Forty entrepreneurs from across the Mediterranean joined the ‘Business Creation Joint Event’ in Amman organized under the BESTMEDGRAPE project to pitch their solutions in grape valorization.
The event was organized by The Jordan Society for Scientific Research, Entrepreneurship, and Creativity on December 6, 2021, allowing the participants to share the experiences they gained in the business development field and scientific research, as a result of the training they underwent during the last period by BESTMEDGRAPE project.
BESTMEDGRAPE is a project funded by the European Union through the ENI CBC MED program, which aims to turn waste from winemaking into valuable and innovative commercial health products using nanotechnology, supporting at the same the creation of new businesses.
Forty Ideas in Grape Valorization
Gathered in Amman, 5 entrepreneurs from Italy, 7 from France, 10 from Tunisia, 10 from Lebanon, and 14 from Jordan had received tailored training to transform their solutions into cosmeceutical and nutraceutical products and develop their ideas into business.
“The entrepreneurs were given a great opportunity to pitch in front of experts. They all have great potential. Their ideas are solid to transform their solutions into real businesses. The event allowed them to network and share experiences with other entrepreneurs from different countries,” said Joelle El Hajjar, Business Support Specialist at Berytech.
The event revolved around boosting communication between potential entrepreneurs and building borderless relations that will create new business opportunities in the Mediterranean area.
“Collective efforts have led to the point where ideas are applied despite the Covid challenges,” confirmed BESTMEDGRAPE coordinator, Gianluigi Bacchetta.
The Pitching Teams from Lebanon
The Lebanese delegation of 10 entrepreneurs supported by the Berytech team presented a range of solutions at the event:
OmniPhenols is an online platform connecting all players of the supply chain to optimize the use of waste, decrease toxicity and increase the accessibility to polyphenols.
Naturachem has derived the numerous benefits plants have for humans and combined their skills with knowledge to gradually transform the cosmetic industry.
Piùpa targets wine lovers and consumers that are looking for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Their product range includes wine powder that can be used in recipes to boost their flavor, color, and nutritional benefits and wine powder fused products that include pasta, bread, and crackers.
Un Jar of Jam is an idea born from the increasing need for affordable healthy desserts in Lebanon and across the world with an innovative way of producing jam by adding intentionally polyphenols that replenish their loss detected when processing fruits into jams.
Brightleb is a high-quality Lebanese toothpaste enabling patients to gain optimal benefits regarding their oral healthcare. It is affordable to everyone, eco-friendly, sustainable, and efficient in preventing cavity and oral diseases.
E’colat is a sunscreen that protects the skin based on its innovative and safe ingredients. It contains polyphenols extract from the wine waste industry, it is considered as a 3 in 1 product: sunscreen, foundation, and hydration.
Breeze is a healthy ice cream made with 100% Lebanese ingredients and no chemical additives. The extracted polyphenol from the grape waste acts as an antioxidant to reduce health problems and as a cooler for the first five minutes to avoid melting.
Medmix produces a perfectly aromatic and flavorful herbal infusion from 20 different endemics and threatened Mediterranean flora and herbs infused with grape polyphenol. Their mission is to provide excellent, distinctive, and environmental-friendly herbal infusions that are holistically harmonized with the minds, spirits, and bodies of consumers.
WashBeat is a natural shampoo for daily use made from 90% locally available natural materials, which offers the advantage of combining low price with high quality. The mission is to provide an economical shampoo for people who can no longer afford imported brands and to reduce the rush of unofficial, unregistered, and untested products that have started to take over during the economic crisis. WashBeat is packaged in recycled bottles and is environmentally friendly with 0% waste during production.
DiasGum is a nutraceutical gummy formulated from the valuable extract of grape pomace. The gummy is innovative to the ever-growing supplements market.
About BESTMEDGRAPE project
The BESTMEDGRAPE (New Business opportunities & Environmental sustainability using MED GRAPE nanotechnological products) project aims to promote technology transfer in the field of grape cultivar valorization/eco-sustainable exploitation of winemaking waste to obtain nanotechnological products for human health, supporting at the same time the creation of startups and SMEs. For more information, please visit the project website.
