UDST and Alfardan Exchange Launch 'FinTech Stars' Competition with QAR 95,000 in Prizes for Student Innovators

Doha, Qatar – September 21, 2026

The University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) and Alfardan Exchange have launched “FinTech Stars,” a new competition inviting students from UDST’s Bachelor of Business Administration in Banking and Financial Technology programme to design and pitch fintech projects. Teams will have two months to build their ideas, with a combined QAR 95,000 in prize money on offer and a judging panel that pulls in some of the institutions actually operating in Qatar’s financial sector.

What the competition covers

Students form teams and use the two-month window to develop fintech projects that reflect current digital trends in banking and financial services. Submissions are due on November 7, followed by team presentations to an evaluation committee on November 18. The competition closes with an awards ceremony on November 25, where winners will be announced.

The prize structure rewards three teams: QAR 50,000 for first place, QAR 30,000 for second, and QAR 15,000 for third. Just as notable is who is doing the judging: the evaluation panel draws representatives from UDST, Qatar Financial Centre, Alfardan Corporation, the Tariqi Programme, Alfardan Exchange, and independent fintech specialists – putting student teams directly in front of institutions that can plausibly become mentors, first clients, or backers down the line.

Why UDST and Alfardan Exchange are backing it

Dr Vincent Mangematin, Dean of UDST’s College of Business, framed the competition as part of the university’s push toward applied learning: “Hosting the FinTech Stars Competition at the University of Doha for Science and Technology reflects our commitment to providing an applied learning environment that responds to the rapid evolution of the financial technology sector.”

Bashar Al Waqfi, CEO of Alfardan Exchange, described the partnership as a practical step rather than a symbolic one: “We are proud to launch the FinTech Stars Competition in partnership with the University of Doha for Science and Technology, as it represents a practical step toward empowering the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs in Qatar.”

The initiative is positioned against two national reference points: Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Qatar Central Bank’s FinTech Strategy 2024–2030, both of which call for building homegrown fintech talent rather than importing it.

A wider signal for Qatar’s entrepreneurship ecosystem

For Qatar’s startup ecosystem, competitions like FinTech Stars matter less for the prize money than for what they test: whether the country’s fintech strategy is reaching students before they graduate, not just funded founders after they’ve already started a company. A judging panel that includes Qatar Financial Centre and Alfardan Corporation alongside the university gives winning teams an early, credible audience – the kind of introduction that, in other markets, is often the difference between a strong class project and an actual founding team.

It also adds another entry to a growing list of Qatari institutions using structured competitions to source talent, alongside programmes like QSTP’s Stars of Science and the university-run entrepreneurship awards that have become a fixture of the local ecosystem. Whether FinTech Stars produces an actual venture will depend on what happens after November 25 – but the format, and the names on the judging panel, suggest UDST and Alfardan Exchange are treating this as a recruitment pipeline as much as a classroom exercise.

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