Agryconnect and B-Bar tied for the first place in the third and last Startup Weekend in Agriculture, Food and Water Innovation which took place at the University of Holy Spirit Kaslik (USEK) on March 9, 10 and 11, 2018.
The weekend was dedicated to solving challenges in the agriculture, food and water sectors. Over 50 passionate and enthusiastic participants from diverse backgrounds including engineering, agriculture, marketing, business, design, and technology, signed up for the challenge forming teams around exciting startup ideas.
The Ten Teams
The ten teams, who worked through the weekend, pitched their ideas to the jury on the last day. Agryconnect is a sensor based app that reduces the use of pesticides while B-Bar uses the barley grains from beer production to make healthy energy bars. Having tied scores, the two teams split the first and second prize winning each $1250. The third prize of $500 went to 3a addak an app that helps in organizing and controlling food stock at home.
On top of the cash prizes, winning teams will receive incubation and business support from Berytech and support to prepare them to participate in the Agrytech Accelerator funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lebanon and Berytech.
The remaining pitched ideas included:
Smart Collar – a product that helps farmers reduce animal death by detecting illness early on.
Mushtic – a packaging alternative solution using micro bonding nano technology.
LabanPost – a web platform that allows dairy farmers to sell directly to consumers.
Kaab el Sahhara – an eco-friendly furniture line using recycled cellulose.
Go organic – uses biodegradable remains to create an organic fertilizer.
Beelieve – is an app that allows customers to adopt a beehive & participate in the honey making process.
Agrilink – is an app than links farmers to market allowing farmers to optimize their land.
The Startup Weekend Activities
The weekend started with an overview by facilitator Tala Saleh. Then, Abed Jawhar founder of MekaPrep and Richardos Lebbos founder of Startchy, talked about their entrepreneurial journey from Agrytech Accelerator Program and receiving support and funds to growing their food-tech startups.
For the next two days, the teams worked to turn their ideas into business models with the help of the mentors who made themselves available to answer questions and help the teams tackle the different challenges of their business model. Workshops, including pitching and business model canvas, helped the teams channel and organize their ideas to turn them into attractive pitches.
Startup weekend was organized with the support of Berytech, Agrytech Program, and CEWAS Middle East and sponsored generously by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lebanon, hosted and supported by the University of Balamand.
About Techstars Startup Weekend
