Fortify, a PropTech startup based in Karachi, has completed the legal groundwork for its Saudi Arabian operation and is now formally present in Riyadh. The company obtained a license from the Saudi Ministry of Investment in February 2026 and incorporated its local entity in July 2026. Founded in 2021 by CEO Syed Zain Ali and co-founder Sidra Shakeel, Fortify builds cloud based enterprise resource planning software for real estate companies, bringing sales, customer relationship management, finance, property management and bookings together on a single system. With the entity in place, the team has turned its attention to staffing and is looking for Arabic speaking and technical hires for Riyadh. The residency permit process for key members of the team is already underway, though larger operational hiring will wait until those approvals come through.
Ali says the choice of market comes down to scale and timing. In his view, Saudi Arabia is among the largest markets in the GCC, and under Vision 2030 the real estate sector has genuine room for digital transformation. Riyadh, as the capital, was the natural first stop in the company’s international plans. The Real Estate General Authority also runs a PropTech Hub designed to attract foreign technology firms, which adds institutional support for companies entering the sector. Ali was candid that a new market brings difficulties, naming compliance, product localization and cybersecurity concerns tied to keeping data inside the Kingdom as the main ones. Fortify addressed them before launching by rebuilding its platform to meet Saudi tax rules set by ZATCA, local cybersecurity standards and in-Kingdom data storage requirements, so that Saudi clients can run the system without compliance exposure.
The route to Riyadh began in 2024, when the team first explored the Saudi market at the LEAP technology conference. Support from home played a significant part in what followed. BridgeStart Pakistan, a program run through the state-owned Ignite fund, covered Fortify’s accelerator costs, travel and accommodation. The company later joined a 12 week Saudi soft landing program delivered by BridgeStart, Ignite and AstroLabs, giving it structured exposure to the market before it committed to incorporation. The path shows how public backing for outbound expansion can shorten the distance between a first visit to a foreign conference and a registered local business.
Early commercial signs are already visible. Keller Williams Saudi Arabia uses Fortify’s CRM, brokerage management and finance modules, and the startup has also signed an agreement with Muathamad, a property valuation firm based in Riyadh. Beyond those two arrangements, the picture is still early. As of late October 2026, Fortify has not announced new clients, funding rounds or further operational milestones in the Kingdom, and the current phase centers on hiring and local business development. The next test will be how quickly residency approvals clear, how fast the Riyadh team takes shape, and whether the early arrangements grow into a wider client base in a market that Pakistani founders are increasingly treating as a serious destination for expansion.
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