USD 20 million to support 100 Lebanese startups

The regional startup accelerator, Flat6Labs Beirut (www.flat6labsbeirut.com), which is a partnership between Flat6Labs and ArabNet, launched yesterday the USD 20 million ‘Lebanon Seed Fund’ to support some 100 startups over the next 5 years. To note, the Cairo-based Flat6Labs is a regional business accelerator program that fosters and invests in talented and ambitious entrepreneurs with cutting-edge ideas. The fund which is approved and managed by the Bank of Lebanon by virtue of Circular 331, helps seed and early stage Lebanese startups through investment to provide a range of services that assists enterprises from the phase of idea all the way to early growth. Accordingly, startups will receive contributions from the seed fund program at a value of USD 30 thousand to USD 50 thousand, in addition to participation in a 16-week mentorship program on seed funding. Early stage startups will receive USD 100 thousand to USD 500 thousand, as well as access to Flat6Lab Beirut resources and operational guidance to kick off and expand their businesses. It should be noted, that as of yesterday, Flat6Lab Beirut will start accepting applications on flat6labsbeirut.com. (Al Diyar, February 24, 2017)