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Accelerating Tech Innovation from Lebanon

Alice — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 07:16:25 +0000

Intensive Venture Building Programme wants to turn ambitious ideas into marketable products in just three months.

Lebanon is fast building a reputation as an entrepreneurial tech hub offering huge opportunities to investors. A report last year by the UK Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH) outlined the country’s ambition to become the tech gateway to the Middle East and laid out a blueprint to create 25,000 new ICT jobs and a US $7 billion boost to GDP by 2025. As part of this they have also launched a new intensive venture building programme called Nucleus.

“Lebanon’s young people are among the most educated and resourceful in the world. They fuel the great ideas that The Nucleus can turn into real products and services which will transform our world for the better. At the same time, a growing MENA market for high tech solutions across a range of sectors, a successful diaspora spread across the world, and a strong banking sector provides a potent mix to grow the jobs of the future,” says Nicholas Sehnaoui, Chairman of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub.

Dynamic teams turn ideas and concepts into marketable products in a record time
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Speaking at the launch event at the Beirut Digital District, Hugo Shorter, British Ambassador to Lebanon, said such initiatives played a crucial role in turbo charging the development of the knowledge economy: “With today’s launching of The Nucleus cycle, we witness once again how ambitious entrepreneurs build businesses and technologies, how dynamic teams turn ideas and concepts into marketable products in a record time.”

This ambitious accelerator aims to take start-ups from idea stage to having an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) in just twelve short weeks. It might sound like a tall order, but 176 companies from Lebanon’s thriving technology scene applied to take part. From those, 20 went on to a week-long series of product development workshops where the applicants were further narrowed down to six finalists.

The Nucleus accelerator will take start-ups from idea to MVP in 12 weeks
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Those six startups will now benefit from an investment of US$20,000 in cash and US$30,000 in services in return to a stake of up to five percent equity in their business. The services include access to C-level executives and technology teams to help develop the product’s core technology, as well as a host of practical workshops on finance, legal structures, organisational culture, raising capital, pitching, marketing and sales. The entrepreneurs will also have access to office space, support with Legal and Auditing services for company registrations in addition to HR management as part of the services they will benefit from. Upon product completion, UKLTH will continue to support all the startups by helping them tap into their international networks, garnering partnerships and helping them to raise potential investment from investors.

In addition to all those resources, every company will be assigned a “Dragon’s Den” style board involving top industry experts, academics, media experts and potential buyers. Board Meetings will be held every month to make sure that companies are on track to deliver on their agreed roadmap.

This, according to UKLTH Director Nadim Zaazaa, is what takes Nucleus beyond traditional accelerator programmes: “We have in place a fully-fledged technology team to deep dive into the startup’s products, C-level executives to bolster their business planning, and industry experts to sit on their management boards and help guide them to market at breakneck speed,” he explains.

One of the finalist Founders is Rami Allame, CEO of LGALX – an online platform that leverages blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to provide users with legal answers. He says that joining the Nucleus was a unique opportunity to quickly develop their idea: “Many people have a good idea but the hard part is to turn it into a marketable product,” he says. “I look forward to working with the Executives and founders of successful startups that have overcome many of the hurdles that we’re about to face”.

With so many far-fetched ideas in the world of tech – who can forget the Yo app that managed to attract millions of dollars in investment in spite of being useless by its own founder’s admission – it is refreshing to see such initiatives fostering practical products that solve real market needs.

The six companies cover a broad range of potential markets and technologies, from an algorithm that monitors battery performance while providing predictive key metrics called Dox, to ImagineMe, a publishing company using Augmented Reality to create personalized children’s books. There is also an icon-based productivity app – Notifer – which generates timely reminders in such a way as to boost a user’s memory and power up their productivity, and Handiss, a marketplace for the construction industry centralizing freelance engineers and architects

The Central Bank of Lebanon is matching funding from the UK embassy of $3.2M to support the UKLTH’s activities in fostering entrepreneurship
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Stephanie D’Arc Taylor is COO of Jaleesa, represents another of the six selected start-ups. Her platform connects family with trusted childcare providers on a flexible basis, and she plans on leveraging the expertise on offer at Nucleus to roll out their product beyond Lebanon and make a positive global impact.

The Central Bank of Lebanon is matching funding from the UK embassy of $3.2M to support the UKLTH’s activities in fostering entrepreneurship and research & development in the country, and it plans on running two Nucleus cycles per year with up to 10 companies being accepted during each cycle. There will also be a service run in partnership with corporations looking to benefit from technology and digital transformation to grow their business.

Emma Sinclair MBE, the youngest person to have floated a company on the London Stock Exchange, believes that through such initiatives these companies had the potential to “become impactful businesses that will contribute to both the Lebanese and the wider global economy.”

Article originally published in the Huffington Post

Nucleus Accelerator Showcases Lebanese Tech https://t.co/zWTK7tciaV via @HuffPostBlog

— Alice Bonasio (@alicebonasio) June 29, 2017

For companies looking to gain a competitive edge through technology, Tech Trends offers strategic Virtual Reality and Digital Transformation Consultancy services tailored to your brand.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

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British Government to help fund International Tech Research Centre in Lebanon

Alice — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:00:07 +0000

The UK Government are committing £2.5 million towards a new International Research Centre (IRC) based in Lebanon.

The Tech Hub is not about taking talent to global markets, but bringing global markets to them
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The British Ambassador to Lebanon HE Hugo Shorter, made the announcement this week while speaking at the ArabNet Beirut conference, saying that the IRC would act as a bridge between the thriving knowledge base in Lebanese Universities and the global tech industry, fostering partnerships with British institutions. The aim is to position Lebanon as the Middle East’s R&D hub, acting as a catalyst for economic growth, stability and job creation and a gateway between east and west.

“The Tech Hub is not about taking the most talented to global markets. It is about bringing global markets to them. It is about returning Lebanon to being the gateway to the MENA, a bridge between East and West as it always was. Lebanon’s people are its most coveted resource. This partnership, the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, is about harnessing the potential of that resource. This partnership is about creating 25,000 jobs in Lebanon by 2025’ The UK is not just supporting Lebanon’s security and stability, but it’s leading the way in investing in Lebanon’s prosperity too,” said Mr. Shorter

The IRC will act as a portal for multinational and local companies of all sizes to undertake research and develop new solutions in these areas through a collaborative environment where commercial gain can be achieved for all. Its first project, a collaboration between the Lebanese University and the Geneva-based CERN European Laboratory for Particle Physics, amongst others, is already underway. The collaboration aims to produce the world’s first Fiber Optic Sensors System designed to measure parameters such as temperature, humidity, concentration of pesticides, fertilizers and enzymes in the soil of cultivated fields. This will empowers farmers by allowing irrigation that will result in water saving and increased crop yield, and cut the cost of watering farmer’s fields from $500 per hectare to under $80 per hectare

The IRC's first project is a collaboration between CERN and the Lebanese University
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UK Lebanon Tech Hub Chairman Nicolas Sehnaoui

“Lebanon’s real strength is in its brain power, reflected in its world-class education and its stellar diaspora,” says Nicolas Sehnaoui, Chairman of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub. “The hub’s R&D centre will bridge Lebanon’s academic strengths and knowledge capabilities with the global industry. Retaining our best talent is a game changer for our economy. Investing in our talents will harness their enormous potential to turn Lebanon into a globally recognized innovation hub all while creating jobs for our youth. ”

The International Research Centre is a key recommendation of a recent report by the UK Lebanon Tech Hub – a joint international initiative by the Banque Du Liban – which outlines a plan to create 25,000 jobs by 2025. The report examined 339 ICT companies in Lebanon to map out the local knowledge economy in relation to global trends. It estimated that by focusing on key growth sectors such as FinTech, HealthTech and Online Retail the country could add USD 7 billion to its GDP by 2025.

Lebanon’s real strength is in its brain power
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Lebanon is well poised to become a regional FinTech hub
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The report finds Lebanon is well poised to become a regional FinTech hub for the MENA region. The total assets of Lebanese banks now exceed USD $175 billion and they have been able to meet international standards by working with several successful FinTech companies such as Bluering.

The Wellbeing sector in the Middle East and Africa is expected to grow by 8.7% by 2018
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In reference to the growing Lebanese HealthTech scene, the report highlights that the Wellbeing sector in the Middle East and Africa is expected to have the most rapid growth, at an estimated annual average increase of 8.7 per cent over 2014- 2018; an opportunity for the realization and adoption of local solutions to solve local problems. For example, CardioDiagnostics, a medical technology startup from Beirut, that was recently invited to the White House and praised by President Barack Obama, is the world’s first Cloud Based Cardiac Monitoring Solution accessible from any internet-connected device. It is a wearable heart monitor that checks the electrical activity of the heart, detects abnormalities and alerts the hospital or physician who can evaluate and respond accordingly in case of emergency.

There is huge opportunity for Lebanon to be at the forefront of online retail industries
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The report also highlights the huge opportunity for Lebanon to be at the forefront of how retail industries are reimagining consumers’ shopping experiences via new channels of purchasing which leverage growing trends such as gamification. The global e-commerce market is expected to reach USD $1.5 trillion in 2018, with the MENA demonstrating the highest growth potential. At the same time, the percentage of Lebanon’s Internet users who purchase online is expected to increase, with a massive 20 per cent growth rate over the next five to seven years. Indeed, this is the highest growth rate worldwide.

Lebanon's ambition is to become the Tech Gateway to the Middle East
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Lebanon’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is indeed developing fast (even by tech standards), with the ICT sector in the country experiencing 8% annual growth over the past five years. According to a recent UK Lebanon Tech Hub report, this amounted to a market worth USD 400 Million in 2015, making it one of the top 20 entrepreneurial nations in the world. The country also boasts three of the top 20 universities in the Arab region – including the prestigious American University of Beirut – which support their ambition of becoming the “tech gateway to the Middle East.”

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