TL;DR Jordan has about 11.5 million people, near-universal internet use and unemployment above 16%. The ideas that fit here save water and energy for homes, farms and hotels, turn digital skills into exportable services, or serve the visitors who come for the country's historic sites.

The market in numbers

  • Population: about 11.5 million in 2025[1].
  • GDP per capita: about US$5,350 in 2025[2].
  • Internet use: about 96% of people were online in 2024[3].
  • Unemployment: about 16.5% in 2025 (modelled ILO estimate)[4].
  • Remittances: personal remittances received were about 7.6% of GDP in 2024[5].
  • Tourism: international tourism receipts were about 17% of exports in 2020, the latest year in the series[6].
  • Currency: the Jordanian dinar (JOD).

What founders here actually have to work with

The online numbers are the first thing I'd look at. With nearly everyone connected[3] and one in six people in the labour force out of work[4], there's a big pool of trained people who could sell services across the region if someone packages the work and the trust.

Water is the constraint that shows up in almost every physical business [Requires validation]. If your product cuts how much water a building, farm or hotel uses then you're solving a problem people already pay for in tanker bills and lost crops.

Tourism matters more than its size suggests, because it earns foreign currency[6]. Remittances at about 7.6% of GDP[5] help too, though they don't dominate the way they do in some neighbours. Sell to Gulf clients if you can, since the home market caps out quickly.

Ideas that fit Jordan

All of these were researched for India. The rupee costs and Indian licences don't carry over, so treat each one as a brief to rework.

Water

  • Saltfree: Solar units that make brackish groundwater drinkable suit farms and villages away from the main network. Keep the design simple enough for a local technician to fix.
  • Leakfinder: Acoustic leak surveys paid per verified leak give a water utility a reason to say yes. Expect a long sales cycle with public bodies.
  • Greywaterly: Reusing sink and shower water for flushing fits student housing and hotels. Check the rules on greywater reuse before you install anything [Requires validation].
  • Lowwater: Low-water garden makeovers for compounds, campuses and hotels sell on a lower water bill. Measure the savings so the claim holds up.
  • Tankscore: Buildings that rely on rooftop tanks and tanker top-ups can use meters to split costs fairly. One building is enough to prove it.

Sun and farms

  • Solarrows: Raised solar rows over crops could shade plants and earn power income on the same land. Grid connection rules decide whether it pays [Requires validation].
  • Panelfair: A fee-only checker for rooftop solar quotes and installs helps families avoid bad deals. Stay independent of installers or the trust goes.
  • Spathewing: Drone pollen-spraying for date palms could replace climbers at bloom time. Talk to growers in the Jordan Valley first and check drone rules [Requires validation].

Tourism and heritage

  • Ratecove: Pricing and paperwork for small hotels and guesthouses fits places outside the capital. Rebuild the compliance side around Jordan's own tourism licensing [Requires validation].
  • Ruinsquest: Audio and AR trails at historic sites can serve school groups and visitors. You'll need the site authorities to agree to it.
  • Intakeview: Scheduled ROV checks of seawater intake pipes suit coastal plants in Aqaba. It's a niche, so price it as a specialist service.

Skills and services for export

  • Paidtrace: Checked references and payment proof help freelancers win clients abroad. Start with developers and designers.
  • Deskmoat: Small firms that sell software or back-office work abroad get hit with security questionnaires. A fixed-price baseline helps them pass.
  • Rangewright: Browser-based security analyst labs for universities build skills employers will hire for. Sell to faculties one at a time.
  • Roleplaycall: Phone role-play tests for frontline hiring work in Arabic as well as they did in Indian languages. Call centres serving the Gulf are the obvious buyer.
  • Syllabook: Job-skill modules that run inside a private university's timetable answer the graduate jobs gap. Get one dean to pilot it.

Health

  • Slidewise: Second reads of biopsy slides by subspecialists help hospitals outside Amman. It's decision support, so the reporting pathologist stays responsible. Check the health regulator's view first [Requires validation].

Rules to check before you start

Companies register with the Companies Control Department, which also handles filings, liquidations and company searches[7]. The central bank is the Central Bank of Jordan, which runs an Arabic-language site at cbj.gov.jo[8]. The tax authority is the Income and Sales Tax Department [Requires validation]. Some sectors cap foreign ownership under a non-Jordanian investment regulation, so check yours [Requires validation]. Health, water and drone ideas each need their own approvals [Requires validation].

This is a starting list, not legal advice. Check with a local lawyer or the agency itself.

Questions founders ask

Services sold to clients in the Gulf or further away, like software, design or call work, need skills more than cash. Paidtrace and Roleplaycall above can start from a laptop.

Do foreigners need a local partner to start a company in Jordan?

I couldn't confirm a general local partner rule from an official source. Some sectors do appear to cap foreign ownership [Requires validation], so check with the Companies Control Department before you commit.

Is Jordan a good base for selling across the region?

It can be, if your buyers are outside Jordan. The home market is small, so plan your second market before you launch the first.

Talk to Yash

Jordan rewards founders who sell outside its borders early, and I'm happy to help you test which market should come first. If you need a hand, you know where to find me.

Talk to Yash →

Sources

  1. World Bank, "Population, total: Jordan", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JOR/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&mrv=1
  2. World Bank, "GDP per capita (current US$): Jordan", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JOR/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?format=json&mrv=1
  3. World Bank (ITU data), "Individuals using the Internet (% of population): Jordan", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JOR/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  4. World Bank (ILO modelled estimate), "Unemployment, total (% of total labor force): Jordan", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JOR/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  5. World Bank, "Personal remittances, received (% of GDP): Jordan", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JOR/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  6. World Bank, "International tourism, receipts (% of total exports): Jordan", 2020. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/JOR/indicator/ST.INT.RCPT.XP.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  7. Companies Control Department, Jordan, home page, 2026. https://www.ccd.gov.jo/
  8. Central Bank of Jordan, home page, 2026. https://www.cbj.gov.jo/

For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.