Unlocking the Potential of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

From Innovation to Creation is a support program aiming at enhancing the capabilities of innovation stakeholders in Lebanon who actively engage in social and green entrepreneurship. The program is funded by the European Union in collaboration with Berytech and SPARK.

The program in brief

Empowering local startup ecosystems to support social and green innovation, create employment, and drive economic growth

The goal of this program is to strengthen the capacities of both established and emerging innovation support organizations, such as tech hubs, accelerators, incubators, university entrepreneurship centers, and organizations, by providing them with the targeted knowledge and tools to support the development and growth of social and green ventures. This will enable these organizations to enhance their services for startups, making them more oriented towards impact.

Building the capacities of local Innovation Support Organizations

Empowering them to enhance and diversify startup services and support

Developing the capacities of local and regional startups

Reinforcing their skills in access to market and financing opportunities

Strengthening the ties among startup ecosystems

Promoting collaborations across local players and with European counterparts

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The program in numbers

Committed to the following milestones & achievements

Innovation support organizations from Lebanon to be empowered

Capacity building train-the-trainers bootcamps one for social innovation and one for green innovation

Experts to train on supporting social & green startups

Startups to support in growing their social and environmental impact

In Support Grants to disburse to startups

€ 49 K

Soft landing missions in Europe for Lebanese support organizations

The program's partners

From Innovation to Creation project funded by the European Union in collaboration with Berytech and SPARK.

The program's activities

A 360-degree approach to support innovation stakeholders across Lebanon

Throughout the program, Berytech will implement a range of activities for selected innovation stakeholders, including:

Social and green entrepreneurship train-the-trainer bootcamps covering specialized methodologies and support tools to support the development and growth of sustainable ventures that create social and environmental impact.

Tailored capacity building workshops, expert clinics and coaching sessions targeting representatives of innovation organizations and affiliated experts and coaches, overseeing the application of their skills and knowledge with their assigned startups.

Ecosystem development modules, covering topics for business and technical support related to impact entrepreneurs including business model, market and product validation, acceleration, access to market and finance, impact strategies.

Access to grant management services for startups with grants worth 5,000 euros per startup.

Softlanding activities for selected beneficiaries to visit innovation structures in Europe, gain expertise, and build potential partnerships.

Eligibility Criteria

The program is open to established and emerging innovation support organizations in Lebanon

Tech hubs, accelerators, incubators, university entrepreneurship centers, and organizations looking to support scalable green or social startups and SMEs are invited to apply and join the program.

To be eligible for participation, organizations must demonstrate their commitment to the program timeline by nominating eligible coaches, technical staff members, and startups who will take part in the support activities.

For each selected Innovation Support organization, it is required to nominate a team consisting of 2 coaches, 2 staff members, and 4 startups to participate in the program. The coaches and the staff members will have the opportunity to attend a comprehensive 3-day bootcamp, designed to provide them with specialized methodologies and support tools to effectively coach and support the chosen startups throughout the duration of the program.

Learn more about the eligibility criteria for the coaches, staff, and startups.

The program's timeline

AUG - OCT 2023

First Phase

Train-of-Trainer Bootcamp for Social Innovation Support Organizations on 1, 2, and 3 August 2023.
Train-of-Trainer Bootcamp for the Green Innovation Support Organizations on 7, 8, and 9 August 2023.
Matchmaking – On the last day of the bootcamp startups will be invited to meet the experts and get matched with the trained coaches.
Two group peer review sessions with the coaches to oversee and support them in the implementation of the bootcamp methodologies.
Ten coaching sessions to be delivered to each startup
Workshops to the coaches to support them in their coaching journey with the startups.
Ten startups out of 40 will be selected at the end of the first phase to continue to the second phase of the program. The startups will benefit from a grant voucher of 5,000 Euros each.

OCT 2023 - MAR 2024

Second Phase

Coaches and experts will attend a series of Access to Market and Finance Clinics.
Coaches and experts will conduct a minimum of ten one-on-one sessions with the startups to support them in their growth journey following the methodology that was given in the boot camp.
Coaches and experts will oversee the disbursement of the grants to their assigned startups with the support of Berytech.

FEB - APR 2024

Third Phase

Workshops will be given to the coaches to cover market access and validation, and access to investments. Coaches and experts to conduct one on one sessions with the startups.
Three expert-intervention sessions with the coaches.
3 expert-review sessions with the coaches.
Selection of one startup per innovation support organization per track to conduct the soft-landing mission.