Top Banner
Startups from Lebanon Following the Arabnet Conference in Beirut March 2014
12

Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

May 10, 2015

Download

Technology

Lebanon is not known as a hub for innovation, but, hey, a country with such a reputation for trade and a diaspora 4 times the size of the homeland can't be bad at finding new ideas.

If Lebanon is definitely not an easy country, it's a great hub for the Levant countries, with the top web conference of the region (Arabnet), a recent law that gave the Central Bank $400m (1% of their GDP) to invest in startups, and quite a few success stories, from Anghami, the Spotify for Arabic music, to Instabeat swimming goggles.

In this review, we explain where the innovative spirit of Lebanese people come from, what are the startups and key people to know there, and their strengths and weaknesses.

Read more about us as we roam the world to explore the emerging markets startups scenes, from Iran to Chile, from China to Nigeria.

Reach us at: martin@innovationiseverywhere

www.innovationiseverywhere.com
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

Startups from Lebanon

Following the Arabnet Conference in BeirutMarch 2014

Page 2: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

#1 – Instabeat, the smart swimming goggles

• Connected swimming goggles to scan motion & heart rate• Indiegogo $50k+ campaign, $100k seed-funding and undisclosed series A in

Jan. 2014• Founder Hind Hobeika is a former swimmer

Page 3: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

#2 – Anghami, the Spotify of the Middle-East

• A streaming music service with almost exclusive access to MENA region music labels, serving clients there + diaspora

• Partners with major labels (EMI, Sony, Universal) and telcos, known funding of $1.25M

• 3.4M users, 100K paid-for

Page 4: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

#3 – Shahiya, the Arabic world cooking platform

• A cooking platform online with 5K+ recipes and 1.3M unique visitors each month, mostly from Saudi Arabia

• $500k in funding in 2013

Page 5: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

#4 – Cedar Books, a source of books for Amazon

• Sourcing books in the Arabic world and beyond for Amazon and other retailers. 1.5M books sold.

• Founded in 2009, $20M revenues in 2013 mostly in the US

Page 6: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

#5 – Lamsa World, edutainment content in Arabic

• A platform for Arabic digital edutainment content for children• $500k series A in 2014

Page 7: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

#6 – Shawarmanji, the shawarma fast food chain

• 8 outlets in Lebanon and UAE• $400k funded by MEVP in 2013

Page 8: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

Our project

An exploration of innovation ecosystems across the world

Page 9: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

Innovation has no place in a global world, it’s everywhere

Innovation ecosystems can learn from one another

Local context matters and should be a source for innovators

This is why…

We’re on a world tour of innovation ecosystems!

We believe…

Page 10: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

Martin Pasquier

Entrepreneur in Singapore (social media

agency), long-time traveller

Mixes economics, politics and travels to analyze ecosystems,

reports on innovation

About our teamAnalysis, community & network

Anne Lalou

CEO of Innovation Factory & Web School

Factory in ParisTransfer knowledge of

ecosystems to new generation and to a

network of top French companies

Nicolas Loubet

Serial entrepreneur in Paris

with 3 companies, growth hackerManages and

nurtures creative communities on & offline

Page 11: Innovation is everywhere - Startups from Lebanon (2014)

A world tour of innovation: 2013-2014

SUPPORT US! Travel & time of exploration isn’t free Custom reports on emerging markets & trends Workshops, talks on innovation trends Connection to key local players for VCs, brands, tech communities