So far 33 knowledge-based companies are listed with the stock market and plans call for adding 16 more, the vice president for science and technology said.
Sorena Sattari added that many of the companies wanting to go public have been approved by the stock market authorities and two have completed the listing process.
“Knowledge-based companies could soon emerge as the biggest firms on the bourse bulletin board,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA on Sunday. He did not elaborate.
Informatics Services Corporation- a leading developer of banking and payment solutions- and Asan Pardakht Persian- a payment service provider- are two major knowledge-based companies operating in the stock market.
According to Sattari, market capitalization of 33 knowledge-based listed companies is 1,800 trillion rials ($8.8 billion).
The senior aide to President Hassan Rouhani said knowledge companies see the bourse as the best venue to attract capital, adding that the firms have so far largely received funding from banks.
“Startups won’t grow with loans, they should be financed by capital market… companies see their future in the bourse.”
Last week, the Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand spoke about a plan to offer shares of five online startups in the share market by September.
Among the companies in the list are known startups such as the leading e-commerce service Digikala, Cafe Bazaar (Iran’s most popular local Android app store), Tap30 (second low-cost ride-hailing app) and Sheypoor -- a classified ad site.
Increasing inclination of companies to enter the stock market is in tandem with government efforts to expand the market partly to tame the unreasonable growth in market indicators.
The government says it is committed to expanding the bourse by adding more companies to the fast growing market. Rouhani last Wednesday reiterated the need to continue supporting the share market by boosting the supply side and listing more companies.
Referring to the pattern of growth in the share market in recent months, he underscored the need to increase initial public offerings to address the supply crunch.
To encourage companies enter the market, the government has offered incentives, including tax breaks and easing listing procedures.
Earlier in the month, the government announced it would grant tax incentives to companies entering the stock market.
Potential listed companies will be accountable only for tax liabilities in the previous fiscal year (March 2019-20) and not the years before.
This should addresses concerns of companies wanting to enter the share market but fear their (unpaid) tax background can be exposed.
