Zoom In: Crowdfarming Lebanon, Access to Finance in Agriculture Sector

Crowdfarming Team 1200 x 628
We have managed to validate our idea and shape it into a business model that is ready for investment.

Crowdfarming Team 1200 x 628

What They Do:

CrowdFarming Lebanon is a fintech startup aiming to help Lebanese farmers and agri-agro alimentary initiatives secure financing via crowdfunding in the form of loans. They decided to go into this venture considering agriculture to be one of the pillars that can help the Lebanese economy stand on its feet and stressed on the fact that traditional financial institutions tend to neglect the agriculture sector.

Startup Experience:

“Being serial entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of belonging to a healthy ecosystem where the idea can be incubated and accelerated. Berytech was the natural go-to place for this.  Having the endorsement of the program, the Kingdom of Netherlands, and other major players in the market today would mean that the idea has been tried and tested under all possible aspects and provide our entity with the needed legitimacy and credibility to enter the financial arena.

We have managed to validate our idea and shape it into a business model that is ready for investment. Our main Key Success Factors (KSF) were when we launched our 2 campaigns at the end of the second phase and managed to secure more than 90% funding for them within less than 48 hours.

If we were to select only one achievement, the pitch of our idea at the end of phase 2, is one of our highest achievements so far. Though it is tough to choose one single achievement as each one took us one step forward towards where we are today.

It goes without saying that the current situation has been a major energy drainer as each action now needs twice to three times more effort to get it done: many meetings with NGOs were delayed because of roadblocks or COVID lockdowns or unavailability of key personnel. We have been trying to incorporate the company since June 2021 and till now, not a single bank has been able to open an account for us. Thus, we made use of online meetings whenever we could, and we decided to forego incorporation locally and target an outside country instead.

In the coming months, we are looking to meet and onboard an investor who shares our passion and sees this as a major game changer and who is willing to join the team to help take this to the level it deserves to be at.”

Learn more about Berytech’s Agrytech Accelerator program, this startup will be pitching during the Agri-Food Innovation Day 2022.

Raghid Jarrah

Raghid Jarrah

Raghid Jarrah joined Berytech in July 2021 and is currently a Communication and Outreach Coordinator. He supports the team on various ongoing projects such as ARYAF, DAWERR, REAF, SAFI, WE4F, and others.

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