Happy partygoers at Let It Snow, Presella's first crowdfunded event in 2012
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It was a long time coming. When Al-Mawarid Bank and local startup Presella jointly announced the bank’s equity participation in the company yesterday, it had been almost a year since Banque du Liban (BDL) created the funding mechanism that would support this type of deal. Mawarid’s investment in Presella was the first to be approved by the central bank under this system, whereby the company will be receiving $200,000 from the bank for an equity stake of just under 21 percent. This suggests the shareholders value the company at around $1 million. The key element behind the deal is Circular 331, which was passed by the central bank in August of last year. Under this circular, the central bank subsidizes 75 percent of an equity investment by commercial banks into a startup company under an arrangement that allows commercial banks to buy treasury bills and sell them back to the central bank at
