In Iran, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are among many sites blocked by the authorities, spurring a generation of young entrepreneurs to invent their own versions. Now, with the prospect of sanctions easing and the world lining up to invest in the tech sector, is all that about to change?

Tehran may be thousands of miles away from Silicon Valley, home to the world’s largest hi-tech corporations and most innovative startups, but technologically, Iran’s online entrepreneurs are getting closer – despite mutual political hostility and international sanctions. This Thursday in Germany hundreds of Iranian startups will catch up with investors from around the globe in the biggest gathering of its kind, in a bid to bridge the gap.

The iBridges conference in Berlin, which aims to explore the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship in Iran, will be closely watched, especially at a time when diplomatic efforts to resolve Tehran’s nuclear dispute are increasing hopes for an ease in the sanctions that would enable foreigners to invest in the tech sector.

Participants from Iran include Digikala, an online e-commerce platform, which has become the biggest in the Middle East with around 750,000 unique visitors per day and is estimated to be worth $150m. Also participating is Aparat, an Iranian version of YouTube, Takhfifan (a Groupon-type website) and smaller startups such as Mamanpaz, which offers real home cooking to its online customers.

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This article was written by Saeed Kamali Dehghan for The Guardian on May 31, 2015. Saeed Kamali Dehghan is a staff journalist with the Guardian. He has previously written from the Iranian capital, Tehran.