The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) initiated in 1999, by Haas School of Business-UC Berkeley, is an international competition to stimulate social entrepreneurship, provide international support and expertise to social and green entrepreneurs, contributing to the development of successful impactful businesses.
This leading competition is spearheaded by international and prestigious partners managed by ESSEC Business School for EMEA region.
Saint-Joseph University and Berytech are the outreach partners in Lebanon and the region. This year, Diane Foundation, a leading organization for civic awareness and eco-sustainable development, joined as a key strategic partner as well as support partner, providing exceptional support and funding opportunities for participants. In addition, the competition was given a special “green” edition to promote environmental innovation and technologies and encourage the development of a generation of “green” entrepreneurs and startups.
3 winning teams were selected for the local and regional tracks including:
- The winner of the first prize who will also be representing Lebanon in the ESSEC EMEA regional final is NAR QuadroFighter – an autonomous network of drones for quick detection and alert of early stage wildfires.
- Second and third prize winners, on the local level, are:
“ RIEGO”: a solar powered, dynamic monitoring irrigation control that optimizes the water consumption, and “Carpolo”: a smart carpooling mobile application service.
“Berytech is pleased to be growing the GSVC initiative year after year and providing its support for the development of a new generation of social and environmental entrepreneurs who consider building successful businesses while creating a positive impact on the society and environment” declares Ramy Boujawdeh, Deputy GM of Berytech.
“Fondation Diane aims are, beside educating and motivating LEBANESE people, young or less young, to assume their responsibilities as Citizen, to encourage and to invest in the creation of Eco Sustainable Development projects by sponsoring competitions for green start-ups and selecting good ones, accelerating them, and finally financing them when viable” says Diana Fadel, Founder of Fondation Diane and a big supporter for green innovators.
“The Lebanese School of Social Work in USJ, aims to support any creative, innovative and sustainable project defending social and societal cause, especially since she issued a university degree in Social Entrepreneurship.
This diploma is open to any participant wishing to develop their managerial and human skills in the field of Social Entrepreneurship, including the winners in the GSVC competition” declares Maryse Tannous Jomaa, Director of School of Social Work, USJ.
Winners got prizes worth 40,000$ and will benefit from exceptional opportunities on the local and regional level including coaching, mentoring, incubation, visibility, grants, access to experts, labs and support in accessing funds.