Hassan Albalawi, founder and CEO of Saudi startup success story WakeCap, talks construction, tech, and much more

From Tabuk, a mid-size city in Saudi Arabia's northern region, to a PHD from Duke University and now founder of one of Saudi Arabia's most successful startup companies, Dr. Hassan Albalawi's incredible journey represents a successful investment by Saudi Arabia into the promise of its citizens. In Episode 28, Dr. Hassan sits down with The TWENTY30's Lucien Zeigler and Dr. Hanaa Almoaibed for an exclusive interview and conversation to discuss the genesis and growth of WakeCap, an innovative and fast-growing construction technologies company that allows employers to monitor the safety and productivity of workers on the job site. WakeCap is scaling and expanding quickly, with 100 employees and operating partnerships with some of the largest construction companies in the world, including Aramco, Bechtel, and many others. WakeCap's solutions are now the go-to for companies seeking to protect and incentivize their employees and boost productivity to get projects completed safely. The company recently acquired a Silicon Valley-based startup in July 2024, and is using that investment to create a new R&D center for the company in the center of America's innovation capital. Now, it's expanding beyond the Middle East region, working in New York and elsewhere in one of the most significant exports of Saudi-made technologies in the Kingdom's history.

Hassan is the eldest in a family of 14 children. His first time on an airplane was as a teenager to travel to the United States for college and graduate school with limited English. When he left the U.S., he did so with a PHD in Engineering from one of top 10 universities in the country, and was ready to begin his journey as an entrepreneur. Hanaa and Lucien ask him about his experiences in the U.S. before diving into his journey as a Saudi startup founder years before the Kingdom began making huge investments into technologies and developing its ecosystem. The hosts also ask Hassan about the opportunities and challenges in the construction sector in Saudi Arabia and the GCC region, the development of entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia today, and the future of WakeCap as a potential unicorn in the coming years.

After the conversation, Dr. Hanaa and Lucien conclude with SHOUTOUTS. Dr. Hanaa's Shoutout is to the recently-passed Safeya Binzagr, famed Saudi artist who inspired many with her books and museums long before the Vision's reforms. 

Lucien's Shoutout is to Younis Altewejri and Francesco Luigi Carusi, founders of The Rustic Bakery in Riyadh, which was recently shortlisted for the Riyadh 2024 Time Out awards. 

***

The TWENTY30 is now the leading bi-weekly podcast on Saudi Arabia in English! Our founders thank everyone for subscribing and following as we de-code Saudi Arabia’s rapid transformation in English and share stories of the changemakers playing crucial roles in the Kingdom's changes. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0uuKNWr... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... YouTube:    / @thetwenty30   Get episodes and exclusive content delivered to your email inbox free: https://thetwenty30.com You can also email the show’s hosts with their first names (Lucien @TheTWENTY30.com) or (Hanaa @thetwenty30.com) or email Hosts @ TheTwenty30.com.   The TWENTY30 Podcast is a production of The TWENTY30 Media Group, LLC.    ©The TWENTY30. All rights reserved.