Qirtas seeks to bridge heritage content with global accessibility, potentially catalysing wider digitisation in a culturally significant but underserved sector.
Qirtas App, a Swedish-Turkish startup headquartered in Istanbul and Malmö, has unveiled its dual-interface platform at Web Summit Qatar 2026, where it featured in the Alpha Startup category. The company aims to modernise the Arabic publishing sector by combining AI-driven production tools with a streaming distribution model.
The Arab world, with around 430 million speakers, supports a substantial publishing industry estimated at $4 billion overall. However, digital adoption remains limited owing to high shipping costs for physical books, widespread piracy, and inadequate infrastructure.
Recent analyses indicate the broader MENA media and entertainment market is growing strongly, with digital segments expanding rapidly – though specific digital publishing figures for Arabic content are smaller, often cited in the low hundreds of millions and poised for acceleration amid rising smartphone penetration and regional investment in tech.
Qirtas addresses these challenges through two core components:
For publishers: A backend portal enables digitisation of physical catalogues into secure, monetisable assets. Its proprietary “AI Production Suite” automates audiobook generation and smart summaries, lowering entry barriers to digital formats. Robust DRM protects intellectual property, while real-time analytics offer insights into reader behaviour.
For readers: A freemium streaming app provides access to a growing library, enhanced by Qirtas AI – an interactive assistant offering instant translation, text-to-speech, and social features to engage the global Arab diaspora.
CEO Tamer Odeh emphasised in the press release: “The Arab publishing world is rich in content but starved of modern distribution. Qirtas removes the friction, equipping publishers to thrive digitally.”
COO Alaa Barghouth noted strong interest post-Web Summit, with commitments from major houses to onboard catalogues, and a focus now on scaling infrastructure.
The platform, accessible via qirtasapp.com, appears in pre-launch or early rollout phase – positioned to attract pre-seed investment to fuel market entry and AI enhancements. This aligns with broader momentum in MENA tech events like Web Summit Qatar, which drew over 1,600 startups in 2026.
Qirtas seeks to bridge heritage content with global accessibility, potentially catalysing wider digitisation in a culturally significant but underserved sector.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
