Start-up Watch: Subol
Ahmed Mohamedali, a founding member of Subol, a Qatari technology start-up company, says they look to employing innovation and engineering methodologies to develop products that fulfil the needs of the marketplace.
What was the idea behind starting this company?
Our mission is to create innovative socially-conscious technology products utilising the quintessential creativity of a diverse and multicultural team. We strive to grow our business by offering original, sustainable, reliable and profitable products.
Several months after establishing the company, the team was able to develop a functional prototype of the company’s flagship product, given the name ‘Samam’.
Being developed fully by Subol engineers, Samam gas detector, powered by its novel Nanosensor is the heart of a smart security system intended to protect families and homes from liquefied petroleum gas leakage and its threats. You get to connect many sensors around a property and connect the system with other smart home’s devices.
Tell us a bit about the backgrounds of the founding members.
The founders, Musab Al Mozien, Saleh Safran and myself, Ahmed Mohamedali, all coming from mechanical engineering background, share the company’s vision with a group of talented engineers from the faculty of engineering at Qatar University.
As engineers, it was intuitive to exploit the knowledge we acquired during our studies, and apply it to solve problems facing the society around us. That was the problem-solving part, however, the technology development industry is very advanced and complex. This is where the continuous learning is happening every day with us.
What is the unique selling proposition (USP) of your business model?
When Subol was officially registered, it was rarely considered that a Qatari company is pursuing hardware development. The core value of our company relies in the process and the team. We believe that innovation and product development are very delicate subjects and mastering it requires testing and experience.
What have been some of the main challenges in setting up this company?
We were lucky to get support from Qatar Science and Technology Park and Qatar Business Incubation Center to be able to develop Samam. However, the main challenge we faced was to get informed mentorship from those with relevant experience in product development. Not to mention the hectic process of registering a business in such a field in a region where construction and real estate is what considered “engineering”.
What has the response been like so far from the market?
Since Subol’s inception, we were approached by many clients with regards to the technology development services, especially when asking for interactive and entertainment technologies where we developed some really interesting concepts.
On the other hand, the initial product testing of Samam with the public showed great interest in our flagship product.
What is the future plan of your company?
Regarding Samam, we are now polishing the final engineering components, while working simultaneously with an elite industrial design agency in Europe to craft a beautiful casing for Samam. We are planning to offer the first patch for preorder exclusively on the company’s website and through social media @subolqa very soon.
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