Fundraising Fox
Zoftware
Techstars '23Dubai, AE · Founded 2022 · 19 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
Find your way into Zoftware
Zoftware is a B2B discovery and rating platform that helps users compare, review, and select IT software providers and system integrators. The platform catalogs over 500 software categories and 25,000 IT solution providers, and offers implementation support, IT recruitment, and managed services primarily for the Middle East market.
Also known as Zoftware FZE · ZoftwareHub
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Zoftware operates an online B2B discovery and rating platform for IT software and solutions, aimed at helping businesses compare products, read reviews and find system integrators to deploy them. The platform organises listings into more than 500 software categories covering vendors and solution providers, with category pages segmented by market (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and global) and by function and industry, including AI, CRM, ERP, HR, accounting, customer experience, marketing, finance, project management, cloud/IT, retail, ecommerce, hospitality, professional services and logistics.
Beyond discovery, the company positions itself as a single partner across software strategy, selection and implementation. Its self-described "Smart Suite" consists of four tools: an AI-driven Strategy Builder that produces a technology roadmap, a System Fit Score that ranks products by fit, a Tech Requirement Builder that generates a pre-filled requirements/RFP document for vendors, and Smart Compare for side-by-side product comparison. Adjacent services include implementation support, IT recruitment, L1/L2 support and managed services, plus RFP and demo structuring, contract negotiation support and post-sales optimisation.
The platform also runs dedicated workspaces for the supply side. A vendor workspace surfaces buyer-intent signals, GCC pipeline tracking, AI SDR outreach with human oversight and recommendations of vetted system integrators; a system integrator workspace distributes implementation leads, filters projects by industry, forecasts revenue share and handles vendor partnership requests. Zoftware also publishes a blog covering enterprise technology topics and customer case studies.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Aayushman Dalmia was born in Delhi and moved to Dubai at age two, later studying computer science at Indiana University Bloomington. During university he co-founded a tutoring marketplace that scaled to 300 universities but proved seasonal and was sold in a small exit. He then joined his family's BPO business, Data Direct Group, operating call centres and document storage across the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, where a project to select and implement a new CRM proved difficult amid numerous vendors and consultants. That experience prompted him to build a SaaS marketplace for the MENA region.
Business model
Zoftware is a B2B platform that is free for software buyers and monetises the vendor side. The founder has described charging software companies a subscription fee for access to buyer-intent data and additional services; a startup directory profile also lists affiliate marketing as a revenue stream. Services around the marketplace — implementation, IT recruitment, L1/L2 support and managed services — and partner arrangements with system integrators based on revenue share form additional commercial channels.
Subscription fees charged to software vendors for buyer-intent data and related services, supplemented by affiliate arrangements and paid implementation, recruitment, support and managed services. The company targeted $1.5 million of revenue by the end of 2023.
Traction
Public figures reported at different dates include more than 6,000 software companies listed in 2023, 7,000+ products and over 100,000 users in 2024, and a current site claim of 25,000 IT software and solution providers across 500+ categories, 10,000+ implementations and 5,000+ MENA CXOs using its strategy tool. The founder reported reaching 100 customers within three months of launch, paying customers, product-market fit and a 100% retention rate as of mid-2024.
Latest developments
In August 2026 Zoftware announced a strategic partnership with Haptik, a conversational AI platform that is part of JioHaptik (a Reliance Industries company), to accelerate conversational AI adoption in the Middle East, and separately announced that it had become an official HubSpot Solutions Partner to support CRM-led growth for Middle East enterprises and SMBs. The current site presents a four-tool "Smart Suite" and dedicated vendor and system integrator workspaces featuring buyer intent signals, GCC pipeline tracking, AI SDR outreach and revenue-share forecasting.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
The company describes itself as the only SaaS marketplace in the MENA region and compares its role to review-and-discovery marketplaces in other verticals. It was selected into the Techstars accelerator from a reported 850 applicants and lists a Ministry of AI verification. Coverage notes its focus on local specifics for vendors entering the Middle East market.
Zoftware combines catalogue-based software discovery with hands-on selection and delivery support — requirements definition, RFP and demo structuring, negotiation, implementation via vetted system integrators and ongoing L1/L2 and managed services — rather than acting purely as a listing or review site. For vendors, it packages buyer-intent signals and sales intelligence rather than standard lead generation, a positioning the founder says was shaped during the Techstars programme. Regional focus on GCC and wider MENA markets, with country-specific category pages, is a further stated point of difference.
Technology
The platform applies generative and predictive AI to match businesses with software products, using search algorithms that interpret stated business requirements and returning product detail including price, demos, screenshots, local presence and client ratings. Product tooling includes an AI strategy builder, a fit-scoring engine, an automated requirements/RFP document generator and a comparison engine, along with buyer-intent detection and AI-assisted sales outreach for vendors. Earlier coverage described the use of OpenAI's ChatGPT to personalise recommendations and the development of a conversational bot.
Go-to-market
Buyer-side demand is generated through content creation, SEO and free AI-based tools and resources such as a software decision toolkit, free consulting calls and a growth audit. Early vendor customers were acquired through personal network referrals, partner models and cold email, reaching 100 customers within three months. The company also builds vendor and channel partnerships, including a HubSpot Solutions Partner designation and a partnership with conversational AI provider Haptik for the Middle East market.
Business software buyers, with an emphasis on SMEs and enterprise decision-makers (CXOs) in the Middle East and North Africa, across functions such as marketing, CX, ERP, HR, finance, project management and IT. On the supply side, the customers are software vendors seeking buyers in the GCC and system integrators seeking implementation projects.
Geography
Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, serving the Middle East and North Africa. Country-level category coverage spans the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, plus a global view. The founder stated in 2023 that there were plans to extend the platform to India.
History
The platform was launched at the beginning of 2023 serving MENA businesses, with a legal entity registered as Zoftware FZE in Dubai. An early $500,000 convertible note was raised, and by 2023 the company reported arrangements with over 6,000 software vendors. Zoftware was subsequently selected for the Techstars accelerator in London, where its positioning shifted from standard lead generation toward buyer and sales intelligence. As of August 2024 the founder said the company planned to begin raising roughly $1 million, allocated 70% to marketing and sales, 20% to technology and 10% to other expenses. In 2026 the company announced a HubSpot Solutions Partner status and a partnership with conversational AI provider Haptik.
Risks & controversies
The founder has publicly described early execution problems, principally under-paying for critical design, product and sales roles, hiring junior salespeople instead of founder-led selling, and difficulty servicing the first 100 vendor customers due to insufficient buyer-side search volume. Techstars mentors reportedly assessed the original idea as not readily venture-scalable, backing the founder rather than the concept. Publicly reported platform scale figures differ substantially between sources and dates.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsZoftware and Haptik, part of JioHaptik (a Reliance Industries company), announced a strategic partnership to accelerate conversational AI adoption across the Middle East.
Zoftware announced it had become an official HubSpot Solutions Partner to support CRM-led growth for Middle East enterprises and SMBs.
Founder Aayushman Dalmia said Zoftware was selected for the Techstars accelerator out of 850 applicants and that he relocated to London for the programme, during which the platform shifted from lead generation to buyer/sales intelligence.
The platform was launched at the beginning of 2023 by founder Aayushman Dalmia, initially serving businesses in the Middle East and North Africa.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Zoftwarezoftwarehub.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Zoftware do?
- Dubai-based B2B platform for discovering, comparing and implementing business software across the MENA region.
- Who are Zoftware's investors?
- Zoftware's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Zoftware headquartered?
- Zoftware is headquartered in Dubai, AE.