In 2011, before Syria’s civil war broke out, a small but promising tech scene was beginning to emerge. The country’s young, social media–savvy generation also played a pivotal role in the Arab Spring protests. Over 14 years of conflict, some startups managed to survive, including the ride-hailing app YallaGo and the food and grocery delivery platform BeeOrder. With Assad’s regime collapsing at the end of 2024, a new wave of innovation is emerging. In this hopeful Rest of World story, Emily Wither spotlights Syrian entrepreneurs and tech optimists who are eager to rebuild their country—and reimagine its future.
Hourani avoided the military draft with a high blood pressure diagnosis and a bribe. For him, quietly growing his business was a form of resistance. “As far as I was concerned, I wanted to contradict [Assad]. He wanted us to leave, and I was going to stay,” he said. “I believed in what I was doing. Staying here was defeating him.”
Sitting in his office in downtown Damascus, Hourani was clearly proud of his achievement. Above a handful of chairs upholstered in the company colors of bright yellow and blue, there was a whiteboard and a scroll of brown paper covered in Post-it notes scribbled with diagrams and ideas. “I think it’s easy to be successful outside Syria. It’s way more difficult to be successful inside,” he said. “I have taken very small steps, but I am hanging in there.”
His company reflects another shifting dynamic in Syrian society — the majority of Hourani’s nine employees are women. Data from the community-led organization Startup Syria showed the percentage of female entrepreneurs rose sharply during the war — from just 4.4% of female-owned startups in 2009 to 34.7% in 2025. With many men forced to flee or join armed groups, or killed or detained, women increasingly stepped into the workforce to support their families.
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