In an interview with Mehdi Naiini, cofounder of Alopeyk, Ghanoon newspaper has covered the issues surrounding startups in Iran. Alopeyk, an online motorcycle courier service, started out with 60 full time motorcycle couriers and now has around 400 part time hires daily. They now have a network of 35000 couriers and 180 supporting office personnel. Mr. Naiini considers the lack of access to international investors as one their biggest problems. On the other hand, the number of risk taking investors in Iran is very limited and this not only creates monopolies but also prevents many startups from taking off. The removal of Iranian apps from Apple’s App Store is another problem that Alopeyk and other startups could not have foreseen and were therefore suffered major setbacks. In spite of this, in comparison with developed markets, the opportunities in Iran for setting up new ideas have an attraction that is hard to pass by. Mr. Naiini also noted the support of the President’s Office of Science and Technology as very beneficial and worth fighting for.