Launched on Monday December 7, 2015, the “Mount Lebanon Youth Entrepreneurs” Competition is an initiative funded by the Regional Development and Protection Programme, implemented by MoSA and the UNDP in Lebanon under the Lebanon Host Communities Programme (LHSP) and managed by Berytech and KDC partners.
The “Mount Lebanon Youth Entrepreneurs” Competition aims to support young entrepreneurs in developing new and innovative ideas and launching their start-ups that would also create job opportunities in the Lebanese regional communities. The competition received 113 applications from Mount Lebanon out of which 10 projects reached the finals based on business model, scalability and validity of business concept. The finalists received training on business presentation at Berytech to perfect their project pitch to the final jury.
The final jury for the competition was held on March 22, 2016 in Berytech Technology Pole Mar Roukoz. The panel of 4 jury members included key experts from partners organizations including Mr. Ramy Boujawdeh, Mrs. Nathalie Wehbe, Mr. Antoine Mansour and Mr. Bassel Aoun.
The 4 winning projects announced will receive a grant of up to $15000 each and the chance to pursue an incubation program at Berytech to turn their initiative into sustainable startups with an efficient community impact strategy.
The winning projects are:
- 4Good founded by Elie Matta & Samer Sfeir
‘Hummus Cups’ enables customers to buy the cup and eat hummus with the bread sticks without any need for preparation. Hummus Cups transform the highly loved Hummus from a traditional ethnic food to a Grab & Go snack that can be bought and eaten anywhere, including four flavours: “Traditional, Spicy, Pesto and Sweet”
- Handace founded by Rayan Barhouche & Wael Saade
A new concept for construction games that duplicates the real life process of construction into a miniature building set containing construction blocks with cement and sand and all the tools need for the construction, introducing basic engineering concept in an interactive approach.
- Cranium founded by Joelle Bechara & Tania Saliba
CRANIUM is an innovative educational center. Its mission is to inspire and motivate the upcoming generations about science, technology, engineering and art or what is commonly called today STEAM activities. The objective of CRANIUM is to provide kids and youth with activities that build and nurture their innate skills and intelligences by teaching them the latest methods in creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork.
- Cultural Identities, founded by Hassan Al Akra & Cynthia el Ghorayeb
“Cultural Identities” combines eco-tourism, educational and cultural activities/tour organizations that aim at promoting cultural diversity, exchange, and intercultural dialogue between Lebanon and other civilizations. As a start it focuses on Jbeil area and includes organizing a variety of activities and events mixing education, eco-tourism and culture. The project proposes educational, touristic and cultural trips for students or adults to deepen their knowledge and educate them in an interactive, fun way.
