Dear Executive readers, It is our honor to present to you our end-of-year issue. The year behind us has been tumultuous worldwide, and especially for Lebanon – a small country that has many times carried its weight throughout international and regional crises. The tri-tragedy of the pandemic, the port explosion, and the collapse of the…
Lebanese start-up funding threatened
Eager to capitalize on the tech-savvy population,high education rate and entrepreneurial spirit, Banque du Liban’s (BDL) Circular 331, released in 2013, paved the way for the creation of dozens of startups in Lebanon, in addition to accelerators and incubators. Despite this support, events of the past few years have put a stop to the generous…
Health care services intact but compromised
In Lebanon, as in virtually all other countries around the globe, health has in 2020 been catapulted to the top spot of social concern after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. To assess the correlation between the pandemic, national governance, the economic and liquidity crises, and the overall state of public health in Lebanon, Executive…
Organic care and true beauty niches
The global cosmetic and personal care market is growing, the upward swing especially boosting companies that produce organic and sustainable products. The specificity of new manufacturing trends and the evolution in marketing funnels, such as the rise of micro social media influencers, is shifting the research-intensive health-related sector towards viability of small enterprises, niche producers,…
Drug money
What a difference in perception a year makes – especially this year of 2020, and especially in all matters concerning health, directly or indirectly. Let’s assume – very reasonably – that you were cleaning your hands a few times a day at about this time in late 2019. Were you to have been engaging in…
Health care infrastructure under pressure
Long seen as the health care centre of the Middle East due to its developed hospital infrastructure and presence of heavily qualified medical personnel, Lebanon may well lose this title soon, due to a series of unfavorable factors, including the economic crisis, the August 4 Beirut port explosion, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the efforts…
Alternative medicine spikes
Alternative medicine has been sitting in the shadow of traditional, Western medicine for some time in Lebanon: alternative medicine. Though it is not controversial, alternative medicine is still seen as a complement to traditional medicine. Long a fixture of the Lebanese traditional scene, with stories, and for some, memories of elder Lebanese concocting herbal remedies…
Pandemic creates surge for MENA fintech development
The number of Fintech startups have surged in the last 10 years: tech ventures which are positioned to serve and disrupt financial markets and the associated knowledge industries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. As of November 2020, the region has around 425 Fintechs as per the Fintech Galaxy Marketplace. Among ten…
Gaming in Lebanon seriously hit
Despite the Central Bank’s (BDL) circular 331, which allows venture capital firms and banks to finance startups with less risks by guaranteeing investments up to 75 percent, Lebanese tech firms are casualties of the country’s economic woes. Between capital controls that restrict payment capacities abroad; the exile of talent fleeing Lebanon; and the sorry state…
Startups actually
Success is a perfect measure of life. Yet this perfect measure is never in itself perfect. Money, knowledge, passion, experience of gain, learning from failure… All can be successes and each can be a tremendous hurt that changes life’s trajectory. It depends on our objectives and circumstances. Success of entrepreneurial startups and young tech enterprises…