Technology Startups Take Root in Tehran

Café Bazaar, an Android software app store that mimics Google's Google Play, is among the dozens of companies that have popped up in Iran, part of a technology scene that has developed amid -- and some say because of -- international sanctions and strict censorship laws that have scared off global tech companies, at least for now. Facebook and Twitter, whose users include the offices of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, are particularly popular with Iran’s increasing tech-savvy population of 78 million people. But foreign companies, deterred by international sanctions or banned in Iran, have yet to launch Iranian versions of their content. But those hurdles are fueling the rise of fast-growing local companies.

Café Bazaar offers more 25,000 downloadable Iranian and international apps for gaming, social media, messaging and other uses, and it gets roughly 20 million visits a week within Iran. Adding to its popularity is the fact that Google Play and Apple Inc.’s Apple Store are difficult to use in Iran, largely because sanctions make international banking transactions a challenge for Iranians. Café Bazaar has stepped in to fill the void.