Business from the start

“Entrepreneurs in Lebanon are not mature enough and not trained well enough to become investment ready, but once they are investment ready, they could find money here, in Jordan or anywhere in the world if their business model makes sense and has potential and scalability.” Walid Hanna, chief executive of Middle East Venture Partners “It is a risky environment and startups are even riskier. It might not be the right timing today to finance startups but we are definitely thinking of helping within the right environment and with the right product.” Ibrahim Salibi, head of commercial and corporate banking at Bank Audi “A lot of entrepreneurs know very little about raising funds. They don’t know what their options are and they get massively ripped off by people.” Fadi Bizri, founding member of Seeqnce “Lebanese are entrepreneurs in their souls. You would very frequently hear young men and women discussing dreams