yet.
“A majority of the diaspora community have not been back to Iran in past 30–40 years, and have little knowledge of the talent, technology, and know-how that is currently flourishing in Iran,” said Elahian, a serial entrepreneur, investor, and co-Founder of iBridges. “When we started this initiative, we thought we’d be in a position to solely educate Iran’s entrepreneurs. But what we’ve found is that it’s a really beautiful exchange — we learn as much from them as they do from us.”
Bridge or Bust…
While the relationship between U.S. and Iran has been on a positive trajectory with the recent lifting of multilateral sanctions, the future of a reciprocal business relationship is widely dependent on the removal of bilateral trade and economic embargos with Iran, some of which have been in effect since 1979.
But this hasn’t stopped big tech conglomerates like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, through their European arms, from reaching the Tehran capital. While still lacking a physical presence in Iran, resources from these companies like Amazon Web Services (AWS) are available to hungry Iranian entrepreneurs who are able to pay in foreign currency. Local Iranian companies are also doing what they can to bring more awareness to the largest modern economy awaiting to re-enter the global market; technology news outlets like Techly and TechRasa publish entirely in English, promoting Iran’s technology developments and helping to break the image of the nation being an economic black box.
“We all dream about Iran gaining international recognition as a great country with a thriving economy once again, and I’m absolutely convinced that this is the best way,” commented one of the Yaran event attendees. And it’s looking more likely that technology will be the way forward — to unite a distant diaspora with today’s promising startups and entrepreneurs, and to bring Iran’s economy — one of the largest remaining — back into the global fold.
If you’d like get involved and discuss how connecting the two ecosystems can contribute to growth of Iranian startups, leave a comment, attend Iratel Ventures Breakfast Series or get in touch.
This is the third in a series of posts about global growth and our professional services which was kindly written as a guest post by Christina Ashtary during the Yaran Event in San Francisco.
