Is Lebanon’s startup ecosystem sustainable?

by Victor Mulas January 18, 2017

written by Victor Mulas January 18, 2017

Photo by: Greg Demarque/Executive

When I was first introduced to Beirut’s start-up ecosystem in 2011, AltCity was refurbishing its first space, the Seeqnce experiment had just launched, MEVP was one of the few venture capital (VC) firms investing in Lebanon, Endeavor was just opening, and Wamda and ArabNet were nascent. Fast-forward to 2016 and Beirut is a different city for startups. The support infrastructure for entrepreneurs has expanded with several acceleration programs such as the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, AltCity Bootcamp, Speed@BDD, Smart ESA, and more in the pipeline. Beirut Digital District (BDD) has become the hub of the ecosystem, and Banque du Liban (BDL)’s Circular 331 and other donor-backed funding support programs such as World Bank-Kafalat and USAID-IM Capital have resulted in multiple VC and matching funds for Lebanese entrepreneurs. There is no question that Beirut’s ecosystem has expanded significantly in the last five years. A lot of the credit for this should

Victor Mulas

Victor has over 20 years of experience working on innovation, technology, and startup ecosystems globally, and has served as an innovation strategy advisor for governments and multinational companies. He led landmark programs at the World Bank where he served for over 12 years, including the Disruptive Technology for Development Program at the World Bank President Office, the Tokyo Development Learning Center in Japan, and the Internal Innovation Acceleration Program at the Innovation Labs. After serving as a strategic advisor for CIC globally, Victor joined as the organization's first Chief Innovation Officer in February 2024.

1 comment

Tmi_Trian January 21, 2017 - 2:56 AM

My question to Executive is this:
Do you write these articles believing in them or is this the extend of your research on the ground?
Who are you speaking to when you bring about information to write an article? “Lack of talent” Really? News flash Talents are leaving the country and trying elsewhere for the exact reason because they are neglected by these firms and startup initiatives in the first place. And what ecosystem are they talking about exactly? Suddenly all these seem like big empty words designed to just look good. Go ask those who have had experience with these people and see what they have to say. Here’s a different point of view:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lebanon/comments/5c2rb7/seems_this_post_was_not_allowed_to_be_submitted/

Comments are closed.

Is Lebanon’s startup ecosystem sustainable?

You may also like

1 comment