2,441% Growth: Meet Azzan Al-Kindi, the Omani Engineer Behind Rihal's Rise

In a region where oil has long defined career paths, Azzan Al-Kindi made an unusual pivot. After years working as a field engineer for Schlumberger in the energy sector, he co-founded Rihal in Muscat, an enterprise SaaS company that went on to achieve a 2,441 percent four-year growth rate and land third on Deloitte's Middle East Technology Fast 50 list in 2024. Today, with a Series A in progress and a 300-strong team that is 90 percent Omani, Rihal is one of the most compelling founder stories to come out of the Sultanate.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Rihal is a Muscat-based enterprise SaaS company specializing in data management, AI, and robotic process automation.
• Co-founded by Azzan Al-Kindi (CEO), Asim Al-Shabibi (COO), and Waleed Al Harthi (CTO).
• Ranked third fastest-growing tech company in the Middle East by Deloitte in 2024, with 2,441% four-year growth.
• Raised $7.5 million in the first close of a $15 million Series A led by ITHCA Group in September 2025.
• Over 300 employees: approximately 90% Omani nationals and 43% women, a rare combination in regional tech.
• Azzan serves as Deputy Head of the Digital Economy Committee at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI).

🛢️ From Engineering School to the Oil Fields

Azzan Al-Kindi's technical education began earlier than most. At age 11, he enrolled at the Royal Guard of Oman Technical College (RGOTC), where he completed a Diploma in General Engineering between 1999 and 2007. He then attended Sultan Qaboos University, graduating in 2012 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering. During his SQU years, he served as President of the Society of Mechanical Engineering, an early marker of his instinct to lead rather than follow.

His professional career began with an internship at BP-Oman as a Completion Engineer, gaining field exposure and safety training in the upstream oil sector. That was followed by a more substantial stint at Schlumberger (now SLB), one of the world's largest oil services companies, where he worked as a Directional Driller and Senior Field Engineer. The role demanded real-time data interpretation, bore property analysis, and decision-making under pressure: a set of instincts that would prove surprisingly transferable to building enterprise software.

🚀 The Pivot: Building Rihal from a Problem Worth Solving

Rihal was not born from a hackathon or an MBA thesis. As Arab Founders reports, the company emerged from "business needs and day-to-day nuisances" that Azzan encountered working inside large organisations. Alongside co-founders Asim Al-Shabibi (COO) and Waleed Al Harthi (CTO), he identified a persistent gap: Omani enterprises, especially in government and energy, were still managing data and operations through inefficient, manually-intensive processes. Rihal was built to close that gap with locally developed software.

The company today offers a full stack of enterprise capabilities: data management, robotic process automation (RPA), AI implementation, IT staffing, and custom software engineering. Its clients span government ministries, logistics operators, telecom companies, and oil and gas entities across Oman and the wider region.

🧩 The Product Suite: Built for Oman, Designed for the Region

Beyond services, Rihal has developed a portfolio of proprietary platforms, each targeting a specific enterprise pain point:

• Jadawal: An operations and scheduling streamlining tool for enterprise teams.
• Eysal: A data-driven efficiency platform for enterprise analytics.
• Hassad: An AI-powered optimization engine for complex operational decisions.
• Iqraa: An information accessibility and knowledge management platform.

These are not off-the-shelf global products relabeled for a local audience. They were designed for the realities of Omani enterprise clients: Arabic-language environments, government procurement structures, and the specific data complexity of energy and utilities sectors.

👥 A Workforce That Reflects Oman's Values

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Rihal's profile is not its revenue growth; it is its team composition. As Wamda reported at the time of the Series A, Rihal's 300-plus professionals are approximately 90% Omani nationals, with 43% being women. In a regional tech industry where both Omanization and gender representation remain aspirational targets for most firms, the company appears to have made both a structural priority from inception.

This was formally recognized with the 2024 Ejada Award for Institutional Excellence in the Private Sector, presented by Oman's Ministry of Labour for outstanding performance in employment and Omanization. The company also achieved a 119% compound annual growth rate since its seed round, according to reporting at the time of its Series A.

🏆 Recognition and Funding Milestones

In 2024, Deloitte ranked Rihal as the third fastest-growing tech company in the Middle East on its Technology Fast 50 list, with a four-year growth rate of 2,441%. The company finished behind only Capital.com (4,411%) and Salla (3,550%), placing a Muscat-built enterprise SaaS firm in the same tier as some of the region's most prominent fintechs and e-commerce platforms.

Rihal has also won PDO's "Best Performing SME" award in both 2023 and 2024, recognizing its contribution to In-Country Value. The award, presented at PDO's annual In-Country Value Day, is a meaningful signal for a tech firm working inside Oman's energy sector supply chain.

In September 2025, Rihal announced the first close of a $15 million Series A round, raising $7.5 million led by ITHCA Group, the tech investment arm of the Oman Investment Authority. A second close, open to strategic investors, was announced alongside the first. The company plans to use the capital for regional MENA expansion and to scale its proprietary platforms toward international markets.

🌐 Building the Ecosystem, Not Just a Company

Azzan's commitments extend well beyond Rihal's own growth. He serves as Deputy Head of the Digital Economy Committee at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), and as a member of the Supervisory Board for the National Employment Programme (Tashgeel), which works to increase Omani employment in the private sector. He is also listed as an investor in Bon, an Omani startup, and previously served as Chairman of both Codeline and Transformation Pioneers.

At the company level, Rihal has partnered with Omantel to deliver RPA training to recent graduates through Omantel's Generation Z programme. At the signing ceremony, as Zawya reported, Azzan framed the collaboration in terms of national purpose: "This cooperation between Rihal and Omantel aims to enhance cooperation, share practical knowledge and experiences and develop future skills among Omani youths."

🔗 Connect With Azzan and Rihal

• Azzan Al-Kindi on LinkedIn: om.linkedin.com/in/azzan-al-kindi
• Rihal website: rihal.om
• Rihal on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rihal

🇴🇲 Why This Matters for Oman

Rihal's journey is precisely the kind of story that Oman's Vision 2040 was designed to produce: a locally-founded, locally-staffed enterprise software company growing fast enough to compete at a regional level, attracting institutional capital, and creating high-skill Omani jobs in the process. Azzan Al-Kindi's path, from a technical college in the Royal Guard at age 11 to Schlumberger rigs to Series A board meetings with ITHCA, illustrates that Oman's diversification strategy does not depend on waiting for a new generation. The builders are already here.

With $7.5 million in fresh capital, a pipeline of enterprise clients across MENA, and a 300-strong team that is overwhelmingly Omani and nearly half women, Rihal's next chapter may well define what a fully homegrown Omani SaaS company can accomplish on the international stage.