We’re proud to launch the a new interview as part of our Saudi Startup Success Stories series, created in partnership with StartupBlink and the National Technology Development Program (NTDP). This series highlights visionary founders who are building globally competitive companies while advancing Saudi Arabia’s innovation and deep-tech landscape.

Our conversation features Yazeed Alfaleh, co-founder and CEO of AGSHYA, a deep-tech company focused on developing advanced membrane technologies for sustainable water treatment. Yazeed’s journey began with a strong commitment to sustainability, spanning energy, water, and AI, before narrowing its focus to one of the Kingdom’s most critical challenges: water security. Through research-driven innovation and years of laboratory testing, AGSHYA evolved from an early research concept into an industrial-scale membrane manufacturing company.

Access to Saudi Arabia’s growing research and innovation ecosystem played a defining role in AGSHYA’s development. Early work in advanced research environments, followed by the launch of NTDP, provided the technical infrastructure, validation, and support needed to scale deep-tech innovation.

Today, AGSHYA is producing industrial-scale membrane products, collaborating with international partners, and working toward localizing advanced manufacturing in Saudi Arabia. AGSHYA’s story reflects the transformation of the Kingdom’s startup ecosystem and how national programs like NTDP are enabling Saudi deep-tech founders to compete on a global stage.

How did the idea for your startup come to life, and what problem were you most driven to solve? The idea started with a focus on sustainability, specifically eco-friendly solutions across energy, water, and AI. We decided to focus more on water. The founder was looking for a researcher who had patented membrane technology, and that’s how we connected with Dr. Mohammed Rasool Qtaishat , who originally developed the membrane concept.

We started working together around 2016. At that time, the company was called SMDD, before later becoming AGSHYA. We began in a lab environment, conducting extensive testing on different membrane materials and polymers. Eventually, we succeeded in developing our own membrane product, and that’s how the company was born. That’s the short version of the story.

What led you to choose Saudi Arabia as a base for building and developing your solution? There were programs like Monshaat, but that’s more for startups in general, not really for deep tech. Membranes are deep tech. At the beginning, the main support was coming from research environments like KAUST, where you have labs, facilities, and people who understand this type of technology. Later on, the main program that really supported deep tech was NTDP. I think they started around three years ago. That program was very important for us. It’s basically the only place where you can build a deep tech company, have a lab, do testing, and access equipment and experts.

When we started back in 2016, there was almost no support for deep tech companies in Saudi Arabia. At that time, we were thinking maybe we should go to the US or Europe to start the company. But now everything has changed. Now we even have a Japanese company that wants to come to Saudi Arabia and work with us to develop a new membrane.

How would you describe your overall experience as an entrepreneur in Saudi Arabia? What has been positive, and what has been challenging? Overall, the experience is very positive now. It’s extremely easy to start a company, you can do it in minutes. It’s also cheaper than almost anywhere else in the world to register a company. There are many support programs and funding opportunities, and hiring talent has become much easier. Compared to the past, the ecosystem has completely changed. Today, everything is built to support startups, including deep tech companies.

How important were government-led initiatives and national innovation programs in supporting your journey? They made a huge difference. When the government supports you with funding, it also validates your company. They thoroughly evaluate your idea, patent, and technology before investing. That validation helped us a lot with private investors. After receiving government funding, we were able to attract additional investment much more easily. This was a major turning point for us.

What has been your experience collaborating with partners, industrial stakeholders, or other ecosystem players? We collaborated with two Japanese companies, which became our first clients to purchase our product. We signed an MOU together and are exploring the possibility of forming a joint venture. Our goal is to work on more projects in Saudi Arabia and across the GCC region.

What milestones are you most proud of achieving so far? One major milestone is partnering with Japanese companies. Another key achievement is that we started production about four months ago. We successfully produced our first industrial-scale membrane product, which represents where we are today as a company.

What are your goals for the next five years, both in Saudi Arabia and globally? Our main goal is to expand manufacturing. Currently, we use external factories for membrane casting because we’re still early-stage and didn’t want to invest $10 million in a casting machine. Right now, we rent casting machines in Japan to manufacture our membranes. In the future, we want to localize everything in Saudi Arabia, casting machines, rolling machines, membrane equipment, and pilot plants for water treatment. Ultimately, we want all materials and manufacturing to be based in Saudi Arabia.

Which regions or countries do you prioritize for expansion? Our primary target markets are the Middle East and Africa because our technology works well with solar energy and focuses on brackish water. We’ve also received interest from Spain, where a potential partner wants to test our product. They are looking for efficient, solar-powered solutions for brackish water. Europe could become a future market, but we’ll see how things develop.

Based on your experience, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs looking to grow their startups in Saudi Arabia? Entrepreneurs should explore all government programs, such as NDTP and other initiatives, and identify which ones best fit their company. Programs like startup accelerators can guide you step by step and help you understand the Saudi and GCC markets. We benefited a lot from different programs and initiatives that helped us enter the market. At one point, we were not sure how we were going to reach the market, but these programs played an important role in guiding us and supporting our market entry.