The problem
Across MENA, choosing a major is often a family negotiation armed with league tables, not a fit decision — mismatch now means dropout or a resented career later.
How it works
Ask Sanad’s AI-driven platform interviews students on their priorities and aspirations, then recommends majors and universities suited to them. The concept took second place among eight teams at QSTP’s 15th XLR8 Demo Day in Doha, after 14 weeks of mentorship — earning the team three months of QSTP office space, mentorship and investor access.
Pain points
Counsellor ratios in the hundreds-to-one, marketing brochures masquerading as advice, and no structured way to compare what different majors actually lead to.
Business model
No public pricing yet — at demo-day stage the team is validating the matcher, not monetising it.
Challenges
Matching quality lives or dies on real outcome data the team doesn’t have yet; schools and ministries buy slowly; and free alternatives (counsellors, seniors, TikTok advice) set the price anchor at zero.
Funding
- Raised: nothing disclosed — paper stage, funding MISSING.
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — May 2025
Ask Sanad secured second place at the XLR8 Cycle 15 Business Pitch Day in Doha, winning QSTP incubation support (office space, mentorship, investor network) to turn the prototype into a product.