The 6th edition of the Francophone Entrepreneurial Women’s Award (FFE) was launched on Thursday 21 April by Berytech and the Agence universitaire francophone (AUF) and in partnership with L’Orient-Le Jour and Le Commerce du Levant for the second consecutive year.
“The issue of entrepreneurship is fundamental for today’s youth,” confirmed Hervé Sabourin, director of the regional office of the AUF. The Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB) and the Lebtivity event platform, whose founder Randa Farah won the second prize in the FFE competition in 2014, are also partners.
Candidates must be French-speaking and can submit their projects until June 21. The selected projects will go through business coaching and trainings in July and August at Berytech, aiming at helping them produce a professional business plan. Then 10 finalists will be selected, and the final pitch will take place at the end of September. The prize, which will be financed by the AUF for 20,000 euros ($ 21,000), will be divided between two winners who will also benefit from 6 months of incubation in Berytech.
Saria Hanna, one of the winners of the contest last year, stressed the importance of the incubation period. “In society, when a woman is an entrepreneur, her project is considered a cute little project. Being incubated in Berytech asserts my position as a serious entrepreneur with a growing business,”she confirmed.
The existence of a competition dedicated to women is “important”, said Joanna Abi Abdallah, esponsible for start-up support in Berytech. Female participation in Berytech’s other annual competitions is limited to 30%, which represents a maximum of 10 to 15 projects. “Last year we received 60 applications, which shows that women are highly motivated to participate in a competition targeted for them,” she added.
Discover more about the competition and apply on this link.